NYSOGA weekend

NYSOGA weekend

by | Mar 29, 2011 | Uncategorized |

This weekend the 2011 NYS Outdoor Guides Association Rendezvous proved to include all the fun of a day on trail.  Saturday I took a group of visiting guides and new friends for a spectacular if short climb up Owl’s Head in Lake Placid.  Pictured are Janice Joyce, Jim Zach, Donald McDonald, Dana Bol, Hank Rope and Phyllis Whittemore. Later in the day an equally distinguished group photo was taken of NYSOGA guides who were among the charter members when NYSOGA formed in 1981.   NYSOGA celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2011. These guides are all special men who have given hours to shepherd the tradition of guiding in a positive direction.  Thank you for your dedication, your hard work and your willingness to chat with those of us who are following...

Snowy Spring

by | Mar 21, 2011 | Uncategorized |

Hard to believe but the snow is coming down again.  I have been hoping to trim my grape vines and give the spirea a spring haircut but they are still under too much snow.  This weekend I did uncover the hat and scarf that had melted from the huge snowman in the yard.  Yesterday it was 50 degrees and so sunshiny I was skiing in one layer at Whiteface and  I saw and heard the first Red-winged blackbirds of the season.  Today I am stoking the fire again.  Looking forward to the New York State Outdoor Guide Association Rendezvous next...
Great day for Van Hoevenberg Trailmarkers

Great day for Van Hoevenberg Trailmarkers

by | Mar 18, 2011 | Uncategorized |

Today may have been the last day at Van Hoevenberg for the Trailmarkers program for this year.  It was a gorgeous day and the students might have thought they needed their bathing suits when they got off the bus and saw the water draining off the stadium into the parking area.  The temperature was almost 50. I taught a great group of seven 3rd grade girls from Cumberland Head.  Only one had been skiing before so I was incredibly surprised to see them ALL skiing like pros in a very short amount of time.  It is a beautiful and satsifying thing to see children fall in love with X-country skiing.  They can enjoy it for the rest of their lives.  I think all these girls were hooked.  The trails are fantastic and the snow in the woods is holding up.  I’m going to try to get back once or twice before it’s time to get on my...

Visitors welcome.

by | Feb 23, 2011 | Uncategorized |

Today I had the pleasure of showing Sonja Stark of Pilot Girl Productions around the area. We had a great day, checking out otter and mink tracks on the West Branch of the Ausable River, hiking to Owen Pond, and going into High Falls Gorge. After a bite to eat we looped back via the East Branch of the Ausable and caught up with a few ice climbers on Pitchoff and still had time to ski at Cascade Ski Center before dark. She caught a few quick frames of dog-sledding on the lake as we pulled back to the Mirror Lake Inn where Sony and her mom are staying. They were headed for dinner at the Cascade Inn, then a go around the Oval and a quick toboggan ride before bed. Their own perfect day, very much inside the map.  Read more about it on Sony’s blog. Thanks to Carol Treadwell of the Ausable River Association and Sue Cameron and Kim Reilly at the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism/Lake Placid CVB for connecting...