Happy Earth Day!  Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.  Students in the St. Lawrence University conservation biology class spent 1.5 hours this morning picking up trash at the SLU Sandbanks and also along park street.  Disappointing to see how much trash people leave behind.  Pollution, including littering, is one of the "4 horsemen of the environmental apocalypse" (climate change results from polluation; the other three are habitat loss/destruction, invasive species, and overharvesting).

For an ecology class, my group is looking at the role of seed-predation in relation to distance to water.  We are doing our project on St. Lawrence University's artificial wetland and Saturday was a really perfect end to day.  We didn't find a difference between the seeds that were closer to the water being eaten or the ones further away for this particular day!  Added some photos to show how nice a day this really was, especially with the river no longer being flooded from all of the recent rain.

During the Herpetology class's lab period, I spotted two-redbacked salamanders under the same log, one red-backed salamander 5 m from those two, one leadback salamander under a different log, and one red spotted newt under a log.  The class collectively heard spring peepers and caught this wood frog in a minnow trap! This all occurred between 1-4 on a rainy and relatively cold, spring day and all herps were found along the Kip Trail near St. Lawrence University.  Here are some photos to help!

We have been wanting to get a chance to Climb Bald Mt in Old Forge and visit the fire tower. We had perfect weather and the trail was in great shape. Plenty of views on the climb up made this a very enjoyable climb. If you are in that area or looking for a road trip- this is a good choice.

A great day in the Adirondacks! Complete with a few layers of ice crust, a long flat ski out, and a lot of accidental bushwhacking. Probably the deepest snow I've ever skied in the New England backcountry. 

Still plenty of snow left for snowshoeing on Goodman. This is on of the Tupper Lake triad peaks. 3.4 miles round trip, with great views of Coney Mt and Horseshoe lake.

Thank you for everyone who was able to make it to our Snow Stravaganza at the Wachtmeister field station! We had a fun-filled time building cardboard sleds, skiing, drinking hot cocoa and enjoying the beautiful day outside! Pictured is one of our digital media interns teaching kids how to Nordic ski, kids enjoying a sleigh ride during a nature walk and everyone enjoying the beautiful fire outside the field station. 

Great day snowshoeing up Phelps Mountain!

A few inches of snow overnight and a bluebird morning made for a great trip up Azure. We skinned up and skied back down, and it was probably the most filled in that I've ever skied it. I'm always surprised by how great the views are for a relatively short hike.

First time heading up Lyon, which is just about an hour and 45 minutes from Canton. It was around a 2 hour moderate hike or skin up to a lookout slightly below the summit, with beautiful views of the Adirondacks to the south and Chazy Lake and Champlain to the east. The forest was mostly birch at lower elevation transitioning to evergreens higher up. Definitely a hike worth checking out!