While walking along the Saddlemire Trail, I spotted a strange shape rustling in the bushes near the end of the path. As I neared, I noticed that it was covered in quills. I had never seen a porcupine in the wild before, so it was a very surprising sight. I observed from a distance, not wanting to spook the animal. The porcupine did not move, caught up in its own little world. Eventually, I needed to continue on the trail, so I cautiously walked forward. Only then did the porcupine finally notice me, shuffling back into the brush it had come from.

I went for a birding walk on the Remington Recreational Trail today in order to study for my ornithology final (where we'll be identifying birds along the trail). We saw and heard 30 species total, and I was able to get pictures of a few, including this Yellow-rumped Warbler. It was only when I looked back at the photos and zoomed in that I saw the bug in their beak! 

These photos are from Nature Up North's first hike event of 2025, a snowshoe to Rainbow Falls. This trailhead starts on the Tooley Pond Rd, which is plowed but can be victim to variable road conditions. The trail is .3 miles to the falls and is largely flat, but features a wooden bridge at the falls built by the DEC, with a short jump up directly after. If you snowshoe to the falls, be aware of where there is real ground beneath your feet, and not drifts on top of treetops next to the gorge. Always stay within the treeline. 

These are photos shared with me by a community member, Blair Madore, who was snowshoeing the Kip Trail from the Pike Road trail entrance. This porcupine, tracks, and bite marks can be found about a mile down the trail at the first bridge you hit if you enter from Pike Road, or 1.5 miles down the trail at the second bridge if you start from the Wachtmeister Field Station. 

I took this picture while cross-country skiing at Higley Flow for the first time. I enjoyed skiing under the canopy of these really tall pine trees!

Every year the SLU Outing Club does Peak Weekend. This year I joined a group to hike up St Regis Mountain and had a blast! The weather was perfect and the trees changing color made it magical. 

A local repair shop was testing out their restored 1950’s/60’s German car/boat combo in the little river. Photos were taken from the SLU boat house on the little river.

Skiing Whitaface with the peak in the clouds. As you ski down the cloud cover ended just above Little Whiteface giving way to some great views into the valley.

This was our last view of the mountains when hiking up Whiteface

Buddy was zoomin from tunnel to tunnel