For this hardy Vermont crew, a perfect day means yurt camping, trail building, riding bikes, and a river plunge.

Ask Laura Jackson what her version of a perfect day is, and she doesn’t need too much time to figure out the answer. “My idea of a perfect day is waking up to see a bunch of friends tented around my yurt, good food and lots of coffee, then diving into trail building that happens up in the woods and biking,” she says. “Then definitely at some point, a swim in the river.”

In this short film, “Camp Lauldwell” made by director Anne Cleary of Mad Trees, Jackson and her husband, Caldwell Clark, invite us into their perfect day. “‘Camp Lauldwell’ is a tale of two energetic outdoors folk,” filmmaker Anne Cleary says. “These two have been working in their respective fields—outdoor leadership, landscape design and treework—for years in different locations across the country. They have been following these pursuits on a path in a really organic way, making big life decisions based on passion, alongside friends and family.”

A couple of years ago, Jackson and Clark bought a 95-acre property in Vermont’s Mad River Valley and they’ve been slowly building mountain bike trails on their forested hillside above their yurt. It started with jumps and now they have a small network for trails with names like Curious George and Pasta Man.

“I can’t imagine anyone else molding a place in the same way these two work with the land,” Cleary adds. “This place is built to gather people—it’s a culmination of their outdoor pursuits and their drive to share and build community.”

“Camp Lauldwell” is a picture of two energetic people putting their hearts, talent, and hard work into a place that’s given them so much. 

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