What's Your Nature?
Become a Nature Up North explorer to share your encounters with wild things and wild places in New York's North Country. Post your wildlife sightings, landscape shots, photos from your outings, and even your organization's events!
Cardboard Sled Building Workshop
Join us for a Cardboard Sled Building Workshop in preparation for the Canton Winter Olympics! Teams of 2-4 are invited to work together to build a sled, and all materials will be provided. The workshop will be held in the Monaco Room in the St. Lawrence Campus Student Center (2nd floor) and is open to the public (campus map).
Measuring Science
The good news is that Imperial Forces are losing the battle for planetary dominance. The bad news is that we still play for their team. The British Imperial System of measurement, born in 1824 to help streamline a host of odd units inherited from various cultures, was at the time an improvement. But in 1965, the UK adopted the decimal-based metric system, despite the fact it was invented by the French. Today, metric is universal in science and medicine, and of the 195 nations on Planet Earth, only 2 have yet to abandon the former British system for general commerce: Myanmar and the U.S.
Skiing at Higley Flow
A lovely afternoon skiing with a friend at Higley Flow State Park. Enough snow finally to ski in the woods!
Big Pine trail Wanakena
A great sunny January day was perfect to hit the big pine trail in Wanakena on snowshoes. The 140'+ pine is pretty impressive, as are several other trees on this trek. Also found a pitcher plant sticking out of the snow at a near by bog. Read more about it here- https://hikingthetrailtoyesterday.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/big-pine-tra…
Skating in the woods
All of this melting and freezing lately has transformed the woods on the Kip Trail into an icy playground
Winter Fields
Walking in my neighbor's fields and stumbled upon some beautiful seeds and animal signs. Usually I'd be skiing this time of year, and it's strange to see the bare ground.
Canton Winter Olympics: Cross Country Ski Race (3 of 3)
Canton Recreation and the Best Western University Inn are excited to bring you the Cross Country Ski Race as the final event in the Canton Winterfest 2018 Winter Olympics! Participants of all ages, skill, and experience levels are encouraged to participate. Youth participants (12 & under) will ski a 0.5-mile loop while Open (13 & up) & College division participants will ski the 0.5-mile loop twice for a 1-mile race. Points will be awarded to race winners in each division.
Canton Winter Olympics: Snow Sculpture Competition (2 of 3)
Canton Recreation is excited to bring you the Snow Sculpture Competition as the second of three events in the Canton Winterfest 2018 Winter Olympics! Teams of 2-4 will have 45 minutes to create a snow sculpture out of a provided pile of snow at Bend in the River Park.
Teams will be judged in one of the following divisions, Youth (12 & under), Open (13 & up), Family, or College. Sculptures will be judged and points awarded to teams winning their division along with several other categories.
Not in Tents, Just Intense
Winter is not a season when many people think about tents, except maybe to be glad they do not live in one. I do have some friends who love winter camping, and the fact they have never extended an invitation is evidence of how much they value our friendship.
Oddly enough, winter is a crucial time to look for signs of forest-tent caterpillars (FTC). In spite of their name, FTC do not weave a silken tent-like nest like the eastern-tent caterpillar and other species of tent caterpillars. The tent-less lifestyle of forest-tent caterpillars makes it harder to spot outbreaks in spring.
Snowshoeing at Lampson Falls
We had a wonderful afternoon hike at Lampson Falls today with our spring crew of Nature Up North interns and research students. The weather was overcast and misty, but temps were in the high 20's and the falls were beautiful. It looks like quite a few people have made it out since last week's snowfall, but snowshoes and crampons helped with wet and slippery conditions, especially around the falls. For a few students, it was their first experience on snowshoes!