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THE END OF A PERFECT DAYJohn and Liz Randall on W. Shore Road entertained friends and family over the Fourth of July weekend. One of the highlights was this ride on John's hay wagon behind his Farmall. Fred and I saw them leaving just before sundown, and Fred was able to get a few pictures. I'm not positive, but I'm betting John took his guests up to the cemetery on Cabot Plain to watch the sun set over Camel's Hump. It's a favorite place for lots of people to go any evening when the sky is clear, and visitors never fail to be impressed with the beauty of the Plain. Equally breath taking are sun rises from that spot. Here's the thing: when you get to the Cabot Plain Cemetery there is a panorama on all sides. First, there's the Spaulding farm just south of the cemetery - and there's the little cemetery itself, neat and ordered, peaceful. Beyond the cemetery, the White Mountains gleam brightly to the east, especially with the glow of the setting sun on them. Looking north, on a clear day mountains in Canada are visible, and when you turn to look west, you see the quarries in Woodbury, the rolling peaks of the Worcester Range, Mt. Mansfield, and Camel's Hump. If you're lucky, Dick Spaulding might be hauling in a last load of hay from his nearby fields, or one of the Trautz family may ride by on a horse.
It was here, high on this hill, that the Town of Cabot was first settled and before that, during the Revolutionary War, General Bayley camped with his troops. You are standing on the Bayley-Hazen Military Road that served to open up the wilderness of Vermont in the 1700's. Follow the old road (you'll see the sign just down the hill towards Cabot) out to Rt. 215. There are markers along the way, one where the first settler built and another marking the first death in town. Note how the road seems sunken in many spots - well worn over the years. It's the only existing stretch of the historic military road in Cabot that's passable with a vehicle but that hasn't been paved or otherwise changed.
Life was difficult for those early settlers, made more so by the severe weather they probably didn't expect. Eventually the town fathers moved their buildings and stock from this pinacle to a more sheltered and lower location at the center of the township, leaving only some hardy farmers on the Plain. The winter winds still howl across the fields and sweep the ground clear of snow - or pile the snow high into the roads and against the buildings. It's not a friendly spot in winter, but this time of the year, the beauty of it is stunning. Well worth the trip.
It was here, high on this hill, that the Town of Cabot was first settled and before that, during the Revolutionary War, General Bayley camped with his troops. You are standing on the Bayley-Hazen Military Road that served to open up the wilderness of Vermont in the 1700's. Follow the old road (you'll see the sign just down the hill towards Cabot) out to Rt. 215. There are markers along the way, one where the first settler built and another marking the first death in town. Note how the road seems sunken in many spots - well worn over the years. It's the only existing stretch of the historic military road in Cabot that's passable with a vehicle but that hasn't been paved or otherwise changed.
Life was difficult for those early settlers, made more so by the severe weather they probably didn't expect. Eventually the town fathers moved their buildings and stock from this pinacle to a more sheltered and lower location at the center of the township, leaving only some hardy farmers on the Plain. The winter winds still howl across the fields and sweep the ground clear of snow - or pile the snow high into the roads and against the buildings. It's not a friendly spot in winter, but this time of the year, the beauty of it is stunning. Well worth the trip.
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