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SARANAC LAKE, NY – A brand new mountain race – featuring skiing, biking, kayaking/canoeing, and running – will be held on Saturday morning, March 4th to highlight the abundant outdoor recreation opportunities in the region, organizers announced.
Snow Days at Great Camp Sagamore set for Jan. 21, Feb. 25
Raquette Lake, NY – All are invited to join in for a day full of sledding, ice skating, snow croquet and campfires at upcoming Snow Days at Great Camp Sagamore on January 21, 2023 and February 25, 2023 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Guided cross-country skiing sessions will also be available at 10 a.m. as well as guided snow shoe hikes at 1 p.m. Chili, coffee, tea and hot chocolate will be served starting at noon and will continue as long as supply lasts. Year-round Raquette Lake Residents, Great Camp Sagamore members, and children under five are free; General Admission is $5.
Bizarre weather, clearing debris from trails, and banding over 175 Evening Grosbeaks
Still no winter weather in sight. [There is a] combination of rain and snow in the forecast during the next week, so the snow dancers better get back in action. Out west, California is getting hammered for the last two weeks and more [is] coming today (January 9). Five inches of rain [is] forecast across most of the state, with four to five feet of snow in the mountains…they just can’t get a break. They had lots of flooding from the first two storms, and now this one on top will cause mudslides from areas bare from the forest fires.
21st Long Lake Winter Carnival set for Jan. 14, Winter Wonderland Bingo is Back
The 21st annual Long Lake Winter Carnival will be held on Saturday, January 14 beginning at noon at Mt. Sabattis Recreation Center in Long Lake, NY. Events kick off with a coronation of the King and Queen of the Moonlighter’s Snowmobile Club followed by a slate of fun family friendly events. The Cardboard Sled Races start at 1 p.m., with prizes awarded for speed and overall award for Best in Show. Sleds can be made with cardboard, paint, wax and tape. Racing categories are for individuals and for teams. There will be a bonfire as well as ice skating and sledding available all day.
Other events throughout the day include a Fashion Competition. Don your best and most outlandish winter outfits. Team themes are encouraged. Other events include: Town-Wide Photo, Kids Balloon Chase, Goalie’s Day Off, Men’s Feats of Strength, the Ladies Frying Pan Toss, and fireworks at 6 p.m. All events are free. The Ice Farm will be installing an ice sculpture garden. Local businesses and organizations are encouraged to sign up with Long Lake Parks and Recreation to be included.
Attention Ruffed Grouse Hunters – Watch out for Spruce Grouse
Ruffed grouse hunters are reminded to positively identify their quarry before shooting. The Northern Zone, specifically Wildlife Management Units 5C, 5F, 6F, and 6J, is also home to the spruce grouse. The spruce grouse is a state-endangered species and is not legal to hunt. Loss of a spruce grouse, particularly a female spruce grouse, could be a significant setback for a small local population.
Spruce grouse occur in lowland conifer forests in the Adirondacks. During the fall, spruce grouse frequently make their way to roads to eat gravel and occasionally travel into upland hardwood forests where ruffed grouse occur. Small game hunters in the Adirondack region must be able to distinguish between these species so that spruce grouse are not shot by mistake. For tips on how to discern the two species, view the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Guide or the Ruffed Grouse Hunting Information page on DEC’s website.
DEC is looking for ruffed grouse hunters to submit feathers from harvested birds in order to assess recruitment (number of young produced per adult female grouse) for different parts of the state. Interested hunters should visit the Ruffed Grouse Hunting Information page on DEC’s website.
Photo at top provided by the NYS DEC.
472 acres of ADK land protected through Adirondack Land Trust and Lake Placid Land Conservancy merger
KEENE — The merger of two nationally accredited land trusts streamlines operations and ensures continued open space protection in New York’s Adirondack Park.
Effective January 1, 2023, the Lake Placid Land Conservancy (LPLC) will merge into the Adirondack Land Trust as approved by the New York State Attorney General’s office and the Secretary of State. The assets, programs and land stewardship responsibilities of LPLC will be transferred to the Adirondack Land Trust.
Through the merger, 472 acres in the towns of North Elba, Jay, Keene and Wilmington will be added to the Adirondack Land Trust’s portfolio of land protection sites. This includes the Three Sisters Preserve in Wilmington, which is a popular destination for mountain biking, trail running, hiking and snowshoeing, and serves as a community connector between the town’s bike skills park and Forest Preserve trails adjacent to Hardy Road. Public access will remain the same and preserve signage will be updated.
Paul Smith’s College National Championship Nordic Team Celebration set for Jan. 11
Paul Smiths, NY – The Paul Smith’s College National Championship Nordic Team certainly has a reason to celebrate, as USA Nordic announced its team for the 2023 World University Games in Lake Placid, which includes two Bobcats, Aidan Ripp and Timothy Ziegler. The student athletes will represent the United States in the Nordic Combined event, a combination of classic cross-country disciplines and ski jumping. All are welcome to gather together to celebrate and honor the Paul Smith’s College National Championship Nordic Team (Bobcats) by attending a special event hosted by Paul Smith’s College VIC. The event is free and open to the public and will take place on the evening of Wednesday, January 11 from 6 to 8 p.m at the Frank Hutchins Lodge at the Paul Smith’s College VIC. Guests will be treated to live music, free food, beer, wine and spirits catered by alum David Pittman. Event organizers have coordinated a special awards ceremony to recognize the team’s accomplishments. The ceremony is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Paul Smith’s College VIC is located at 8023 State Route 30 in Paul Smiths, NY. For more information about Paul Smith’s College VIC, call (518) 327-6241, email vic@paulsmiths.edu or visit https://www.paulsmithsvic.org/ Photo at top: Paul Smith’s College Nordic Ski Team. Paul Smith’s VIC website photo.
Legion of nutcrackers take a long winter’s nap, juvenile loon freed from Fourth Lake ice
Our New Year’s weekend was a washout for sure, with rain and warmer temperatures taking a toll on what snow we had. What I see out my front window is mostly bare ground where there was over 18 inches of snow a week ago. I had a fisher and a coyote visit the deer carcass on the dam during daylight hours, which meant they were hungry. There were four Ravens and a pair of Bald Eagles waiting their turn in the treetops on the other side of the pond. Now that the snow is nearly gone, I haven’t seen any of them. I still have over fifty Evening Grosbeaks coming daily to the feeders, and the two White-Throated Sparrows are still sneaking seeds and hiding in the brush pile. There are still some new Black-Capped Chickadees coming to the feeders as I’ve banded almost twenty hatch-year birds in the last two weeks.
Camp Santanoni to host three winter weekends
Open House Events Offer Rare Access into Historic Camp Buildings
Three Winter Weekend events are being held in 2023 at the historic Camp Santanoni in the town of Newcomb in the Adirondacks. Hosted by DEC and the Friends of Camp Santanoni, the Winter Weekends invite visitors to enjoy winter recreation and exclusive winter access to the preserved buildings of the former camp. This is the first time these popular winter events are being held since the COVID-19 pandemic and are made possible through DEC’s partnership with the Friends of Camp Santanoni, which includes Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH), State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) Adirondack Interpretive Center (AIC), the town of Newcomb, and thousands of supporters who believe in the importance of preserving this historic Great Camp for use as public education, recreation, and inspiration.
PSC: Aidan Ripp and Timothy Ziegler Named to USA Nordic Combined Roster at 2023 World University Games
Park City, Utah – USA Nordic has announced its team for the 2023 World University Games in Lake Placid, NY and it includes two Paul Smith’s College athletes. Aidan Ripp and Timothy Ziegler will represent the United States in the Nordic Combined event, which is a combination of ski jumping and classic cross-country disciplines. Aidan Ripp has competed in several Continental Cups for the United States in Nordic Combined, including last year’s pre-Olympics event in Beijing. In that competition he had top-25 finishes to earn valuable Continental Cup (COC) points. He is the USCSA National Ski Champion from 2022 and led the Paul Smith’s College men’s team to their first-ever National Championship in that division. He also competed in the US Olympic Trials in Lake Placid, NY where he finished in 11th place. In addition to competing for the men’s USA Nordic team in the World University Games, Aidan is a 4.0 student.
Timothy Ziegler joins Ripp at the upcoming games, having battled through an injury last year to get himself in true competitive form. A junior at Paul Smith’s College, Ziegler has had considerable experience and success as a USA Junior athlete in Nordic Combined over the years. He has spent the last year recovering from an injury that occurred during pre-jumps at the US Olympic Trials last December. After all the adversity, “Timo” has done tremendously well, and was named to the USA Nordic team for Nordic Combined for the World University Games.
SUNY ESF: Adirondack Interpretive Center announces roundup of winter events
The Adirondack Interpretive Center at SUNY ESF’s Newcomb Campus has recently announced a lineup of winter activities such as guided snowshoeing excursions, bird walks, a winter tracking workshop, a Cross-Country Ski to Forestry Demonstration Cuts activity, and more. Please see below for details on each event. Interested parties may register for an event by clicking on the provided links.
Winter Bird Walk
Saturday January 7th, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Guest birder, Miok Salz, will start the morning identifying the winter finches visiting the AIC feeders. This will be followed by and easy snowshoe on the trails to look for more birds.
Snowshoes provided. Preregistration required – click here to register via email.
Recreation Highlight: Camp Sagamore Trail System
Within the 47,000-acre Blue Ridge Wilderness lies the Camp Sagamore Trail System. Located near and around the grounds of Great Camp Sagamore, a registered National Historic Landmark and one of few Adirondack Great Camps still in existence today, this trail system provides an immersive nature experience.
The system consists of four interconnected trails. At 3.8 miles, the Sagamore Lake Trail is the longest, looping around the shores of Sagamore Lake and briefly passing the camp itself. Though the trails are not part of the historic Great Camp Sagamore complex, reminders of the Gilded Age can still be found in the surrounding woods. Along the Powerhouse Trail lies the remnants of an old gatehouse and a powerhouse that once used natural water energy to create electricity for Great Camp Sagamore. Please use caution around these historic sites and help preserve these landmarks by leaving what you find for others to enjoy.
Trailhead Locations:
All trailheads can be found on Sagamore Road in Inlet, NY. Turn onto Sagamore Road off Route 28 in Raquette Lake. The first trailhead will be for the Cascades Trail, the next for the Powerhouse Trail; you can find parking for the Sagamore Lake Trail just before the Great Camp itself. (N 43.771987°; W 74.637854°).
DEC photo
Cascade Welcome Center: Free weekend programs to begin Jan. 6
January 2, 2023 — Lake Placid, NY — Starting this Friday, January 6, the Adirondack Mountain Club’s (ADK’s) Cascade Welcome Center will be hosting free weekend nature and recreation programs throughout the winter season. Led by ADK naturalists, each program is open to all ages and aims to connect locals and visitors to the natural wonders of the Adirondacks.
Snowshoe rentals can be provided free of charge for all programs. Participants should come prepared with warm layers to spend at least an hour outside in subfreezing temperatures. Details about each program are listed below.
Looking back at first days as a Ranger, keeping feeders stocked for over 50 Evening Grosbeaks
The first day of winter was very nice, but the next few days right through (and past) Christmas Day were wild in many parts of the country. The worst being right in our backyard in Buffalo where the snow is still falling and the wind [is] still blowing off Lake Erie. [It has been] reported that 55 people have died so far [as of December 26] as a result of the storm, many found dead in their snow-trapped cars and some [were found] out on the streets frozen to death.
The quick change in temperature from in the forties down to below zero in just a few hours and winds up to (and over) 70 MPH off the lake brought the snowfall of over five feet in some places again, and drifts of over 16 feet. Many people didn’t heed the warnings and they had to get out and do that last minute Christmas shopping, which could have been their last trip. We missed most of that here in the North Country, but just north of us in the Tug Hill area they had over four feet of snow, and it is still falling there as of this writing [December 26.]
Latest News Headlines
- Aurora displays light up the night
- What are PFAS and are they in Adirondack waters?
- Urging a solution to Jackrabbit Trail access
- Appreciating kinship on a trip to Great Camp Santanoni
- Gov. proposes crackdown on unlicensed cannabis storefronts
- Jones: State needs to do more for fire departments
- U.S. and Canada Reach an Agreement on Diverting Asylum Seekers
- 20-megawatt battery installation proposed in Raquette Lake
- Covered for calamity at Siamese Ponds
- Two charged in Keeseville homicide
Latest News Headlines
- Aurora displays light up the night
- What are PFAS and are they in Adirondack waters?
- Urging a solution to Jackrabbit Trail access
- Appreciating kinship on a trip to Great Camp Santanoni
- Gov. proposes crackdown on unlicensed cannabis storefronts
- Jones: State needs to do more for fire departments
- U.S. and Canada Reach an Agreement on Diverting Asylum Seekers
- 20-megawatt battery installation proposed in Raquette Lake
- Covered for calamity at Siamese Ponds
- Two charged in Keeseville homicide
The Adirondack Almanack
The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topics of interest to the Adirondacks and its communities
We publish commentary and opinion pieces from voluntary contributors, as well as news updates and event notices from area organizations. Contributors include veteran local writers, historians, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region. The information, views and opinions expressed by these various authors are not necessarily those of the Adirondack Almanack or its publisher, the Adirondack Explorer.
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor Melissa Hart.
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Follow that Quacking: Observing 75 Mallards and one Black Duck in Inlet
Things at Eight Acre Wood look about the same as they did last week, with only an inch of new snow to make the landscape white. That shows the critters who have been wandering around the yard. [Some of these include] several deer, a coyote, a fisher, a mink, an otter, a snowshoe hare, one turkey, several varieties of mice, a pine marten, a couple red squirrels, a flying squirrel, ravens, crows, and a Bald Eagle stopped by for a snack on the dam. Most of them also got caught on one of my trail cameras, as many of them are night travelers. In all my hikes, I thought I might even see a bear track, but I guess they are smarter than that. There is nothing for them to eat right now, so they better stay napping.
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