| Sugar Bush Forest Maple Syrup Owner: Larry Wolfe St. Mary's Pa. 15857 |
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| Maple Syrup Tapping February 2007 Cliff and I have been helping Larry and Al Wolfe of St. Mary's tap maple trees for syrup. They have a few acres of maple trees called a "Sugar Bush" a few mile past Mount Jewett. We meet them in Wilcox at about 8:00 am . Larry, Al, two teenagers, four Jack Russell terriers and a Corgy named Skittles are all in the mini-van waiting for us. From Wilcox we all rode over to Mt. Jewett together. Cliff and I had watched Little Miss Sunshine a few nights ago and I thought that this road trip would make good story also. Cliff has been helping Larry make maple syrup for the past two years. I decided to join them this year as winter is hanging on way too long and I want to get outdoors. Larry also needs the help as he has 10,000 taps that need done. At the bottom of the lane there is pump house that pumps sap up to the sugar shack. We parked the van and piled into a pick up truck with two teenagers riding in the bed. Larry drove the truck up the half mile lane to the location of the sugar shack and his camp. I was happy to see modern conveniences like electric, running water and a bathroom. Larry and his family used to haul a trailer up to the top of the mountain and camp there. The camp is a double wide moblie home. The sugar shack has a concrete floor and houses a room with equipment to process the maple syrup and a side room with metal tables, a sink and storage barrels. We went into the sugar shack and armed ourselves with an battery powered drill attached to our waists with a leather holster, an extra drill battery, an extra bit, and a hammer with a rope that was attached to our wrist. I had only used an electric drill on occasion,and thought "It can't be that hard. I'll would figure it out as I go along." It didn't seem the time to ask too many questions. The first day I worked with the guys I was quite energized, but soon realized that this wasn't quite as romantic as I imagined. It's hard work climbing up and down the side hills in two to three feet of snow. I didn't mind as I need the exercise and got a good kick start with my exercise regime. We had to ride the snowmobiles to the area where the trees needed tapped. Larry has the sugar bush marked into grids so he can keep track of the tapping. When everyone was ready we piled on the snowmobiles, two to a sled and headed up the mountain. It was slower moving than I thought it would be as the sleds get bogged down in the snow and that means the guys unburying them to get them moving again. We stopped at an area where a network of clear plastic tubing runs from tree to tree. Blue tubes are looped to the black plastic spigots. I learned that I had to pull the black plug apart and then use my drill to drill a hole in the tree. The sap has to run down the tube so the tap had to be above my shoulders which took some strength to hold the drill up. After the hole was drilled I had to use a hammer to pound the tap into the tree until it sounds hard. Ten thousand taps??? Inch by inch life's a cinch, yard by yard life is hard. At first I didn't understand why I needed the hammer tied to my wrist, but after trudging through the snow to the next tree waiting to be tapped I soon understood. Walking through the heavy white snow was like trudging through quick sand. My feet didn't always go where I intended them to. I fell down onto my knees frequently and my drill dropped out of the holster. I was glad the hammer was tied to my wrist. It was one less thing I had to worry about losing. As the temperature warmed up I could see sap running through the tubes. I thought of all the people who like pure maple syrup on the warm pancakes and wondered if they appreciate, or even know about all the hard work that goes into making maple syrup. I know I didn't. I thought of how miraculous it is that something so tasty, sweet and unadulterated can come from the trees and sweeten my yogurt or cooked cereal. It's amazing how the trees continually produce the sap that can provide an income to people who are willing to work for it. I felt like these trees were partners with us in surviving. After running out of spigots to tap in our grid, Larry said it was time for lunch. The morning sure went fast. We started walking back up the road and the hill seemed twice as steep than it was when we walked down. While I waited on the road for Cliff to pick me up on the snowmobile I had some time to relish being in the middle of the woods, enjoying the brisk cold weather and the freezing snow melting on my hot, sweaty neck. The sky was a brilliant blue. The blanket of snow made the forest so quiet andpeaceful, except for the distant buzz of the snowmobiles getting closer. I thought about how wonderful it was to be at peace with myself and was pleased I could enjoy the quiet of the outdoors. I had worked in an office basement without any windows for a few years. I can now understand why people like working outdoors even thought the physical apsect is twice as hard. This is much more rewarding and gratifying. On our way back to the camp Cliff was driving the snowmobile and we had to make it up over a little hill onto the main trail. Due to not having much experience driving snowmobiles, he slowed down and we tipped over. I had thoughts of the snowmobile rolling onto me and crushing me so caught it with my foot. Thankfully it only rolled onto it's side. With a little help from one of the teenagers, we got it upright and out of the rut and on our way we went. The camp has the luxur y of a washer and dryer so we were able to dry our wet socks and pants over lunch. Larry offerd us hot dogs and imported noodles, but we passed and ate our packed lunch of leftover pizza and some fruit. |
When we went back out in the afternoon it seemed
harder to get going than in the morning. When I got off
the snowmobile I noticed I didn't have my drill. I
thought it must of fallen off. I couldn't imagine how we
would backtrack and find it in the deep snow. Larry and
Alwere behing me on the snowmobile and acted
surprised that I lost it, but within a few seconds Larry
handed me my drill with a grin on his face. He had seen
it fall and picked it up. I was so relieved as I would of felt
terrible if I had lost one of his drills. A little later, I had
to wrestle with the drill as the bit got tangled in my
snow pants. I was concerned it might drill a hole into my
leg so I removed the battery and got it untangled. We
tapped a few trees and soon it was quitting time. Larry
estimated we did about 500 taps in a day. I felt part of
something that is much bigger than myself.
When we got home I immediatley peeled off the wet
clothes, took a nice hot bath and got into dry clothes. I
was tired and exhausted, but satisfied. I have a new
appreciation for how hard guys work and was glad that I
had the privilege of working with Cliff in the woods. He
is so good about helping me around the house with dishes
and laundry after he works outside all day. I don't think
I'll ever take his help for granted again
The next day that we went out it began snowing as
we got on the snowmobiles to go tap. Within a
short period of time a few inches of snow had
fallen. It was truly a winter wonderland. This
second day seemed much more romantic than the
first. Larry assigned Cliff and I a flatter piece of
the grid than the first day and that made things
alot easier, although the snow was still quite deep
to wade through. Lunch still seemd to come fast
and Cliff did better on the snowmobile with me
being a back seat driver. I had rode snowmobiles
in my teens and it all came back to me when I got
on the machine. I told Cliff not to slow down
when it looked like we might get stuck and he did
good. We both stayed on the sled the whole day,
unlike our counterpart Al, who fell off three times.
Rick Buerk, Larry's friend and part-time chef (or
maybe it's the other way around) had a nice warm
lunch of pasta and chicken waiting for us. It was
delicious and tasted much better than the leftover
stir-fry I had packed in a plastic container. We
stayed a little bit drier than the first day and I
didn't have to put any clothers in the dryer. In the
afternoon Cliff and I worked by ourselves while
Larry and Al worked another area. I was a little
frustrated as my drill wasn't working and I broke
two drill bits. A few times the drill pulled out of
the bit and I had to wrestle with it to get it back
on. Cliff and Larry showed me how to loosen and
tighten the chuck and that helped a lot. Cliff and I
worked past quitting time. Tapping the trees was
becoming as addictive as the solataire game I play
on the computer. I always want to play just one
more game. Larry and Al came up on the
snowmobile to tell us it was quitting time. We
rode the snowmobiles down a different path and
the snow was falling quite heavy. We ducked
under plastic lines that were hanging overhead
with snow balancing, waiting for a good gust of
wind to come along and unseat it. Often times I
want to replicate magical moments in my life and
this was one of those times. I wasn't sure if I was
working or playing, but knew to just enjoy the
present moment and I did.