After being out of town for a week, I see that spring sprung while I was gone!  This assortment of flowers was up to greet me this morning - as well as some purple violets.  Leaves are out, and spring is here with a vengence!  My maples have fully unfurled leaves, Amelanchior is flowering, and the redbud tree I planted in my yard did not die over the winter (not so sure I can say the same for the flowering dogwood).  After a very long winter, these signs of spring are welcome!

While passing through the area on Sunday, I went for a lovely afternoon hike to Harper Falls with a couple of friends, including Emlyn from Nature Up North. As we made our way toward the falls, we admired an abundance of spring ephemerals, including trout lilies, ramps, red trilliums, and some others that I couldn't identify. It's hard to believe that I never knew about this beautiful trail in the four years I went to school at SLU!

Enjoyed celebrating Earth Day by getting out to Stone Valley with some friends and our dogs. Water is high, and spring seems to have arrived!

Got out on the Kip Trail this today to check conditions for the Earth Day 7K run and walk tomorrow. The afternoon was gorgeous - 62 F and probably the first day it's really felt like spring weather. The first half of the trail closer to the Little River has a few spots that like to attract mud, but the conditions were drier than I expected. No large pools of standing water in the trail, and only a few muddy spots. Still, I'd advise anyone coming out for the race tomorrow to plan for some mud! 

Great place to explore. A few tough rocks to scramble up, but a fairly easy hike for all skills levels. 10/10 would visit again

This is always a great hike, and the warm temps & high water from the spring thaw made it pretty spectacular today. The trails are a little icy, so you will want to wear some traction for at least the next week or so. For more on this trail- visit: https://hikingthetrailtoyesterday.wordpress.com/2017/11/05/3275/

I saw geese returning for the first time this season early this morning, in a group of 20-30. Seems early, but with recent weather they should find plenty of open water.

After a morning of freezing rain, the blue skies in the afternoon were a great incentive to get out. This was the first time taking my dog out to the trails at Stone Valley, and she enjoyed exploring the east side of the river. She even found a porcupine - luckily safely tucked away in his den! Trail conditions were very icy, I was glad to have crampons with me and would recommend them to anyone who goes out.

On this day we went to Lampson falls to observe animal tracks and other evidence of life left behind in the snow. Lampson falls is a forest trail that follows along the Grasse River, and this photo was taken next to the shore of the river in almost a wetland based habitat from water overflow. Mind you, in February, there is still supposed to be a decent amount of snow coverage. Today it was very humid, and rained heavily for many hours, exposing many tunnels in the snow that had once been covered. This is called a subnivian zone, the place between the top of a snow bank and the ground.

Taking Hebron Yam on his first kayak excursion and we came upon this loons nest with 2 very large eggs of which only one loon survived. I suspect a snapping turtle or predatory bird had the other.