by Stephen Jabaut
It was a morning like any other.
Just your typical Upstate New York polar vortex bringing the air temperature somewhere well below zero. It was however, a gorgeous day with blue skies and green pines and there was fresh snow on the ground. I decided to go for a jaunt on cross country skis through our family's backwoods out to the lake for some crisp air and exercise. Because it was so cold, I layered up. I put on some Wool Knee Socks with long underwear and topped with a wool sweater, jacket and cap to keep me cozy as I began to traverse the woodland trail. The property I grew up on in Northern New York extends into the Adirondack Park, which is 6 million acres of public and private land. The public portion is entirely open for recreation by the people. I made my way through the frozen swamp that leads to the brook where I could really get moving on the skis. I passed by old fallen evergreens and immense beaver dams until I made it to the frozen brook. Lucky for me there were snowmobile tracks making a groomed trail to making classic skiing a breeze. When I made it to the mouth of the winding estuary, I was feeling toasty from the work out and took a moment to enjoy the vista of the expansive mountain lake before me. Summer homes, long abandoned since the coming of the cold, dotted the shores of the Dunham's Bay as I entered Lake George.
