This was a fun short hike that requires some rock hopping but well worth it.

Enjoyed a beautiful evening kayaking 5 miles down the St. Lawrence with my son. We saw:
dozens of birds
two jumping fish
one row boat
one much faster boat
four golfers
one lovely sunset on the river...Summer in Northern NY is really nice!

On the Stone Valley trail this morning I saw what I thought was a morel. However, on closer inspection (and some research when I got home) I concluded this is actually Verpa bohemica, one of several species commonly called "false morel." It can be distinguished from true morels because it has a wrinkled, rather than pitted, fruiting body, and the bottom of the cap is separate from the stem. These guys are actually poisonous, unlike the coveted true morels. Just a reminder to never eat anything unless you're absolutely positive of what it is.

Near then entrance to the SUNY Canton trail is one of the best groves of spring wildflowers I've seen in the North Country. Last week spring beauty, bloodroot, and hepatica were in full bloom, and trout lily was almost there. The forest floor is also carpeted with a huge crop of trillium.

Every spring, common walkways get trampled to mud. The sudden inflow of moisture from snowmelt and spring rains leads to saturated and muddy terrain. This normally doesn't do much more than annoy those who travel the muddy paths, but to the terrain itself, it's destructive.

I was walking down to my camp and this deer came up behind me.

This picture was snapped while crossing Lake Champlain on the Gran Isle Ferry. From one port to the other, there was open water, however, as you can see, there is ice on either side. The boats travel in this water pathway. The waves and movements the boats create in the water prevent it from freezing. The water heats up faster than the white reflective snow on the ice, keeping the water from refreezing over.