Today's Encounter

On today's hike, we found this guy down by the creek.

Sugarin' Time

A week of collecting sap yields 14 gallons of sap.

Buckets of sap are stored in a snow bank until ready for the boil.

The boiler, or evaporator, is ready to go.

We have lots of fire wood.

Let's fire up the boiler!

 Smoke

And steam

Make one small batch of pure maple syrup!

Fourteen gallons of sap produced 38oz. of maple syrup.

Another arctic blast is headed our way which will halt the sap flow,

but we'll be back boiling when it departs.

The Big Thaw

The overlook in January

The meltdown begins

 Flooding starts

 After the water receded, ice chunks are scattered on the trail.

Nearby roads are flooded

And some fields look like lakes.

The Sap is flowing

After months of bitter cold weather, the temps finally rise above freezing.
The sap is flowing!

Fickle Weather

The past few days have been a mix of weather.

Freezing rain

Snow

And finally, blue skies.

We'll take that!

Happy Valentines Day

A Winter Hike

 Heading out

Yellow dogs all in a row

We made it to the creek.

Amazingly, it still has a few open areas.

Hey, we're walking on water!