Category Archives: becoming and outdoors woman

Becoming an Outdoorswoman

It’s been a 2 or 3 years since I did Becoming an Outdoorswoman (BOW). My sister still is teaching there. In fact, she hit 10 years of teaching at BOW this year!  It has been moving to different places in the state, which is one of the reasons I haven’t gone, but this year it was back at Silver Bay on Lake George.

There was some construction going on as the dining hall was being demolished to build a new one, so all the meals were moved to the inn itself – which was a little crowded.  I roomed with my sister and we stayed in the inn.

It’s very old, which is cool. You all know I love that.  The rooms are nice:

My first class was Backyard Wildlife, which I didn’t really take any pictures of. We talked about ecosystems on your property and ways to improve it. We also studied tracks and poo so you can figure out what went through your yard LOL!  There was also talk about exclusion for animals like deer, keeping bats and squirrels out of your house, and bear awareness.

Saturday was hiking. This was the hike for people who have experience hiking.  This is in the Adirondacks, so you it’s going to be up. This hike started out right away with an incline:

This went on for about half a mile. It was quite the start. One thing about the day is that it was hot and humid. Once you get into the woods, you don’t get any breeze, so it feels really stuffy. I was a sweat machine.

We took a break at a lean-to, which overlooked the lake:

This was one spot where there was a breeze since it was open and it felt heavenly! Good thing the hike was in the morning, too.

Lots of interesting things to look at. Tons of mushrooms everywhere.

Lots more inclines to go. Our instructor said over the course of a mile we went up 800 feet in elevation, which equates to 15% grade. That’s how steep it was at times! Our goal was to get to Jabes’ pond and boy was it worth the hike!

When you say a perfect day, can you think of a better picture?  It was so peaceful and quiet, too.

The hike was planned well with lots of different terrains, so it was very interesting to do.

The pine forest was my favorite spot:

The hike ended up a bit over 6 miles and we finished in a little over 3 hours. It was a great workout. The instructor said we were one of the fastest groups he has ever had on this hike. I think we surprised him because he was huffing and puffing and staying in the back LOL.  There are times when I feel like I am all flabby and out of shape and then I realize there is no way I could have done (or wanted to do) that hike if I wasn’t in good shape. The mind plays tricks 😀

I’ll talk more about the other classes in another post.

BOW – Crossbow and knots

Thanks for reading this month’s AIM post!

Back to Becoming an Outdoors Woman.  I can’t believe how all the soaking rain never happened except overnight.  We totally lucked out since we had a lot of rain before and it is now raining this week.  I had packed for rain for all the classes and it was dry.  It was, however, extremely hot and humid!  My hair was frizzed out the whole weekend LOL!

Silver Bay is actually a YMCA ‘camp’ or resort.  It’s in the Adirondacks, but certainly not rustic.  Here is the inn – or main building.

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This was where my sister and I lodged.

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Nice inside.

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There are no TVs anywhere (which is nice).  Phone service is terrible, though.  People would gather around the flag pole to check their phones where cell service came in.  There was internet available, though, go figure.

Saturday was Beginning Crossbow.  I am not much for shooting sports. I grew up with a gun family and my sister and BIL hunt, as do some of my in-laws and even my 14-year-old niece just got her license. I actually was certified for hunter ed and had my own gun when I was younger, but I never shot anything living.  I much more prefer to shoot with a camera now as I decided I don’t care for guns anymore.

Anyway, I have always liked archery and the crossbow class is a new addition to the BOW workshop.

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After a history lesson and safety instructions, we headed out to the archery range.  We were actually using the green bags for targets as the power of the crossbow shoots right through those round targets (eep!)

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We also had a few 3D targets:

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The balloons were put on later for an accuracy challenge to pop.  We started with the light weight crossbow – 45 pounds (weight of pull, not crossbow).

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See what I mean about the hair frizz?  My hair was straight  and smooth when I started the day!  My sister was one of the instructors for this class.  She was hanging over my shoulder:

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It was easy to get pretty accurate quickly.  We moved from balloons on the targets to little clay disks and then eggs!  The eggs were on golf tees about 15 yards away and I got one!  I was so excited 😀  FYI – the crossbow has no kick at all, pretty much like shooting a regular bow.

Now I am ready for the Zombie Apocalypse!

The last class was one on knot tying.  I either tie a knot that doesn’t hold or becomes a Gordian knot, so I thought this would be very good for me.

We were taught the most useful knots and here is my tying of some of them.

Slip knot:

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Taut line (very useful!):

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Trailer hitch – super useful especially if you are tying something down on the top of the car:

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Then we went around to different stations and had to follow little scenarios like this:

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There was a tarp up in the room, but I didn’t get a picture.  Knots are just cool looking, too.  If you want to tie any knot – decorative or useful, go to animatedknots.com

Another good weekend at BOW!  It will be in a different location next year, so I may not be able to go. We shall see.

If you have one in a nearby state (or your own), I encourage you to go. There are so many different classes and you are in a very supportive environment to go outside of your comfort zone (sometimes waaaay outside)  and try something you never thought you would.

Ending with another fun shot I took on the property:

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Becoming an outdoors woman!

My third year at BOW.  Was so thinking it was going to be a soggy, soggy weekend, but not at all!

Friday we arrived and it was cloudy, but that all cleared up after lunch for our first class.

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This year I took Wilderness First Aid, Basic Map and Compass, Crossbow and Knots.

Wilderness first aid was very interesting.

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It’s way different than usual CPR aid because it’s mostly just stabilizing someone and getting them out to a hospital. Also, there are a lot of things you *can’t* do, like give someone medication (even Tylenol) or you can’t do anything for them unless they give you permission. You can get their meds from a backpack or something for them, but you can’t tell them to take it.  This is a non certified course. Apparently you can get actually certified for wilderness first aid, just like CPR.

We learned how to bandage and do a sling and swathe.  Also ways to make splints from what you have on hand.  Here is a duct tape and twig splint:

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Duct tape – never leave home without it!

They said the best thing you can do is think outside the box to use whatever you have to make splints, dressings, waterproof items, etc.

We talked about building a small first aid kit to take based on what you will be doing, whether running, hiking, biking, skiing, etc.

My sister taught her class on deer hunting and I met up with her before dinner.  You can always tell where her class is.

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She uses fake blood to make a blood trail to teach people how to look for one to find your deer.

Lovely evening walk shots:

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Saturday was map and compass.  I had absolutely no clue about what to do with a compass other than to find north, which I am not even doing in this picture…

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Now I get it! We learned how to translate from a map to a compass and how to translate from a visual point to the compass onto a map.  We also learned how to correct for magnetic versus true north (very important or you end up off course).

While we were outside practicing finding points with the compass, the Hague Half Ironman started coming through (marathon part).

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We cheered and clapped for anyone that ran by – and most of them seemed to love it 😀

Now I feel like I actually get use a compass and function with it.  And I can read a map better as well.  I know how to read a map, but we went over all the features of topographical maps, which is obviously a lot different than road maps. Now I can figure out if terrain ahead is going uphill or down and how to find a valley.  Very cool class.  Not that I do much in the way of hiking, but John and I do keep talking about it.

A few more lovely pictures from around Silver Bay.

The chapel

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Some clematis:

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More clematis:

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Some good coffee.

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I had to buy this in the little general store because the coffee served in the dining hall is swill.  The rest of the food – very, very good.  The coffee? I couldn’t finish my cup it was that bad.  Different than past years. It comes out of a machine that mixes concentrate with hot water. Ewww?

Our classic chair:

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More Lake George:

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I love the lake!

Still have to talk about the other 2 classes, but there will be an AIM post coming up this Monday and then I will share the rest.

 

BOW last day!

Thanks for reading my updates on the weekend.  One class left.  Before I get to that, though, there was Saturday night.  One of the classes is a camp stove cooking class.  You don’t have to settle for weenies on a stick when you are camping.  This class showed the participants how to  cook all kinds of game in a lot of different ways.  Then that class makes food for us all to try Saturday night.

Here is the spread:

Mostly venison and fish items.  Here were some of them:

Pate – no thank you.

There was a venison pizza, cajun bass bites, fried smelt. Plus a crockpot of venison chili.  Those ladies did so much work to get this ready for all of us!

I had just a few things because I had a late dinner from my ‘extended’ hike earlier in the day (and too many M&Ms).

I like the Asian style venison egg roll the best.

Sunday was the most relaxed day.  Still early, though. 8 am class for Wildflower Identification!  You all know I have pretty good knowledge of garden flowers.  Wildflowers are a totally different story.  I know maybe 3 LOL.  We learned about how to go about categorizing flowers to use an identification guide.

Regular and irregular flowers, number of petals, leaf types.  We tried a couple different guides to see which ones we liked.  You can either go by color/picture or using a system of answering questions about the plant to narrow it down (kind of like 20 questions, only for flowers).  Here are some of the fun ones we looked at:

This is a nightshade:

This one is moth mullein.

I just liked both of those flower colors!  Funny how both of those flowers are almost like Mardi Gras.

Flower ID is hard.  Our brains were tired after that!

Getting back to flowers I know.  Here are some more pictures from the grounds of Silver Bay.

Bee balm!

My sister was teaching her other class (hunter education)  in this building :

and I sat on that big porch waiting for her to finish before lunch.

Yeah, I could get used to it.

After lunch it was to home after the need for a car jump and melted jumper cables (that was fun… ) . It felt good to get home.

This was my second BOW weekend.  There are just so many classes that I want to take.  If I get a chance to go next year, I am hoping for archery or crossbow and map & compass.

It’s really just a great program to try something really new and different in a safe environment with instructors and no pressure.  There were some women from NYC that were doing everything totally opposite of their city life just because they wanted the experience.  They have also come twice and took everything from shotgun to rifle to cooking game and nature crafts.  No fear to try anything. Good for them!

Here is the link to the national BOW page where you can see if there is a workshop in your state.  These are funded, so programs can be discontinued.  You also don’t have to live in the state the workshop is in, so if you like to travel – go for it!

Back to regularly scheduled program now…

BOW – birding and hiking!

More of the activities at the Becoming an Outdoorswoman weekend!  Saturday was a day for 2 classes.  Another gorgeous morning:

There is not actually much down time during the weekend.  You are kept going and busy!  Breakfast starts at 7 am.  Important to fuel up with a good breakfast.

One morning I had oats and I was putting peanut butter on top and other ladies at the table were going “ooo… peanut butter on oats!”  LOL.  The nice thing about meal times is you just sit with whomever and talk about the class you took (or are about to take).  My sister and I tried to make a point to not sit at an empty table to get to meet other people.  Some women really kept to themselves, but most are eager to talk to others.  About half of the 126 people were return BOW attendees (like me!).

Off to 8 am class.

I was tired LOL! Kayaking was actually quite a workout.  I am glad I do a lot of lifting because it helped my back and shoulders from being too sore.

Saturday morning was my bird identification class.  Most of you know I love the birdies out my window, but I also want to learn more how to recognize them when they are not just sitting at my feeder.

 

I loved this class.  We learned how to use a field guide and how  to approach identifying a bird (and got to keep this pocket guide). We also paid a lot of attention to the bird songs, because it’s not just ‘tweet, tweet, tweet,” but you can identify birds by their songs even if you don’t see them.  Good thing, because we didn’t see a lot of birds on our walk, but we heard a bunch!

When we went out for the walk, I asked the instructor what camera she was using for her pictures.  She handed me her camera and told me to use it during the walk. Yay!

This is the bird we heard the most.  The red eyed Vireo.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/puttefin/

Here is a link to the song.  Once you know it, you hear it a lot (or at least I did).  In fact, I heard it when I got home in a tree across the street!

Here is a list of the birds we identified during our walk, which was about 30 minutes of the class:  Great Blue Heron (saw), Ring-necked gull (saw), Downey Woodpecker, Wood – Pewee, red-eyed vireo, crow, raven, nuthatch, American Redstart, Blackburnian Warbler, Chipping Sparrow.   How cool.  All those sounds around us that you really only notice in the background when you are outside.  John and I are going to get more into birding.

We came back for lunch.  This is chicken.  They had also a nacho bar, and you know I don’t confine my toppings to just what they are designed for.  I topped my chicken with salsa and cheese!

Funny how people thought that was so creative.  It’s good to think outside of the food box, you know?

The afternoon class was Adirondack Ecology.  This was a very interesting class.  The Adirondacks are really special.  Very old and they hold so many diverse types of landscapes and forest types.  After a presentation on what an ecologist would be looking for and what makes up a healthy forest, we went off site to view these in person.  The cool thing about the Adirondacks is that you don’t have to go far to see all kinds of different ecosystems right next to each other.   The plan was to be dropped off at the site and then have the option to walk back (we were told about 2 miles) if we chose.  More on that later.  We visited Jabe Pond and Little Jabe Pond.

Hiking on the path – here is an example of what is called a Maplewood-Beech forest.

I was glad to be in the woods because it was another hot day – in the mid 80s at least.  Lots of maple and beech (duh), plus a leafy forest floor.  Lots of cool vegetation.  Check out this flower:

This is an Indian Pipe flower.  I about squealed when the instructor pointed it  out.  She was really knowledgeable.  We don’t do much hiking or going into the woods, so I got to see lots of new-to-me plants.

Then we walked a bit more into a Hemlock forest.  This used to be part of a logging area in the 1950s and they deforested it, but it has come back pretty healthy.

This forest floor has more bedrock sticking out of it and is covered in needles.  Much different than the Maplewood-Beech.

Then we hiked a bit further and found a swamp area.  Now, we were dry because we just skirted the edges and were not going around in the muck.  This used to be a beaver dam area and the dam came down and created this swamp.

Lots of cool wetland flowers here.  This is something called Sun Dew – and it is a carnivorous plant!  It eats bugs gnat size and smaller.

These are small and very low to the ground.  On this same log were little tiny red fungus type of flowers called British Soldiers.

They are called British soldiers because they stand up tall and wear red hats.

So neat to see all of these things!  Nature is pretty amazing when you think about it (and we should more often). At this point, we had a choice.  We could go back to the drop off point and ride down by van, or we could hike the 2 miles back on the trails.  About half of the group decided to hike back (which I was in).   The leftover group continued to Jabe Little Pond, where we were lucky enough to see a loon!

He was hard to get a picture of because he kept diving.  After a nice rest here, we then headed back around the Jabe Pond (the big one).  Could you not see yourself in a chair with a nice cold drink?

I could!

I love how the angle of the sun really highlights my forehead ‘divot’  🙄  The one real sign of aging on my face from a lifetime of squinting.

A couple of canoe-ers came with their dogs and set out for some fishing.

Very well-behaved dogs that didn’t jump out of the boat.  Obviously very used to canoeing.

Funny that this is a pond, but it really looks more like a lake, doesn’t it?

We dawdled here too much, so then we had to pick up the pace on the way back.  The instructor led us to some rarely used trails and this is where it started to get tricky and hairy.

I felt bad because there were a few people that would not have done this hike back if they knew how difficult it would be.  There was a bit of steep uphill, but most of it was steep downhill, which is really hard on the knees.  And instead of 2 miles, it was more like 4!  Phew!  I thanked all my biking and lifting.  At 250 pounds, I would have been completely miserable doing this hike.

The trail was very hard to see.  It was hardly used.

At this point, I put the camera away because I didn’t want to drop it.  Footing was hard and with a lot of forest litter on the floor, you couldn’t always be sure you wouldn’t step into a hole.

The 40 minute hike back ended up being about an hour and a half!  We were so tired and also very late for dinner.  My sister was wondering where the heck I was LOL!  She had been teaching her class while we were out there.  The thing is, without cell service, you couldn’t let anyone know where you were or how long you would be gone.  This is why you shouldn’t hike alone unless you tell someone where you will be and how long you expect to be gone.  Our ‘extended’ hike was the talk of the dinner!

I’ll stick with biking, thank you.  It was enjoyable, though, other than being a bit worried about being so late.  I certainly burned a lot of calories!  Glad to see the lake again.

Sorry for the long post!  The day wasn’t over yet, but I’ll save that and the last class for tomorrow.

Becoming an Outdoorswoman!

Had a fabulous weekend at Becoming an Outdoorswoman (BOW)!  Obviously too much to put in one post, so here we go.

BOW was held at Silver Bay YMCA this year like the last few years.  This is the 19th NY BOW workshop.  Silver Bay is really a magnificent facility.  The Inn is the main building and has that wonderful wraparound porch with rockers where you just want to put your feet up and sit all day.

Especially with this view:

Those hollyhocks are so tall, too.

Yes, you will see more flower pictures 😀

My sister and I ended up in the same room that we did last year, which was nice.  We weren’t in the Inn, but a couple buildings away.

 

Quite comfy accommodations, really.  We had a suite with another room and a shared bathroom.  The rooms have Wifi, but no cell service (Adirondacks — typical) and no TV.  So nice and quiet.  Most certainly not roughing it!

The workshop ran from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon.  You take 4 classes.  It’s really hard to choose classes because you can only take 4 out of about 40 choices.  My first stop was the kayak class.  Now, I really wish I could have taken pics on the water, but I was not risking bringing my camera out on the water as it is not waterproof and I didn’t think to get a cover.  But I have some pictures of the kayaks!

Check out that beauteous weather, too!


It was about 90 and sunny.  I wore lots of sunscreen.  The kayaking was fun.  Way different than being in a canoe and I actually liked it better.  It didn’t feel as wobbly as a canoe does (to me). The classes are about 3-1/2 hours long.  We had safety and equipment instruction, then you just get out there and do.  Only one person rolled over in our class, but that was when she switched kayaks to a small tight one.  Getting in and out is the hardest thing with the kayak, and you need a surface to lean your paddle on as you kind of pop out of the boat onto it.  I am sure I looked graceful indeed, but I was happy not to end up in the water!

After that class, it was dinner time.  Did I mention they feed you well here at Silver Bay?

I ate so many cucumbers this weekend LOL!  I just wasn’t feeling the salad, so that’s what I ate.  I also ate a lot of chocolate.  My sister seemed to think we would be starving, so she brought candy and cashews (hello trigger foods).  :mrgreen:

After dinner, we listened to a presentation on ticks.  Lyme disease is very prevalent in our area, so it’s always good to get as much information as you can.

Then we went out fishing on the lake.  This is still Lake George, by the way.  Just up north of the village a lot more.   Actually, I did not fish because I didn’t get a license.

Found these footprints in the sand.  I wish I had put a dime down there for scale.  Maybe chipmunk?

Lake George is really one of the most beautiful lakes out there.  It really and truly is.

We heard loons, too.  So cool.  Actually, I saw and heard a lot of cool things on this weekend.

Back with more tomorrow!

BOW part 2, Wild Infusions, Tracking, and more.

If you missed part 1 of my Becoming and Outdoors Woman weekend, click here.

Saturday started really early.  Breakfast at 7!  I did a happy-happy joy-joy dance when I saw my favorite stuff for breakfast:

They had a selection of french toast, eggs, bacon, scrambled tofu (nothankyou), pastries, cold cereal, yogurt and a ton of fresh fruit – which I mowed through.  I found some peanut butter packs and jelly for my oats.  It was missing the banana.  That was the one fruit they didn’t have, oddly enough.

Then it was time for Wild Infusions!  This was a class about herbs and plants and how to use them in cooking or in herbal medicine ways.  The instructor, Donna, brought in her collection of herbs and plants from her garden or from some online sources:

We started with making some homemade ginger syrup concentrate.  We peeled and chopped fresh ginger:

Then boiled it in water, which smelled ah-mazing:

You use 1 pound of ginger root and 10 cups of water and boil it down until it is about 1/4 of the volume.  Then you add 2.5 pounds of sugar (yes, it’s a syrup) and keep boiling down to make a syrup.  We didn’t have enough time because it takes several hours to boil all the way down, so Donna had some she made previously.  She used a raw sugar that still had the molasses in it so it was very dark.  This is the final product:

We put a spoonful into some unsweetened plain seltzer water for some homemade ginger ale!

I *loved* this!  Of course, long-time readers know of my love for ginger, so I was almost bathing in this.  I bogarted some from her jar to take home with me, too! :mrgreen:  I see some oatmeal in its future.

We also made an herbed butter with fresh chives:

Tasty and very easy.  Just herbs and softened butter.

We then made our own individual herbal teas.  We got to go up to her stash and use a base of raspberry leaves, then add whatever we wanted.  I chose some cinnamon, stinging nettle, lemon balm, violet and the raspberry leaves.  Here is my cup steeping.

We strained and drank our tea.  Mine was decent, although not even remotely close to a cup of coffee as far as satisfaction goes! :mrgreen:

She also showed us how to make infused vinegars and oils.  Take whatever herbs you like and put them in a jar.  She was not real specific on amounts. She just said only a few sprigs are needed for a small jar.

Add vinegar and place in a water bath holding the vinegar at 150 degrees F for 15 minutes.

You do the same thing with oil, but only keep the temp at 125 degrees.  And never use whole garlic cloves, only sliced.  Something about bacteria.

We took a break and I took a photo of the ladies learning fly fishing casting in the rain!  I was happy to be in an indoor class right then.

She made an infused oil with comfrey leaves, which she then added to melted beeswax to make a salve.

We each got to take one home.  (Hooray for clean fingernails today!)

This is kinda stinky, though. 😯

Next up? Sumac lemonade!  You know the red sumac that grows everywhere?  Not the white (poisonous).  The berries are tart.

Just put a bunch in a jar with water and let it steep like sun tea, or use a warm water steeping like tea (although this makes it more tangy).  Unsweetened it tastes very much like Red Zinger tea from Celestial Seasonings.

Fun class.

After lunch, which was sandwich and wrap fixins (I made hummus, cheese, hardboiled egg, lettuce)….

I helped my sister set up for her class.  She teaches the deer hunting class, which goes over bow and rifle/shotgun hunting, as well as tracking a deer if it bolts after you shoot it.  Warning – This part may gross some of you out.  She made up some fake blood to make a trail in the terrain.

Then sprinkled it around.  See how it matches her nail polish? :mrgreen:

We then laid a trail, except I got waylaid by some wild strawberries.

Don’t get between me and my fruit…. ever!  At the end of the “blood trail,”  there was a picture of a deer on top of a jar of chocolates as the “prize.”  The students had to follow the trail and find it.   Good practice to be done before being out in the field for real.  I am proud of my sis for how much she knows!

I got to hold the cross bow and look all badass, too.

I should have flexed for this shot.

My class was on animal tracking and signs.  I thought this would be cool for when we go out biking or on the trails to know what we might be seeing.  It was pretty neat!

Examples of poo!!

They don’t leave just tracks behind :mrgreen:

Mountain lion print, although there are no mountain lions/cougars in New York.

Okay, this post is getting long!  Saturday was jam packed and busy.  I did well with eating, but then did some damage in chocolate… oops!

Tomorrow’s post will be more scenery and Dutch Oven Cooking!  You will be very surprised at what we made. I know I was!

Becoming an Outdoors Woman Part 1

Part 1 of 3 so you don’t have to spend 3 hours reading my post! I had a great weekend becoming an outdoors woman!  A nice 3 day weekend, too 😀

There are different BOW programs in other states and Canada, most sponsored by the DEC.  Classes range from archery, shotgun, kayaking/canoeing, campfire cooking, map & compass, hiking,  biking, fishing, and lots more! I would highly recommend trying a weekend!

There were women of all shapes and sizes – and ages!  The oldest woman there was 90 years old, and there was an 83 woman who did the air rifle class (who was affectionately called ‘grandma’).  She rocked! There were approximate 118 women at this workshop.

We stayed at Silver Bay way up north on Lake George – a YMCA facility.  It was beautiful!  This was the inn, which I was not staying in.

Front porch of the Inn:

What a nice way to destress and unwind:

This was my building:

Accommodations much better than my last outdoor adventure!  I was totally expecting to be roughing it.

It pretty much rained all morning, but it really did not rain much in the afternoon, which was lucky!  We had a nice lunch. It was buffet style with salads, soups, and sandwich fixin’s.  I decided on egg salad, a salad-salad and some baked potato soup.  Tres delicious.  Oh, and a pear in the background.

Then it was time for my first class.

We spent time learning about how to prepare for a hike, what to bring and the types of equipment available for various hikes.  Then we did a short hike on one of the trails.  My class had about a dozen women in it.

It was very well marked.  There were white diamonds on the trees to mark this specific trail, plus a really nice branch pathway, which you can see at our feet.

Poison ivy anyone?

Even on well used trails, you have to be really careful.

We ended up near the lake and saw the kayak class:

I want to do that one next time!

Even though we are close to July, it is still really, really green around here.  All the soaking rains recently helped with that.

We did around a 2 mile hike.  It was nice.  Very easy terrain.

Then it was dinner time!

And dessert:

They fed us well this weekend.

And I went out for more pictures of the grounds:

The ubiquitous Adirondack chair!

I had to use the zoom lens – this kitty wanted no part of me :mrgreen:

Ladies Mantle:

You all expected flower pictures, right? 😉

Allium with some asian lilies in front.

Then I listened to a talk on invasive plant and animal species.  That was really interesting, and I should mention more about it some time and how we can all help prevent the spread.  I found out I have one in my garden!  The burning bush – oh no!

Then my sister got there!

44 and 43, respectively.  LOL!  I think I am the bigger goober.  We had a least 5 times where people asked us if we were sisters.  I was saying to Colleen that almost never happened before I lost all my weight. Now it happens all the time.

Next post tomorrow will be Wild Infusions and helping my sister set up her deer hunting class (she taught).