Where is Winter?

 By Stephen Jabaut

With all the weather phenomena going on these past couple of months, I was unsure if I would ever have the need to dust off the winter wool from the depths of my closet. On Christmas Eve, it was a sunset kayak in a tee-shirt. On Christmas Day, it was a walk in the woods in shorts. The day after Christmas, we may as well have brought out the lemonade and sun-chairs. Typically, the Adirondack Mountain range in Upstate New York is known for it's unforgiving winters and White Christmases. But we: the snow-shoers, the skiiers and the artisanal snowman-builders were all left scratching our heads at this: The Indian Summer gone on for too long.

Luckily, a few days after Christmas, the temperature dropped to 18 degrees and we were afforded our first taste of snow in the mountains. We decided to take advantage of the turn in weather to hike up to a pristine mountain pond situated above Lake George. Jabe Pond, a local secret, is a crisp clean water peppered with islands at the top of a mountain over looking it's more famous cousin. Because it is at such a high altitude, the winds that blow through the pines create the "whisper effect" (the trees talk to one another). And when it is cold and breezy, you had better have some wool to keep warm to help you enjoy those snow covered mountain tops. I layered up in a base with a woolen hooded sweatshirt, hat, gloves, and chute, not to mention a pair of wool socks and lined denim and was lightly but warmly clad for our hike around the pond.

After drinking directly from the water source and eating some dehydrated mango slices we made our way home, none-the-colder and all-the-woollier. We are certainly hoping that our friends; "El Nino", the "Jet Stream", and the "Mid-Atlantic Current" give us lots of snow this winter, now that it has truly come.