Spring fever in the form of a stonefly!

I've told myself I'll attempt to dip at least a finger in the Allegheny every day I live next to it. Before making my walk down to the river Sunday morning my husband came through the door full of excitement and announced that winter stoneflies are in full swing. As a fisherman, this sort of thing is second nature and of no big surprise to him, not to take away from his enthusiasm, of course. To me, though, this is an amazing event that I'm excited to share...

We (my husband, three kiddos ages five, six and nine, and myself) were quick to throw on our snow pants and boots and rush out the door to check out our latest river action. Yep, you guessed it... we've got spring fever pretty bad! All summer long we see critters of all shapes and sizes along the river on a daily basis, but spring makes us really appreciate the Allegheny River more than ever.

Stone flies are quick little buggers - on a mission as they scurry across the snow faster than my digital camera can focus in on their tiny little bodies (under 15mm). A slight wind swoops them away faster than you can bat an eye. Luckily we found one that was dormant, having just shed it's skin to become an adult. After snapping numerous pictures, we decided to do some research to figure out just how these little critters can hatch and survive in such harsh conditions, and what exactly it means that they are prevalent along the Allegheny River year round.

Here's what we found:

Nymphs climb out of the water and shed their skins to become adults. This is usually in late winter. The adults live just long enough to mate and lay their eggs. The nymphs hatch shortly and feed for a while before going into diapause (a hibernation-like state) from mid-spring until fall. Their main period of growth and activity is fall and winter.

The defining need of winter stonefly nymphs is for very high levels of oxygen in the water. Warm temperatures, excessive organic matter, and many pollutants all reduce oxygen levels. The result: they're only active in the coldest part of the year and are very sensitive to pollution.

Their main interest to humans is as an indicator species: you can tell that water is unpolluted if stoneflies live there. They also provide food for trout - though not as much as species active when trout are themselves more active in warmer parts of the year.

All in all, it was a super fun adventure... the kids all tracking down and following stoneflies in every direction to see where they might nest to shed their skins. At one point while walking through the path we'd made through about a foot of snow across the lawn, my six year old exclaimed, "be careful... share the road with the stoneflies... don't smoosh them!" We did finally capture a stonefly shed it's skin on tape. Please check it out on YouTube here.

Ahhh... what a life along the Allegheny River.

North Country Trail - Allegheny National Forest: North Branch Sugar Run (321) to Route 59, Pennsylvania

What a day... a beautfiul 3.5 mile hike from North Branch Sugar Run to Route 59 on the North Country Trail. Five minutes in we realized we'd underestimated the snow depth and wished we'd brought the snowshoes. (Note to self: keep those in car at all times!) Temperatures in the mid 30s made for a super challenging hike through wet, knee-deep (and sometimes waist-deep) snow the entire trail. The adventure of a winter forest more than made up for the hard workout.

The trail takes you alongside and across Hammond Run (pictured above), a beautiful stream that boasts a couple pristine camping spots. Enormous hemlock trees towering over the trail warranted a break to take them in (above). Numerous geocaches along the way can add an extra adventure to the trip.

Snow covered trees made spotting blazes tough in spots (below). Beginner hiking tip: a tree with a double blaze (two paint marks) indicates a change of direction, or that the trail is leaving an obvious path. After you spot a double blaze, watch carefully for the next blaze. If you go more than a few steps without seeing a blaze, you may have left the trail. Stop and retrace your steps.

Starting from Sugar Run Road (321), total elevation change was roughly 800'. The uphill climb could easily be turned around to work in your favor by hiking this trail in the reverse direction, beginning your hike at Route 59 and ending at North Branch Sugar Run.

Woodchuck Shadows

It looks like that woodchuck in 'Punks-a-tawny' is right about his prediction of a late spring, the temperatures are creeping up but it keeps snowing, leaving the woods a sticky, mushy mess that makes offroad mountain biking futile.  Treehugger Rob and myself had a nice 20 mile mountain-bike-ride-on-a-road down Dunn's Eddy road early this morning, every branch of every tree was carefully stacked with wet, heavy snow.  Without a doubt there is just a bit of spring in the air because the crisp, squeaky dry cold snow of February is already feeling more like mushy wet March snow.