10th Annual Earth Day 7K Recap!
It's been a while since we've had Christmas in April, but it seems that Jack Frost was having a great year and wasn't ready to let go quite yet. 80 degree temperatures on Saturday gave way to mid 30's for our Sunday race, with a dusting of snow to welcome our 2026 participants to the course! This year's assortment of refreshments included hot cocoa to keep spirits up ahead of a challenging day on the Kip and Saddlemire trails.
With over two dozen participants in this year's race, we were able to raise over $500 for environmental programming in the North Country! These funds will support Nature Up North's ability to provide k-12 after school education, community events like our summer paddle and campfire series, community science projects, and more. The North Country community demonstrated what generosity, grit, and passion look like this past Sunday. With the course starting amid falling snowflakes on the flooded Kip Trail, participants got to see first-hand what it truly means to be a "flooded forest" after a fast-melting snowpack was followed by consistent rains through early spring. After our participants navigated the Kip Trail, they were rewarded with much drier trails as they entered the Saddlemire Trail on their way back towards St. Lawrence University. Avoiding the 9th tee and bearing left onto the Avenue of the Elms, the end was almost in sight! Runners and walkers dashed through campus, turned left onto Park St., crossed the Little River, and returned to the finish at the Wachtmeister Field Station.
We also want to thank our sponsor for this race, Nature's Storehouse! They have continued to be a supporter of our programming through donations of refreshments for participants and prizes for our raffle. We'd also like to thank SLU Athletics, Ogdensburg Bowl, Canton JRECK's, and Canton Little Italy for rounding out our raffle table with gift cards and merchandise! Finally, thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the trails and the spring weather, celebrate Earth Day, and support outdoor engagement and stewardship with Nature Up North! Check out the attachment at the bottom of this blog to see the race results. Apologies if we only have your first name, or confused our scribbles with a name registered online! The cold had set into our fingers by the time registration started.
While racers were out on trail, the Nature Up North crew decided to have some fun on the side and see how many animal species we could see and hear, like our own personal "bioblitz" of spring activity. Here's what we captured all along the trail in no particular order:
Birds: Canada Goose, Turkey Vulture, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-Capped Chickadee, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, White-Breasted Nuthatch, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Northern House Wren, American Robin, Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, Dark-Eyed Junco, White-Throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Red-Winged Blackbird, Brown-Headed Cowbird, Rusty Blackbird, Common Grackle, Pine Warbler, Northern Cardinal, American Crow, Evening Grosbeak
Mammals: Opossom, Red Squirrel, Gray Squirrel, White-Tailed Deer
Insects: Cutworm Moth
Amphibians: Wood Frog, Spring Peepers (much later in the day)
Plants: Sharp-Lobed Hepatica, Spring Beauty, Red Trillium, Yellow Trillium, Intermediate Wood Fern, Yellow Trout Lily
Both the Kip and Saddlemire trails are open year-round for the public to use, and we hope you do!
Dan French is a 2021 graduate of Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. While there, he majored in Sustainability with minors in General Business and Management. As an undergrad he had the opportunity to intern with the National Park Service's Office of Policy in Washington D.C., conduct self-led research on the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid's impact on North American species of Hemlock, and was elected sectetary of his universities ultimate fresbee team, Bentley Icehouse. A native of Potsdam NY, Dan spent many summers cultivating his love for outdoor education at 4-H Camp Overlook where he was a camper turned staff for a total of 14 years. In his free time, Dan enjoys hiking in the Adirondacks and skiing when the snow allows. Most recently, Dan returned to the North Country after a one year term of service as an AmeriCorps member in Montana. He served as the National Wildlife Federation's Garden for Wildlife (TM) Coordinator in Missoula and the surrounding area. Now that he's back, Dan hopes to expand his connection to the environment through whitewater kayaking, backpacking, and expanding access to the wonders of the North Country to anyone and everyone who wants to tag along.