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.
Town of Inlet Announces Royalty for Frozen Fire & Lights Event
by Margie O’Hara
Meet the 2023 Inlet Royal Family who will reign at Frozen Fire & Lights on February 25; the Hennessy family, Queen Britta, King Devlin, and Princes Olin and Vale. The couple met while they were students at Marist College. Because of their affinity for the outdoors and Britta’s family history of spending time at her family’s camp on Seventh Lake, they chose to take their wedding vows nine years ago in 2013, in the Adirondacks.
“The Hearth,” exhibit of paintings by Michael Burpoe to open Feb. 3
Saranac Lake, NY – The Adirondack Artists Guild will present “The Hearth,” an exhibit of recent watercolor paintings by Michael Burpoe during the month of February. The show will open with a reception on Friday, February 3, from 5 to 8 p.m., and will run through March 14.
Adirondack Lake Survey Corp Merger into Ausable River Association is Complete
The governing boards of the Adirondack Lake Survey Corporation (ALSC) and the Ausable River Association (AsRA) announced that on January 1, 2023, the proposed merger between the two organizations had been finalized. Former ALSC Program Manager Phil Snyder has joined AsRA full-time, bringing extensive field science and laboratory experience to AsRA’s efforts in the Ausable watershed and to watershed throughout the Adirondack Park. Snyder serves as field research manager for the pilot of SCALE – the collaborative Survey of Climate Change in Adirondack Lake Ecosystems.
Singing Ice and Soup
Up until last week, I had not realized just how much I missed the sound of singing ice.
When I was a child, my mom firmly believed in the value of sending kids outdoors to play, regardless of the conditions. Much like the United States Postal Service, no sleet, snow, rain, heat, gloom of night, or other varying atmospheric conditions would prompt our mom to waver from her mandate. If we were home and not completing indoor chores or homework, we were expected to be outdoors.
At the time, I did not exactly appreciate the benefits that fresh air and exercise – even when imposed on an unwilling recipient – could offer. However, I did appreciate the opportunity to hone such skills as tree/snow fort/shelter creation, fish acquisition (using a rod – somewhat successful; trying to catch them with my hands like I saw in the old Disney movies – not so much), campfire building/outdoor cooking (foreshadowing!), sledding (bonus points for missing trees and fences; extra bonus points for getting air or steering close to a sister and causing them to wipe out when going downhill), knot tying (successful in tying knots; unsuccessful in correctly tying specific knots that could also be untied), tree climbing, swimming (bonus points for not getting any leeches; extra bonus points if your sister did), ice skating, and more.
DEC’s Annual Tree and Shrub Seedling Sale is Now Open
More Than 50 Species Available from Colonel William F. Fox Memorial Saratoga Tree Nursery
On January 5, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced the start of the Colonel William F. Fox Memorial Saratoga Tree Nursery annual spring seedling sale, which is open to the public and runs until May 12. Each year, the nursery offers low-cost, New York-grown tree and shrub species for sale to encourage plantings that help conserve the state’s natural resources and foster the next generation of forests.
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.
ADK Park: Environmental Conservation Police News
Patrolling the Winter Games – Essex County
Thirty-five ECOs are helping protect public safety during the FISU World University Games, an 11-day competition and celebration of international university sports and culture. The Officers reported to the Olympic Center the weekend before the games started and continue to provide security at the venue, both on foot and utilizing drones. Thousands of student athletes from more than 50 countries are competing in 12 different sports.
Wearing sustainability
Sustainable clothing includes items which are produced in an environmentally friendly and socially responsible way from start to finish – from design, to materials/production, to store, to the consumer.
Looking to green your wardrobe this New Year? Here are some benefits of dressing to impress in a green way:
APIPP: Forest Pest Hunters training webinar set for Jan. 24
ADIRONDACKS – Forest Pest Hunter volunteer Bill Widrig has reported more than 300 forest pest survey observations, and he isn’t done yet. Widrig was among the first to join the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program’s Forest Pest Hunters effort when it began in 2021.
“Our property on the lake has old growth hemlock, some over 200 years old, that are very special to us,” Widrig said. “As hemlock woolly adelgid is a threat to these trees and all other hemlocks in the Northeast, I felt that I could not in good conscience just stand by and do nothing to help stop the spread of this pest.”
Primal Pleasure
Primal Pleasure
It wasn’t really on the list,
but why not take, I thought, an hour or so
to shift some things in the garage.
It was a good excuse to start an outdoor fire,
to warm my hands between each shifting shift.
Except, I spent more time beside the fire pit
than working hard on the garage.
Outdoor Conditions (1/20): Avalanche Lake and Lake Colden have poor ice coverage
The following are only the most recent notices pertaining to public lands in the Adirondacks. Please check the Adirondack Backcountry webpages for a full list of notices, including seasonal road statuses, rock climbing closures, specific trail conditions, and other pertinent information
NEW THIS WEEK
High Peaks Wilderness: Snow Report (01/19): The following report describes conditions as of Thursday, 01/19. Changing weather may affect conditions. There is 13.8in. of snow at the Colden Caretaker Cabin and several feet of snow at higher elevations. Conditions now require snowshoes to be worn in the Eastern High Peaks Wilderness. Microspikes and crampons are also needed for traction on ice. Avalanche Lake and Lake Colden have low quality ice coverage, with soft sections and areas of running water. Conditions on ski trails range from moderate to poor.
DEC-APA Defy The Courts And Keep Unconstitutional Trails Open
It’s been nearly two years since the New York Court of Appeals, the State’s highest court, ruled that extra-wide Class II Community Connector Snowmobile Trails designed, approved, and constructed by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) violate Article 14, Section 1, of the New York State Constitution, the famed the “Forever Wild” clause. The high court’s decision followed a decision in 2019 by the Appellate Division, Third Department, that Class II trails violate Article 14. The Court of Appeals decision came out in May 2021 and we’re now into our second winter where the DEC and APA continue to operate unconstitutional Class II trails as if the courts have not ruled against them.
Protect the Adirondacks is now back in court in an effort to get the state to comply with the appellate court decisions.
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