The Saranac Lake 6ers: Baker, St. Regis, Scarface, Haystack, Ampersand, and McKenzie. You hiked them one-by-one in the summer and marveled at the variety of views they afforded — distant High Peaks and uniquely shaped lakes. So now what? Time to try them in winter, that’s what!

In the Adirondacks, nice summer hikes turn into full-blown adventures in the winter. It’s a beautiful time to be outside, for sure. Ice sculptures stream down sheer cliff faces, baskets of snow collect on pine boughs, and many animals are hunkered down, giving the forest a soft, pleasant quietness. It’s also a more dangerous time to be outdoors because the days are shorter and much, much colder. Sweat-soaked clothes can freeze quickly; moderate pitches become impossibly slick slides of glassy ice. But don’t fret! There are ways to safely deal with these challenges.

Our wildly variable weather has produced birds throughout the Lake Champlain Region all winter from Snowy Owls to an array of ducks. Unfortunately I've been so busy I haven't been out as much as I'd like, so when a few free hours presented themselves on a recent trip to the Plattsburgh area, I took advantage to see what I could find. 

My four-legged companion Wren and I started at Ausable Marsh WMA, where there had also been an assortment of ducks reported of late, including a small group of Redheads. Ausable is also a great place to go with Wren since we can explore there together and she isn’t confined to the car.

Valentine's Day is mid-week in 2018, which means there's still time for you to plan for that romantic weekend getaway!

Which should include treats, right? Sweets to the sweet. While I would love to enact a real Valentine's Day, my husband is not free today, so I am bringing my brother. We do care about each other, even though an outside observer wouldn't be likely to mistake us for a couple. Unless they were named The Bickersons.

Here's a guide to some of the area's finest goodies.

Finally… a Saturday off, my friends are free, and the weather looks great. It's time to head out onto the ice for some ice fishing! We’ve got our ice augers, tip-ups, bait, and we are ready to go. 

We decided to head to Franklin Falls, just outside of Wilmington, where I’ve always fished in the summer, but this was my first time ice fishing there. I measured the ice, and it was about a foot thick, which is more than safe enough for this adventure.