skied up to Sheep Meadow in the Debar Mountain Wild Forest yesterday. Perfect ski conditions. 8 mile round trip. Saw a lot of tracks but no noticable wildlife, probably due to me having my dog along.

Canton is in the midst of a lake effect snow warning and I'd guess there were 6 or so fresh inches of soft, powdery snow as I walked the Kip Trail this afternoon. The Little River was not quite covered in ice along the main channel. Windy, but most of the wind broken by the trees so it was quite comfortable in the woods.

video of an eagle feasting on a deer carcass and coyote that was very leery to approach

After a brisk night of camping, we set out early for an outing on Wright, Algonquin and Iroquois. Some weather rolled in by the time reached Iroquois, but overall a great day in the mountains in full-on winter conditions. I'm always impressed by the resilience of the spruce/fir trees at high elevation, which remain totally caked in snow and ice throughout the winter.

Glistening,dazzling,shimmering!! Dangerous!! Slippery!! It started just a couple of days before Christmas in 2013.Many roads were closed and travel bans were implemented.Then the icing stopped, the roads were opened and the skies cleared and the sun was gleaming on all that ice coating everything.

Some days are memorable because of the challenges we experience. Perhaps it’s the harsh conditions or something internal we’re battling. Other days are simply perfect. Our climb last Sunday was the latter. Weather was around 10 degrees, skies were cobalt blue and the conditions on the great face of Giant Mountain offered plenty of ice (up to WI3). The sunset we witnessed surpassed any I’ve seen—better than Mallory Square in Key West, better than the beaches of FL (and they can be good).

We climbed the East Face of Giant...an exciting ice climb that you can read more about here: http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2014/12/slide-climbs-the-icy-east-fac…

After bushwhacking to the summit through a minimal snowpack, we arrived to this incredible display. A friend said, "I think I saw God in those pictures." I think he was correct!

Coffee and a bobcat in the front yard ... turns out it's living in our woodshed. Pics by myself and my wife, Deb.