It was a nice half hour hike in to see the dam and we had beautiful weather for it!

I came across this cool tree fungus while taking water samples for my limnology class at Boyden Brook. Any guesses as to what species it might be? I think it looks like Ramaria based on its icicle-like appearance.

While walking my dogs on the Kip Tract, I came across this tree with this bright orange fungi. Not sure what type of fungi it is, but its colors are beautiful!

I went fishing on the Ausable River with my buddy Tommy and Ian. Tommy had just gotten an Austrian sheep dog named Keurl. He fished all afternoon with Keurl in the pouch of his waders. This was the last time I was able to fish during open trout season (ends on October 15th) although the Trout Management Areas (TMA) are open rear round. We caught one brown trout.

On Halloween I led a hike up Ampersand Mountain, which is one of the Saranac Six. On the climb up, we saw the coolest ice that had formed on some of the rocks. There was a layer of ice on the rocks but we could also see water running under it making really interesting patterns. It was really beautiful and very mesmerizing. Has anyone else seen ice like this before?

The weather was fair, a bit gloomy but there were still opportunities for lots of great views. There were however many more people than I thought I would ever see on top of a mountain! Lots of dogs too, we must have seen 150 people and three dozen dogs!

To get out and learn about and admire the fall colors, a group hiked Mt. Arab, a two mile round trip hike with an elevation gain of 750 ft. At the peak, we spent time painting the fall colors with water colors and admiring our time in nature! It was such a great way to appreciate our local surroundings and I really encourage you all to get out there and explore this way of engaging with nature!

Best,
Claire

My mom and aunt grew up on an apple orchard and neither have ever picked apples in the snow until today. Who would have thought?! Mexico, NY saw 6-9 inches of snow in certain places... I guess this is a sign of what's to come for the North Country!

I was walking on the Kip Track, practicing Tree ID for my biology class, when this tree frog caught my eye. It was resting sleepily in a big fissure in a white pine tree. He hardly moved as I took photo after photo of him. I also got a couple photos of a chattering chipmunk.

Had a great walk on a breezy fall day by the river on the Little River Nature Area Trail. I even got to see a northern leopard frog!