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Thank You Board Members – EHMI Transitions

4/4/2022

By Bryan Wiegers, EHMI President

Two incredible individuals retired earlier this year from the EHMI Board in order to devote their energies and share their valuable talents to help some other organizations. Meanwhile, we also gained a new board member.

I want to personally thank Doug Stark for providing the encouragement, mentoring and energy to successfully transition The Cabin under EHMI management. None of this would have happened without him. I hope he can enjoy The Cabin in the future with less of a task list when staying there. :-)

Additionally, I want to say thank you to retiring board member Carl Rubin. Carl has provided financial mentoring to me in various roles for close to 20 years, and I know he will be a blessing to the other organizations that need his help at this time.

Lastly, Wayne Wiersma has joined our board and brings a passion for backcountry skiing and experienced board leadership to EHMI (be sure to read Wayne’s article on backcountry skiing and The Cabin). Wayne has been rolling up his sleeves for two years now to help with various business affairs and good old fashioned sweat and muscle up at The Cabin. All of us on the EHMI Board are glad to welcome Wayne and look forward to working with him.

In the meantime, our deep thanks and gratitude to Doug and Carl for their service – we know they won’t be too far away.

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The Magic of Backcountry Skiing on East Haven Mountain

4/4/2022

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By Wayne Wiersma, EHMI Board

In my earliest years, my family lived in Southern California, so I can distinctly remember the first time I saw snow.

I was around five years old when we traveled to central Massachusetts to spend Christmas with my grandparents, who lived in a simple home in the woods. Waking up our first day there I was greeted with the vista of a deep blanket of the most pristine light fluffy snow.

As vividly as if it were yesterday, I remember the feeling of riding next to my grandfather, perched on the cold vinyl seat of his old pickup truck. Tires crunched through the snow, creating a perfect impression of the tread patterns in two perfect rows as we traveled up and around the long gravel driveway. I remember the smell of the rusty old truck, mixed with gasoline and that indescribable freshness that you only experience in the woods after a snowfall.

The trees hung heavy, frosted with snow as the sun shone through the bluest sky ever. The experience was so magical and unique I remember thinking, “…this must be heaven.”

Some 42 years later, I found myself in that magical place again. I was at the Bretton Woods ski area in New Hampshire with two of my children.

The snow had been falling in giant fluffy flakes all night and it just kept snowing all day as we skied. We had worked our way off the groomed trails into the woods at the edge of the resort. There were no other people around. It was just me, Jake and Tatiana, darting through the silent woods, run after run after run.

The feeling of floating gently over the surface of the snow; of weaving effortlessly through the trees was so transcendent I remember again thinking, “…this must be heaven.” Except this time, it was even better.

My own joyous movement through this heavenly place allowed me to appreciate its beauty at an even deeper level. I had moved from being an observer to an active participant.

I’ve always loved skiing, but that day at Bretton Woods really kindled my interest in getting into the backcountry. Backcountry skiing is all about taking the experience out of the resort, away from chairlifts and into a natural environment where you are self-propelled up and down the terrain.

Once you have the right equipment; climbing skins and special bindings, your skis and legs become your mode of transportation both “skinning” up and skiing down. Freed from resort lifts, you can explore wherever your skill, desire and the right terrain take you.

In New England, this type of skiing goes back to the beginning of the 19th century when adventurers explored places like Mount Washington’s Tuckerman Ravine on skis. In Scandinavia and Russia, traveling over the snow on skis dates back to the beginnings of recorded history.

The fairly recent invention of ski lifts made moving uphill on skis obsolete, but a longing for more challenging terrain coupled with advances in technology have resulted in a strong resurgence of this original form of the sport.

I’ve observed that something special happens to us modern humans, when we move out of the world we’ve created and into nature. In the setting of my normal life, I’m continually in an environment that has been
fashioned with me in mind. From the size of a doorway to the layout of my computer keyboard, my surroundings communicate to me that it’s all about me.

When I spend my entire life in the me-shaped world, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that I am at the center of my universe. This way of viewing things has the potential to disconnect us from the real world, other people and even our true selves.

Contrast this perspective to the experience you get when you stand in places like the floor of the bowl that is Tuckerman Ravine or admire a sunrise or sunset from the deck of The Cabin atop East Haven Mountain. The majestic scale and raw wildness of these places always make me feel very small and insignificant but at the same time extremely peaceful and grateful.

There is something extremely healthy about the reorientation that occurs in your mind and spirit when the beauty and scale of a natural environment reminds you that the universe does not revolve around you.
When [EHMI President] Bryan Wiegers invited me to The Cabin with the teaser, “there are backcountry ski trails…” I bit on the offer with the idea of creating a dream scenario.

I envisioned driving to Vermont on the eve of a big snowstorm, skinning up to The Cabin and hunkering down overnight. In the morning I’d loop the backcountry ski trails from the top and ski back to my car when my legs finally gave out.

While I’ve had the opportunity to realize this ski dream and experience the re-centering that its natural surroundings afford, the EHMI Cabin has given me another unexpected gift.

This gift has been the opportunity to share the place and experience of The Cabin with other people. The conversations and shared experiences in this place are special. Every time I go, I’m challenged by the people I go with; convicted and encouraged to be a better me through stronger healthier relationships with God, myself and others.

I believe that God has wired us to find connection: purpose, unity and joy in both the natural world and the people he has created.

For me, The Cabin is a unique place where this all comes together; a bit of heaven on earth.

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Successful Snowmobile Haul Proves New Option for Bringing Vital Supplies to The Cabin

4/4/2022

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By Bryan Wiegers, EHMI President

These pictures show the fresh tracks from snowmobiles that were used this past February to haul up 10 propane tanks that will be used for both cooking and warmth at The Cabin for the rest of 2022. This has been a long-term project that has been years in the making.

On behalf of the Board, I want to say thanks to our neighbors who didn’t hesitate to give us permission to cross their land via snowmobile.

Also, a big thanks to the numerous volunteers who, over the last 18 months, helped cut and mark a new two-mile snowmobile trail and figure out the logistics of such a haul.

We even had a person donate his snowmobile and backcountry riding skills to break trail up to The Cabin so we could haul the supplies and prove that we could make the concept work.

It was an awesome, successful day of bringing up critical supplies. In just four hours, our small crew used two snowmobiles to bring up enough propane and other material that would have taken four people an entire summer to haul up the trail on their backs.

We will always need help from volunteers to carry supplies up there, but this snowmobile haul gives us valuable flexibility and another key option when needed.

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Bryan's Blog - Getting Back to Basics

4/4/2022

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By Bryan Wiegers, EHMI President

We just celebrated the two-year anniversary of East Haven Mountain, Inc (EHMI) purchasing The Cabin from its original owner, Greg Gordon, who entrusted us to carry on the mission up there on top of the mountain. Over the past two years, many have enjoyed this sanctuary for a night or two and numerous Cabin improvements and repairs have been made.

Much of my time as President had been devoted to working on these improvements and assisting new people who wish to plan a stay. As we wrapped up 2021, I had longed to get back to the basics of just guiding new people to The Cabin to build friendships and offer them an experience to rest and enjoy God’s creation. This longing was fulfilled in January.

I was hosting a meeting at my home in early January when the doorbell rang. I proceeded to open the door, when immediately I was being asked to take some guys to The Cabin who had just heard about it. I offered a weekend that month right then and there, and within 24 hours, everyone had confirmed. I was able to provide the gear they needed (backpacks, snowshoes, gators and ski poles) and we departed on a Friday night around 5:30 pm from my garage.

For three of us, it was the first time we had ever met, and two of our group had never snowshoed before. Now we were on this journey together, driving four hours to the mountain base from Massachusetts, followed by a two-hour nighttime snowshoe climb up East Haven Mountain with hopes we’d reach The Cabin around midnight.

We arrived at the trailhead around 9:30 pm to begin our climb in the dark. As always, fears of being too cold quickly dissolved as guys were shedding outer layers once the sweat began pouring down their faces. We had a team-building experience where one of our crew was unable to carry his pack, and it offered a group challenge in learning how to be humble and serve others.

As we had expected, we arrived at The Cabin around midnight and spent the next two hours getting warm and set up for our weekend. We all slept well and long only to be awakened the next morning by the smell of coffee brewing on the stove.

What followed then was four hours of non-stop conversation and food. In spite of new acquaintances, we felt comfortable enough to tell each other our raw and honest stories - some funny and some sad, though we were all encouraged by one another.

The Cabin is an experience where people can connect at such a basic level of friendship and shared experience. With no Cabin work projects or repairs to be concerned about on this trip, it felt so good just to get back to basics by simply being a guide and host with some new people up there.

The Cabin is small and at times it can even feel boring, but it has some of the most expansive views of the White Mountains that I have ever seen. The setting allows space for friends to talk and rest in an unhurried way, and even the work projects that tire every bone in my body build a camaraderie that brings joy to my soul.

I encourage all of us to get back to basics and invite someone new or old to The Cabin in the near future.

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Bryan's Blog: How 4 became 11 - locals show up big for supply haul

7/3/2021

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By Bryan Wiegers, EHMI Chair

The Cabin is truly a place that brings people together and where joy is experienced - even when the work is hard. The Cabin has always been a destination for people to travel to, but even more important are the shared experiences that occur during the journey to get there.

A group of ambitious volunteers did something incredible for The Cabin this past May by hauling up new replacement doors, a window and propane cylinders for The Cabin. The new window will be used to replace the original one in the western wall from more than 30 years ago that is leaking and has a rotted sill. The new storm door will replace the current one that was damaged in a wind storm this past winter. A second door that was carried up is one of the primary components that will allow for us to begin buildout of a new emergency shelter nearby The Cabin.

The most amazing highlight for me about this weekend were the people who came to help, some of whom had never been to The Cabin before. They included folks from the local community as well as a few who made the 4-hour drive to East Haven. When we were planning this work trip earlier in the week, it was clear many of our core volunteers wouldn’t be available. In meeting numerous locals over the years, many have offered me phone numbers to call if we ever needed the help. A chance call to members of the local mountain bike club surprised us. That Saturday when our original four-member team of volunteers arrived at the trailhead, seven of the locals were there to offer their help – which was sorely needed and greatly appreciated!

Our group of 11 volunteers worked in teams to carry the heaviest objects using a "stretcher" type method, and we made sure the teams always had people resting so new strength could swap in and out as hands, arms and leg muscles got tired. What a beautiful life lesson and reminder how we need each other and that we’re not meant to do it all alone.

We are very grateful to the people who raised their hands to tell us, "we will help!"

As you go about your day or week or even plan your next adventure - I hope you can experience the joy of a shared accomplishment. If not, we invite you to join us to do so at The Cabin!

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"I think you're trying to kill us..." and other things my friends said on a hike to The Cabin

7/3/2021

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By Kevin Kempskie, EHMI Board Member

While a relative newbie myself, I LOVE bringing people to The Cabin for their first-ever experience. It can be a challenging hike, but just about everyone I've met who's done it, always says it's a challenge worth doing.

I had been talking about a Cabin trip with some of the guys in my men’s small group from church since last year. And for obvious reasons, we delayed it. But once everyone got the vaccine, a few of the guys in the group were raring to go. Neither of them had yet been, though they had heard the tales from me and others – about the majesty and the serenity of it all; of the significance of the shared experience going there and back again. For me personally, I believe it to be a special privilege to bring people to The Cabin for their first trip, because it’s bound to be memorable – hopefully in the most positive sense – and who wouldn’t want to be part of that?

The guys in our small group had become fairly close and range in age from late 40s up to 65 and for the most part, are in fine physical condition. Maybe we’re more spiritually strong than physically fit…but we can all get around fine.

Like any trip, we did some simple but essential planning to determine logistics, what gear to bring (and what needed to be borrowed) as well as what we’d do and eat when we got up to The Cabin for our 2-night excursion.
Just over 11 years ago, I was invited on my first trip to The Cabin with guys who I’d gotten to know through a men’s ministry program at our church. When I say that the experience turned out to be a life-changing event for me, I mean it with total sincerity. What happened with those guys on top of that mountain got me pointed very significantly towards recovery, when nothing prior to that fateful weekend had broken through. So, while I completely realize not every first trip to The Cabin is meant to result in someone having a life-changing experience like I did, I never want to take for granted God’s will or doubt the possibility that it could.

We began our hike a bit after 1:30 pm on an unusually warm afternoon in late May. Neither of my traveling companions had strapped a loaded hiking backpack on to climb a mountain before. This is the part where I may be guilty of being overly optimistic. The challenge of hiking a steepening mountain trail is no simple task even for those in good physical shape. Add heat, humidity and 30+ pound backpacks for middle-aged guys of average ability and the difficulty level goes up a few notches.

“I think you're trying to kill us!” exclaimed Chris, not quite breathless, but panting and wiping sweat from his brow.

“I’m too old for this – I’m in ‘grampy shape,’ not this kind of shape,” joked Bob…kinda…

We made frequent stops on the way up. With no reason to hurry and plenty of daylight left, we were able to take our time climbing the Norman Trail. I did everything else I could think of along the way to encourage, help and cheer on my friends and to their immense credit, neither of them gave up.

When we finally stepped out onto the deck of The Cabin, my traveling companions stood in stunned silence and awe, treated to the grand view of the surrounding mountains and beyond to the White Mountain peaks to the east. The physical discomfort of the hike was practically forgotten, giving way to a sense of shared accomplishment and appreciation for both the beauty of our surroundings and for each other.

Our trio spent the remainder of the day and evening enjoying each other’s company, taking in the newness of the place and adjusting to the little things that remind you what it means to be in the middle of the wilderness. Electricity and running water are both limited and precious commodities at The Cabin. A solar panel delivers power for lights, a ceiling fan, and enough juice to charge a few cell phones. In the non-winter months, rainwater captured by roofline gutters and stored in an outside rain barrel flows through the kitchen faucet to provide water that we filter for drinking. There’s the ever-present thought in the back of one’s mind that a trip to the nearby outhouse will be inevitable. But having these creature comforts at the Cabin in a smaller measure than we’re accustomed to seems to make them all the more remarkable that they’re even available in such a remote and beautiful place.

After breakfast the following morning, I encouraged Chris and Bob to relax and do a bit of exploring on the top of East Haven Mountain. I was going to leave them both to go back down the trail to retrieve a replacement mattress from the truck that was tightly rolled and contained in a box that I was going to hike up using a “rack-pack” carrier. Assuming they wanted nothing to do with repeating the arduous hike they had done less than 24 hours prior, I had planned to do the chore alone.

Both men refused to let me go it alone and said they wanted to make the hike again. I was stunned. It spoke volumes about their character. And so, we did it together – this time sparing ourselves from carrying our heavy packs – since there was little to take with us except for what water we needed to stay hydrated. To make the climb back up shorter and a bit more interesting, we drove to the other side of East Haven Mountain to access a logging road that put us more than halfway up the Gordon Trail. I hauled the boxed-up mattress on my back while my two hiking companions carried the water and literally helped push me up several steep sections of the trail. It took us half the time to make it up. The guys had really impressed with their never-quit attitude. Just like the previous day, a triumphant feeling of shared accomplishment punctuated the day’s events.

It’s a rare feeling for most of us who enjoy a comfortable and mostly sedentary lifestyle in the modern ‘burbs. And for me personally, I can’t get enough of it. At a somewhat deeper level, it’s about the pursuit of adventure, in search of a tiny slice of beauty and tranquility on God’s green earth. To deliberately set out, unhurried with a few traveling companions to do things that are hard, sharing in both the suffering and joyful accomplishment of the experience. That’s part of what the Cabin offers. And it’s my belief that so many people have a deep hunger and yearning for these kinds of experiences. To disconnect from busy lives and connect anew to God through the soul-filling beauty of nature and the spirit-affirming company of a few traveling companions.

I can’t wait to do it again with a new set of first timers!

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New weather station enables live weather updates from atop East Haven Mountain

6/20/2021

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By Doug Stark, EHMI Treasurer

After successfully installing new cellular weather instruments atop the fire tower, Doug Stark & Walter Norman pose for a victory selfie. Thanks fellas!

Thanks to a generous donation from Cabin friend and East Haven Mountain neighbor Walter Norman, it's now possible to get live weather condition updates on your smartphone that are hyper-local to The Cabin. This past Spring I joined Walter to install the cellular weather station equipment on top of the fire tower.

Walter had purchased the weather station nearly five years ago for use at The Cabin but hadn't been able to properly install it until this year. The unit had to be reconfigured with new electronic components in order to make it work with current Verizon wireless standards as well as to make it configurable via Bluetooth.

This professional-grade instrument is now recording wind direction, wind speed, outside temperature, barometric pressure, and rain fall levels. Every hour it sends a new batch of meteorological data from East Haven Mountain to the cloud, providing timely and accurate weather conditions and extended forecasts at any time and from anywhere. Given how quickly weather can change in the mountains, this information is vital for planning safer hikes to and from The Cabin.

Check it out yourself with the free smartphone app by searching for and installing WeatherLink from Davis Instruments on Apple's App Store or Google Play. You can also check it out from any PC at www.weatherlink.com.

Both the app and website require you to create your own free personal account. Then simply search for the weather station named "CABIN" and scroll down the menu to select the one named "East Haven, VT, USA" .

Make it a favorite in the app and you'll be able to see the data quickly and easily at any time.

Our thanks to Walter for this gift and for a great day together of problem solving and succeeding in implementing a wonderful tool for The Cabin!

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Real warmth at last - volunteers haul up new woodstove

2/11/2021

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By Kevin Kempskie, EHMI Board Member

It didn’t look like much. But the small stature of this cast iron box belied its true heft.

At 248 pounds, this wood stove weighed more than most refrigerators - but in a much smaller package. And we had to figure out some way the five of us were going to haul it up a mountain.

“We’re gonna ‘Ark of the Covenant’ this thing,” said Bryan Wiegers with a grin, referring to the way the ancient Israelites used wooden poles to carry the Ark of God in the days of Moses. I couldn’t help but also think about how Indy and Salah did the same thing in Raiders of the Lost Ark…

But this was no movie; we were undertaking a special mission to replace the worn-out woodstove that has helped keep Cabin guests warm for the last 30+ years. That stove stopped producing efficient heat a few winters ago and could hardly keep The Cabin warmer than 65 degrees on a cold winter’s night. Replacing it was a critical update on the list of the EHMI Board of Trustees.

There were five of us who had volunteered to undertake this mission. Bryan Wiegers, of course, who sourced the woodstove itself, buying it with Greg Gordon several years earlier. Then there was Kent Koeman, a man who smiles at just about every opportunity to do things that are physically difficult. Alongside Kent there was Brian Graves, another man with sneaky powerful strength and an appetite for conquering the most physical of challenges. Also, Mike Clafferty, a new Friend of the Cabin who came along to relish in the labor while keeping us laughing with funny quips and his masterful ability to belch at will. Then there was me – a guy with a bad back and barely average strength, but who loves the camaraderie of being on a mission with other guys.

And so, we were the five who stood over this small black box of heaviness at Camp Shiloh in New Hampshire, fingertips stroking chins and brows, wondering aloud how we would transport it safely up East Haven Mountain without killing ourselves both figuratively and literally.

And then there was that wonderful “eureka” moment that broke into our collective thought and discussion – of how transporting it would be possible using two long 2x4s and a few tie-down straps. A brilliant “man-o-vation” crystalized and before we knew it, the stove was attached very sturdily to the wood and the straps in a manner that would even make Indiana Jones proud.

After loading it into Bryan’s pickup, we soaked in the blessings of a prayer spoken over us by Greg Gordon (the original owner of The Cabin) to encourage us, keep us safe and give us strength.

Within an hour we were in East Haven, unloading the stove in the pouring rain at the side of a deserted logging road that Bryan said would give us the shortest point-to-point route to The Cabin. Just under a mile.
We took some pieces off the stove to lighten it – such as a few of the internal firewall cement blocks; the door and another piece of bolted-on metal. We would return to the truck for those pieces and our backpacks after we got the stove to The Cabin.

It was a precarious and exhausting haul. It started off with four guys carrying the stove up the trail, each man grabbing hold of one end of a 2x4, ignoring the fact we were quickly soaked through our clothes from the rain…heaving, sliding, lifting our “little ark” in all sorts of awkward ways up a narrow trail that was getting progressively muddier and steeper.

We stopped about every 20-50 feet to re-grip, catch our breath, navigate over a large rock or fallen tree or to rotate where each man was carrying so as not to exhaust left and right arm and leg muscles too quickly. The fifth man would rotate in with fresher muscles every 10 minutes or so. It was quite an effective system that we made up on the fly. Nonetheless, the task was brutally challenging.

The strongest guys in the group – which was everyone but me – would sometimes take the stove for a spell with only one man carrying it at either end. Sure, they’d grant the rest of us a reprieve, but I could swear they also did it because they’re the kind of guys who thrive on pushing their bodies through seemingly impossible physical challenges.

“You guys are animals!” I would shout, as they found a fresh burst of energy and strength that I could only hope to muster.

At just under a mile, this kind of hike would normally take around 30 minutes, depending on a hiker’s pace and the frequency of rest breaks. For these five guys hauling a mini Ark of the Covenant in the rain, it took just over two hours. One of our crew recorded the journey using a hiking tracker app on his smartphone and discovered some fascinating data: during those two hours, we were stationary for 83 minutes, while in motion hauling the stove uphill for the other 37 minutes. We also made a vertical gain of more than 1,400 feet on that trail. So, while it was the shortest route to The Cabin, it was also one of the steepest ways to get there.

The rain abated during the climb and the sun even poked through as we got closer to the top. Fortunately, our collective strength and determination (fueled by The Holy Spirit!) helped us carry on. When we reached the clearing at the toolshed, sore hands and tired muscles gave way to excitement that our goal was close by. That’s when Kent Koeman and Brian Graves had another burst of energy, each taking hold of one end of the stove themselves and making the last 200 yards of the haul on their own. Within minutes we were making our way onto the deck of The Cabin. There were high-fives, fist-bumps and a collective praise to God for giving us everything we needed to make it happen.

Within about 10 minutes all five of us were on our way BACK DOWN the mountain to the vehicles. We still had to retrieve the other pieces of the stove and we needed our backpacks and the food we would be cooking for dinner. But Bryan made sure we wouldn’t be going down empty-handed! An old gas grill was quickly disassembled. It, along with a couple of broken plastic chairs, and a few trash bags of old food and Cabin clutter were soon slung over our backs for the descent. The load was certainly lighter and going downhill was so much easier that within 30 minutes we made it back to the truck. A brief rest at the bottom and then with stove pieces and our backpacks, we went right back up the trail. The stronger, fitter guys bounded back up the mountain trail while some of us (that would be me), were finding it difficult to ignore the fatigue and muscle soreness. Let’s just say it took a bit longer for me to get back up the mountain a second time.

Back at The Cabin, we began the disassembly process of the old woodstove that would ultimately be replaced. After some wrenching, unscrewing and shifting, the old red stove came loose from its perch, after which it was brought out onto the deck. Meanwhile the new stove and all its newly assembled piece parts that we hauled up was shimmied into place. We propped it up onto some blocks to ensure it lined up for an exact fit with the Cabin’s stovepipe.

After a few final adjustments, Kent could hardly wait to christen the new stove and began loading it with newspaper and a couple pieces of firewood. Within minutes, we were enjoying the warm glow of the stove’s first fire, despite the fact it was late July and at least 85 degrees outside. But it HAD to be done by this group of guys who, out of love for the EHMI mission of bringing people closer to God through shared experiences at The Cabin, were happy to bear the brunt of hauling that heavy hunk of iron up the mountain.

As the small flame began to grow, it became a moment to savor and reflect on. We smiled and laughed – not to congratulate ourselves or to satisfy our egos, but to celebrate together the accomplishment of this mission that God had given us to do for the benefit of future Cabin visitors.

This woodstove will bring warmth and comfort, hopefully to thousands of Cabin guests over the next 30 years – God willing.

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Bryan's Blog: Options...

10/16/2020

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By Bryan Wiegers, EHMI Board Chairman

The next time you hike to The Cabin, you will have options. You can either take the “Gordon Trail” or the “Norman Trail.”

The Gordon Trail climbs from the South and is the traditional route that most of us have used over the years, and the Norman Trail ascends from the Northwest, popping you up onto the summit ridge of East Haven Mountain with views of East Mountain on your left and the Burke valley on your right as you walk the final 30 minutes to The Cabin. These two marked trails are named in honor of the two families that made the trails a reality for us to use, and we are grateful!

Additionally, there are three unmarked trails that lead to The Cabin following old logging roads from harvesting operations decades ago that I have used, as well as the limitless options for bushwhacking to The Cabin using a compass and/or GPS. All this to say, there are options for deciding on how to climb up to The Cabin!

Similar to hiking to The Cabin, our lives are also filled with options and choices. Making a Cabin trip requires decisions on preparation, direction, exertion and focus. Sometimes the focus is on the next step you are taking, and sometimes you are focusing a long distance in front of you to make sure you are headed in the right direction.

Over the years, many have climbed to The Cabin pondering the options that lay before them in their lives as well, and a Cabin trip is a unique parallel to our lives as we sift through all the available options that lie before us and make choices.

It is our hope and prayer that The Cabin will be a safe and peaceful place for people to get away to rest and gain clarity on the options before them. We hope people will be encouraged as they walk the trails, read and look out over the mountains, and we believe people will help each other along the way as they converse on the deck with either new or old friends.

They may even be mentored by someone who is invited to share some of the wisdom they have gained over the years through the ups and downs of life. Greg Gordon built The Cabin 30 years ago because he had a love for the mountaintops and a desire for solitude mixed with prayer after a long and busy week. He had the option to keep it to himself, or to allow others to experience his place of refuge. He chose the option to share this special place, and that decision has brought joy to many lives.

As we all consider the options that lay before us, I hope we can learn from Greg’s example to choose not just the best option for us personally, but options that bless others.

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Reaching for the Summit in Partnership with EHMI

10/16/2020

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By Kent Koeman, EHMI Board

Hauling a 250-pound woodstove by hand up a mountain took teamwork. While the hike was less than a mile, it took a total of two hours. For only 37 minutes of those two hours did we actually move the stove uphill.

The remainder of that time was spent resting, trading off, encouraging and planning our next move. Strapped to a couple of 2x4s, "Ark of the Covenant-style," hauling that stove was difficult, but we did it together. Partnering on that significant achievement is part of what The Cabin is all about.

We’d like to invite you into a similar experience. While you may not be crazy enough or physically able to join the heavy hauling crew, we’d like to invite you to be an EHMI Summit Partner.

A Summit Partner helps sustain the mission and operation of The Cabin with a total annual tax-deductible gift of at least $1000. The funds help sustain vital ongoing operating expenses (insurance coverage, property taxes, propane, etc.). Summit Partners also reinforce the commitment and participation that’s necessary to maintain focus on our common mission: inviting others into The Cabin experience that so many have come to benefit from.

Hauling a cast iron stove up a mountain took a true team effort. So does maintaining the mission of The Cabin at East Haven Mountain. We hope you’ll consider joining us at the top as a Summit Partner. For details, contact Treasurer, Doug Stark at info@the-cabin.org

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<<Previous

Thank You Board Members – EHMI Transitions

The Magic of Backcountry Skiing on East Haven Mountain

Successful Snowmobile Haul Proves New Option for Bringing Vital Supplies to The Cabin

Bryan's Blog - Getting Back to Basics

Bryan's Blog: How 4 became 11 - locals show up big for supply haul

"I think you're trying to kill us..." and other things my friends said on a hike to The Cabin

New weather station enables live weather updates from atop East Haven Mountain

By Doug Stark, EHMI Treasurer

Real warmth at last - volunteers haul up new woodstove

Bryan's Blog: Options...

Reaching for the Summit in Partnership with EHMI

Cabin News Blog

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