Still buzzed with post-winter break hangover, our first phenology spot visit of 2023 was, in a word, treacherous. And not like the Taylor Swift Song. Upon our arrival on January 22, we found a once serenely beautiful natural community completely transformed into a death trap of ice and snow. My friend Elise and I bartered on whether a trip down the ice-encased rock to the shoreline was worth the risk of hospitalization (or worse yet, the cost of being airlifted without insurance)- but we ultimately decided to face the trek.
After a few minor brushes with death, the landscape we discovered was drastically transformed since our visit 6 weeks prior. Most noticeable was the shrinkage of the shoreline. My favorite log (aka “sit spot”) had now solidly emerged in lake Champlain, and the rocky shoreline was now only a couple of feet long in width. A once serenely beautiful lake was now so tempestuous that the waves created icicles on the edges of large boulders as they crashed.
One bonus of all the ice and turmoil was that our area remained relatively untouched by any evidence of human recreation, which meant I discovered some raccoon tracks in the fresh snow. (See first photo.)
Up above, we also managed to find what appeared to be deer and squirrel tracking in the central forest!
It was a gentle reminder that even in the most inhabitable conditions, life still persists.