Adirondack Family Time™

Henry Woods gazebo offers trail map and covered seating near the parking area Henry's Woods Trails in Lake Placid (NY) is one of my favorite places to take family and friends for a short easy hike, snowshoe or cross-country ski. It is also the place where I go to walk my dog, trail run and just relax. Henry's Woods is a great place for all level hiker and its the perfect place for people of all ages and abilities. There is one main trail loop with three offshoots from it. It is truly a great community preserve. The Connector Trail:   (green marker) is 0.3-mile Loop trail: (darker green marker) 2.0-miles The Loop trail has moderate elevation gain for this maintained community preserve.  Plateau trail : (yellow marker) .09 miles The Plateau trail is accessed via the Loop trail. At the junction between the Connector trail and Loop trail bear left onto the Loop trail. At about 0.5-mile, turn right at the yellow marker for the first access to the Plat

Project Feeder Watch is a winter-long bird feeder watch program involving nature centers, individuals, backyards and other organizations. Join in the fun and help  Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada track bird movements. Scientists relay on people of all skill levels to participate to help them track data of winter bird populations and long-term trends.     There is a fee involved ($18/nonmembers, $15/members) Kits are shipped between October and February. The current season is  November 14, 2015  through April 8, 2016 New project participants  receive a bird-identification poster, bird-feeding information, and instructional materials.   New and renewing participants  receive a calendar, a tally sheet, and paper forms.  Just count the birds that come to your feeder. You report only the highest number of each species you see in view at one time.  This is a fun winter projects for all families. It brings nature to your window, strengthens observat

Wilmington (NY) Cobble Lookout (Ledge) I was recently emailed about Adirondack (ADK) hikes to do with a three-year-old kid and wanted to share my suggestions with you! Keep in mind any of the suggestions below are good for people of all ages and abilities. Even if you used to climb the Adirondack High Peaks or still do, but just don't have the time. Enjoy! These are just 8 of the 33 easy short hikes available in my guidebook, Adirondack Family Time: Tri-Lakes and High Peaks: A four-Season Guide to Over 300 Activities (with GPS coordinates.) .  1) Wilmington Flume . There are a lot of new bike trails and walking trails all along and around. Be careful there is poison ivy along the trail somewhere. There are warnings posted. There are a variety of options that vary from about one-mile. The Flume is located off of Route 86, west side of bridge on Route 86 (past Hungry Trout Restaurant) 2)  Wilmington's Cobble  Lookout (Ledge): This trail is about a 1.4-mile RT hike.

I’ve made my own yogurt for years and recently started experimenting with fermented food. I’m now struggling to produce Kefir without a grainy taste. I just can’t seem to get the balance right. With a cupboard full of sourdough starter and ginger beer plant grains, my pantry looks like a science experiment. With everything else bubbling and brewing, the one product I have no desire to make is cheese. With the amount of dairy my family consumes, making cheese might require an actual cow and we don’t have the space. I’d rather keep things simple and get my beautiful artisan cheese from local Adirondack farms. This Sunday, Oct 11, three creameries have bonded together to once again host The Essex County NY Cheese Tour . The self-guided tours are open from 10 am – 4 pm with farm rambles, free samples and other entertainments.

By Diane Chase I have heard the walk around Lake Placid's Mirror Lake referred to as "the fitness trail." Though it is a nice 2.7-mile walk, there are no fitness stations along the easily recognizable red-bricked sidewalk. The level pathway is certainly a hub of activity around Lake Placid all year long.  There are plenty of on street parking spots, but we choose to leave a car at Parkside Drive, near the south end of the lake adjacent to the pubic playground, tennis courts and the public beach. I f I'm motivated I could do a few pull-ups on the monkey bars to constitute the complete fitness angle. We’ll create our own fitness trail.   We park the car near the playground and look out onto Mirror Lake and reminisce about the frosty winter toboggan runs. Now a dock is out at the public beach and some people are even brave enough to take a dip. That water is too cold for me.  Keep in mind that the Mirror Lake Public Beach is closed to swimmers when there is no