A few weeks ago, the ground outside my window was brown, muddy, and rather ugly; my skis were suffering from neglect, and my friend was emailing me to express his frustration with what had been a troubling winter for anyone interested in enjoying the snowy outdoors. But all of that has changed.

Our temperatures dropped to seasonable levels. Our skies clouded with snow day after snow day, and the piles of white powder have been building ever since. Ski centers like the Tupper Lake Groomed X-C Ski Trails have been singing songs of joy. It has been a beautiful thing.

Here's the thing — as anyone that follows my blogs knows, I travel a lot. And yet, there's always one stop on the Northway that, no matter the season, no matter the time of day, I feel compelled to visit. Traveling from the Albany area and heading north it's Exit 27 (it's 28 if you're heading south). 

I have personal ties to Schroon Lake. My father was born in the area and until I left for college all of our vacations - winter, spring, summer, and fall - were spent on Hoffman Mountain.

In the summer we spent our days on shores of the beach or at what was then a little-known secret swimming hole on the edge of the Schroon River. In the fall and spring we hiked Mt. Severance, in the winter we bundled up and went sledding.

I have walked, hiked, and exercised dogs over the years at Lake Placid's historic John Brown Farm. The hiking trails are beautiful, the views always stunning, and the skies dramatic.

But who was the man? John Brown was born May 9, 1800, in Torrington, Connecticut. He decided that an armed insurgency of volunteers combined with a slave revolt was the only surefire way to end the convention of slavery in America. He was angered and frustrated by the slow, peaceful political means in which the abolitionist coalition moved. He made his name in Kansas where he led forces in what came to be known as the Battle of Black Jack, the Battle of Osawatomie, and the Pottawatomie massacre of May 1856, in response to the siege of Lawrence, Kansas by pro-slavery forces.

North Country fishing is legendary. Clear fast streams, rocky shorelines, and plenty of tricky hiding spots. Malone is perfectly placed in a network of water that is stocked with trout each year. That means conditions are just right for holdovers.

The Salmon River flows right through Malone's downtown, and there is a recently established catch and release section north of town. Chasm Falls has plenty of deep pools and pocket water, while the Whippleville section has conditions just right for wading in. Look for browns and rainbows.

The Chateaugay and Marble Rivers offer access via the Brainardsville Bridge, near the Post Office. It is stocked with brown, rainbow, and brook trout, with wild brown trout populations giving them added vigor, and wiliness.,,