Write-up: Dianna Morris
Leader: Dianna Morris
Co-Leader: Madonna Fellows

The day started out all cloudy, with light drizzle as I drove to the meet-up location. I was wondering how many Tramps would venture out in the wet weather – as well as it being the day before Easter for those who celebrate this holiday. I was pleasantly surprised to see 12 hardy souls sign up – with one more addition once we got to the trail head. We all came equipped with rain gear; Mike was sure we would all get rained on, and a few brought their micro spikes, expecting there to still be lots of ice up north.

On the ride north, before we came to Bill’s bathrooms, we saw something that amazed me….the air was so warm and the few snow banks along the road still so cold that there seemed to be smoke coming off the snow banks – almost like one would see coming off dry ice. I have seen lakes give off a fog-like mist when the warm air hits the cold lake ice – but I had never seen the billows of smoke rising from snow banks like it was this day.

This hike is a fairly easy hike in the Fulton Chain Wild Forest of the Adirondacks. The first few feet of the trail were slippery, but then it looked like we would be walking on a not-too-muddy trail….when we came around the bend and ran into the first of several ice monorails in the middle of the trail. We were able to walk to the side of most of these monorails, but one or two called for careful foot placement on the ice with those Tramps who brought along micro spikes wondering if they should put them on. We were soon back on drier ground and the spikes were not needed. The creeks along the way were quite high and wide with all the ice/snow melt and the rain from the previous night and early morning. It was warm and humid – but we all were enjoying the warmer weather.

Several signs of northern spring made themselves known…mud, wet, running water on trails, and even some trout lily plant foliage was popping up from the thawed soil…and more mud and water.

We stopped to admire Bubb Lake – all the ice was gone from the lake, much to our surprise. Then we headed onward along Bubb to get to Sis Lake. The wooden bridge between Bubb and Sis was slippery with mold on the wood, but no one fell in! We paused for a lunch break right past Sis…and sure enough the Easter Bunny showed up with candy for all. Just as we were thinking of heading back, the sky darkened and the rain began to lightly drizzle so we all pulled out our rain gear. Pretty quickly, the rain ceased and we continued on. And then, all those wet areas we had previously traversed seemed dry compared to what we ran into on the left hand trail from Sis and Bubb back around the other side of Moss Lake. The trail seemed to be mostly running water and muddy puddles for most of that section of the trail – some of use went up the hillside to avoid the water and found the mud on the slopes slippery; others waded right through the water on the trail. All arrived safely back to the cars…5.6 mile, no casualties, no hikers turned back. A success!