A cold morning to start the day as we near the end of March. Temp dropping all the way down to 9 early Thursday morning! The small ponds that were free of ice froze over again and ice formed again on the edge of Little Sugarbush. The contraction and shifting of the winter ice was pushing the new ice on the sides, making for interesting sounds and sights. The trails have been drying up nicely with just a few low spots holding water from the snow melt. We have been on the mountain bike course this past week and won’t be long until we can open the trails for riding. We will begin blowing out the singletrack and clearing the small branches and twigs. Many birds are back at the feeders as well as ducks, geese and trumpeter swans being very active looking for open water.
It has been a wet start to the week with rain falling all day on Tuesday and Wednesday. Drier weather looks to move in, however, for the latter part of the week including dry conditions for Saturday’s Pumpkin Run. We will resume trail work after a half day of drying or so. We will do a final mowing/clearing of the Pumpkin Run course on Friday and conditions should be very good. Might be a few muddy spots here and there. Still hanging on to quite a few leaves in the woods and we seem to be a week or so behind normal. The tamarack trees are at their peak right now and really stick out among the other trees. Swans have been trumpeting on Little Sugarbush and have been fun to watch and listen. Many other winter birds making appearances at the bird feeders. All signs winter is soon to come!
Hard freeze last night resulting in frosty lawns and trees this morning. Still quite a few trees that hadn’t changed color so will be interesting to see how they respond. The trees that had already changed, were dropping leaves Friday morning big time. Sun making a rare appearance, making for a beautiful Autumn day. Cold weather set to continue on through the weekend with chance of measurable snow couple of times by Monday. Too early for the real snow to fly but always exciting to see the first few flakes.
Fall grooming on the trails continues today and during dry weather until the snow flies for real. The trails are open at no charge for hiking, running, and biking. The trails are closed to motorized use and horse travel. The Pumpkin Run will be on October 24th.
A wet end to the week with just over an inch of rain Wednesday evening until Saturday evening. Cooler temps as well as the thermometer has had a hard time getting above the mid 40’s. The leaves are holding on to the trees better than expected after wind and rain. We are experiencing a latter than usual peak of Fall color. Many trees around Maplelag have already reached their peak but still many leave just starting to display some beautiful color. This week we mapped all the trails with a gps and will download the data and work up a new map, working with one of the local DNR foresters.
The trails are open for hiking, running, and biking but closed to motorized use and horse travel. Work will continue on the trails until the snow flies.
First hard frost of the Fall happening Tuesday morning after cold front moving through on Sunday and Monday leaving a half inch of rain. Temp dropping down to 30 degrees setting up ice on the windshields and white lawns and roofs. Always exciting to see the first hard frost as a reminder winter isn’t too far behind!! The grounds and trails around Maplelag are looking great with the peak of Fall color beginning and one of the best times of the year to be in the woods. The trails are open for hiking, biking and running but closed to motorized use and horses.
This week we are mapping all the trails with a gps and working on a new trail map with plans to have completed by winter. Also clearing deadfall and mowing throughout the Fall as we prepare the trails to be in the best condition possible before the snow flies.
Scrapping ice off the windshield Tuesday morning. I doubt there are many people that would take a picture like this and most people shiver and grumble when they have to do this but at Maplelag it brings smiles to our faces!
