On what was likely my last cross country ski day of the year, I went off trail to explore some untracked woods near the Little River. I stumbled upon what I think is an artist's conk fungus (Ganoderma applanatum) on an old sugar maple trunk. It was approximately 2ft wide. Exact location not revealed so that nobody tries to harvest this impressive specimen. Animal tracks were abundant, including these left by some large bird species.

This morning some St. Lawrence University students attended a maple workshop at the sustainability house with Nature Up North to learn about a brief history of maple sugaring, how to identify maple trees in the winter and how to tap them for maple syrup production. The sustainability house crew provided some delicious pancakes, cooked strawberries and maple syrup at the end of this workshop to warm up form the cold March weather!

What a fun way to spend your afternoon exploring a local maple syrup production. Although it was cold and we did not get to see much of the production, we enjoyed learning about the process of producing maple syrup.

Thought I'd bring back some pictures I snapped of our little ice storm last month in preparation for the ice we're supposed to get again tonight. As horrible and stressful as it is for the trees, I have to admit that I think it looks really cool!!

Does anyone know what this is? I saw it on top of the snow during an unseasonably warm day. The snow was melting quickly, and I was near running water, but this was on top of the snow and about 2-3 inches long.

I took this photo while driving back to St. Lawrence University from my home in southern New York because I always notice the snowy trails in the winter when driving through Tupper Lake, and the weather today was gorgeous! You'll notice that there is no snow in the town though. Big Tupper is a volunteer-run ski area in Tupper Lake. I skied there last year and it has some really cool terrain! Plus a lift ticket is only $20 - you can't beat that at any other mountain! Unfortunately Bug Tupper is not open this season, but will hopefully be operating again with more snow next season.

The woods in Canton were glimmering with ice this morning. Hard to capture the magic in a photo, but these will have to do.

After all the snow and freezing rain the past few days, Canton was was left glistening in the sunlight on this clear day. Despite the challenges this ice may pose for people, plants and wildlife, it sure looks beautiful! These photos were taken across the street from Canton's Heritage Park on the Grasse River and near the St. Lawrence University horse barn.

We had a lovely, but very cold weekend in the Adirondacks! Both days the temperature remained in the negatives, but that didn't stop us from enjoying some beautiful views and nature walks.

Frozen but pretty! -17 degrees weather has got nothing on the North Country!