Unpredicted Dusting

This morning, we were pleasantly surprised to find the mountain sparkling with a fresh blanket of snow. On Sunday, the pouring rain we experienced at lower elevations turned to snow about 1 mile from the hotel entrance. The roads are icy in spots so be careful if you plan on driving up today. There is about 1" of snow accumulation on top of a thin layer of ice.

An afternoon wood frog chorus

Approximately 40+ wood frogs, Rana sylvatica, could be heard calling in our man-made wetland on a sunny and warm afternoon yesterday. One of the first frogs to breed in early spring, this lovely chorus could be heard loud and clear from the Conservancy Visitor Center.





http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Rana_sylvatica.html

Check out this site with more information about the wood frog. Make sure to read all the way to the bottom to learn how this amphibian has "perfected the cryogenic freezing process". Way Cool!!

Pines poppin' up!

We noticed some new pine saplings sprouting up on the outskirts of the lake bed! This one is about 2 feet tall. Pines are not particularly common on our trails, and the most predominant conifer is the Eastern Hemlock. The fascicles on this tree had mostly 2 needles each and some with 3. The needles are twisted and greenish-yellow in color, and about 2 1/2 inches long. The twigs had an orange-brown tint to them and were fairly stout. We think it may be table mountain pine or Virginia pine!

How Full is our Lake?

Courtesy of Jeanne Roningen - Jeanne is studying our lake for her masters thesis project at Virginia Tech.  The diagram she created below shows us how full our lake is in terms of volume and area.  Right now our lake is estimated to be between 72-79 feet below full lake (dark red-orange area).

Wintry Ventures

This winter, we are working on re-designing our trail maps and signs for the Mt. Lake trail system.  This past November, we re-blazed all of our trails with colors that will coordinate with the new maps.  Chris Long, former employee of Mountain Lake and Virginia Tech Forestry student, has taken several cartography classes and volunteered to tackle the map project. 

We are working with the "Midweek Trail Crew" to reconstruct all of our trail signs.  We are hoping to get them in the ground this Spring - a total of 57 signs!!  Some of our current signs even have incorrect mileage such as the Indian Trail.  Today we measured the Indian Trail to be 1.4 miles rather than the stated 1.75 miles around the lake.  The hike was quite treacherous but it was great to get out of the office with our handy distance measuring wheel in tow.

The lake is currently frozen and we caught some spectacular views as we navigated the perimeter of the basin.   

Trail Crew Toughs It Out

They arrived this morning and began their day by hiking up one of our steepest trails ... then proceeded with a 2 mile snowy hike to Bear Cliffs to begin a trail rehab project at the overlook.  I should also mention that it was a mere 19 degrees and they were working at 4,000' in elevation.

As many of you may know, the current Bear Cliffs trail takes you over some sketchy boulders and across a crevasse to reach the overlook.  This particular group, known as the Midweek Crew, came the rescue.  They are a group of retirees from the Roanoke region who hold numerous years of trail work under their belt.  Many have helped maintain the Appalachian Trail along with other trails in the surrounding area.

They are a tough crew!  I hiked up after lunch and caught them in action -- I was shocked at how much had been completed in only 2 hours.  The new connector trail is a much needed addition to our trail system and we are quite excited to utilize it this season.

In addition, the Midweek crew will also be doing some clearing on the Indian Trail which is quite overgrown.  They will also be working on recreating all of our trail signs so that they are  uniform and provide clear directions to trail users.  I also have another volunteer from Virginia Tech who is redesigning our trail maps to make them easier to interpret and reflect trail changes.  Our new maps will also correlate with the color blazes on our trails. 

We are honored to have such wonderful volunteers helping us at Mountain Lake.  Stay tuned to see the finished trail!

Dealing with Winter Weather