(Provided photos —Scott van Laer)
Experience Spring at the Paul Smith’s Visitors Interpretive Center
Great Blue Heron
By Scott van Laer VIC Director
Spring is the season of change and transition in the Adirondacks. The sap begins to flow in our sugar maples, dormant resident animals, like black bears, emerge from their slumber and migrant birds return to nest. The snow covering the ground gives way to
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wildflowers, as pollinators, like bees and butterflies, seek them out. The spring transition can be slow, and at times torturous for those looking to get back into hiking. It is full of starts and stops, setbacks, unwanted April snowstorms and of course, mud. Those who live in the park colloquially refer to the spring as
“mud season”. In the spring it’s important to plan trips that avoid muddy trails, but if you do find mud on your hike, embrace it, travel through it, not around it. Get your boots and clothing dirty. When you walk around the puddles and mud you are only making the section with ponding and mud wider.
EMBARK ~ Get Up, Get Out
Ideally, however, plan carefully; avoid steep, high elevation slopes. Seek out well designed low-grade trails. Hiking muddy trails leads to erosion, soil compaction and can-do long-lasting damage to the trail. The Paul Smith’s College VisiContinued on page 13
Spring 2022
