experience SprinG At the Vic

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 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. 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 Visi-

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Continued from page 12 tors Interpretive Center is the perfect place to enjoy the Adirondack springtime. Our core trails, Boreal Life, Barnum Brook and Heron Marsh, are designed to withstand use during this trying season. There are no steep slopes with severe runoff and drainage issues and they are “surfaced” with wood chips or stone dust preventing the pooling and erosion that causes mud holes to develop. These trails also have boardwalks and benches to stop comfortably and enjoy the landscape.

The Heron Marsh trail is one of the best locations in all of the Adirondacks to observe the river otter in its natural environment. The largest member of the weasel family, these gregarious mammals seem to relish the melting away of the ice on Heron Marsh. During the winter, otters are limited in the entrances and exits to get underwater where they find their food sources like fish, amphibians and invertebrates. When the ice is melting and thin, Otters can be found running and sliding across the surface seemingly looking for the “rotten” ice where they can break through. It looks like a fun game of tag as two or three will be doing this together for minutes at a time. They also find solid portions of the surface ice and lounge on their sides and back, looking skyward, enjoying the spring sun in the same way we do.

The other exciting thing to watch, or listen for in the spring at the VIC, is the return of our migrant birds. The cold, quiet winter mornings give way to loud spring mornings as the birds sing, looking for mates and letting others know what their territory is. Bird species that are rare to the Adirondacks, like the Canada Jay, Palm Warbler, Lincoln’s Sparrow and Black-backed woodpecker, are often heard and observed on our Boreal Life trail.

We offer numerous programs during the spring for those wanting to learn more about the natural world at the VIC. One of most popular is our boreal bird and peatland plant interpretive program. Participants venture out onto our boreal life trail and learn about the complexities of the bog habitat, finding and identifying unique plants like Sundews and Pitcher plants that survive and thrive in the acidic environment. You also learn to identify the unique bird species that live in the bog from expert naturalists and scientists from Paul Smith’s College.

Speaking of birds and birding, I am so pleased to announce that the Great Adirondack Birding Celebration is returning to the VIC on June 3rd-5th and will include guided trips, lectures, food, music, vendors as well as anything and everything else bird-related.

Earlier in the spring, May 21st and 22nd, we will be hosting the Festival of Big Trees. It will be a great celebration of the large old growth trees around Paul Smiths and includes field trips to old growth stands with forestry professors, learning to determine how tall a tree is through height measurements and aging them by counting rings through boring. We will also host lectures, axe throwing and even a comedic set by The Logger, Rusty Dewees.

If you’re seeking to improve your technical recreational skills, we also provide program instruction in Rock Climbing, Map and Compass and Boater Safety. Information on these and all of our programs can be found on the calendar portion of our website at Paulsmithsvic.org. Get out and explore safely and responsibly this spring. Learn more about the natural world and hone your recreational skills at the Paul Smith’s College VIC!