Snap

Being at Garnet Hill presents a myriad of opportunity to commune with nature. There is so much to do and see here in the Adirondack wilderness that it can be mind boggling.

Yesterday's temperatures were really cold, like Adirondack winter cold, finally! A clear atmosphere and the polar plunge of a cold-snap atmosphere makes for clearly beautiful conditions. While doing trailwork, I ventured down to the lake for the first time this season for a look-see. It is such a stunning setting down there, the basin of this big mountain valley ringed by Big and Little 13th Lake Mountains, Hour Pond Mountain and the Balm of Gilead Mountain. Directly across the lake from the beach, the waterfall is freezing up nicely -- at that spot you can blast a hearty "whoop" down-lake, and the echo bounces around off of these mountains and comes back around behind you! Try it. Yesterday I was a little timid to venture out too far, but far enough to take in the beauty, winds, and sounds. Beautiful sounds of the wind ripping past, spiraling up mini snow-cyclones, glistening in the cold dry air. Sounds of the ice cracking and shifting, the snap of the plates adjusting, slightly shifting like a slumbering giant.

With zero sound and light pollution here, the night sky is often filled with a plethora of stars. Setting my alarm for 3:15am brought me out for the peak of last night's Quadrantid Meteor Shower! Walking the trail system at night by starlight is beauty to behold. The world seems to be held in a state of frigid suspension. But there are subtle shifts and movement, animals, a world alive outside your periphery. With a clear atmosphere and temperatures below zero last night, every little sound seemed amplified. The squeak of snow, crackling or twigs, the loud snap of standing trees splitting in the bitter cold as their frozen sap or moisture cracks them. That snap is crisp, loud, startling -- it echos. The woods alive all around, meteors periodically streaking silently across the sky overhead.

On Sunday, January 1st we hosted our first event of the season. The Empire State Ski Orienteering Club held it's second annual event here. Ski-O folks are a hearty bunch, and dedicated to their craft. Set up with numbered "controls" to find in a sequence, you are given a topo-map with no trail names and it is up to you to navigate the controls in the most time-efficient manner. Aims Coney sets a real mind bender of a course -- you are presented with too many options and your decision making ability and comprehension of terrain and skiing skill is thoroughly tested, sometimes enough to make you snap.

Real winter has returned to the North Country. Seasonal temperatures abound, and we are looking to receive new snow here right through the weekend. Stay tuned...

Pan of 13th Lake.

Applying a hard day's kick-wax.

Ski-O chest harness w/map holder and compass. Clocked in and ready to go.

Your winners. These kids have big boots to fill, and they're doing it nicely (look at the size of their boots!).

Happy New Year!

Yes, as Jay says below, we had a great time last night serving a long list of wonderful people who were very appreciative of what we have been doing over the last several weeks and we're very encouraged that we actually pulled off such a large and successful dinner for them.  So we thank all who were able to join us as well as our employees who's hard work and teamwork made it possible.

Here's the story in pictures:

 Jeff and Kylie on their way to delivering dinners to a table 
of 23 in the porch dining room while guests in the main dining
 room enjoy theirs

Some of our guests sitting down to New Year's Eve Dinner 

with the Christmas tree in the background

 A few patrons in the pub enjoying a beer or glass of wine.

Our friend Kent Jeffrey stepping in to bar tend for our first full 
opening night with a liquor license.

 Our friends Sharon and Sam up for a visit

 Folks out on the ski trails

 A group shot

 The view from the log house on New Year's Eve

The view from the beach on Thirteenth Lake

Flow

Happy New Year! For those of you who celebrated here at Garnet Hill Lodge last night, you got to experience a new wave of excellence that is building. Subtle and not so subtle improvements and changes are all around, some being things like new linens and silver wear and other tactile elements that just feel right and make a big difference.

Behind the scenes it is quite an organization that goes on to bring out your meal, a flow and orderly chaos, so to speak. The intensity of the kitchen on a busy night is a sight to behold, kind of like a dance as everyone has an intertwined role and purpose as they roll through the night, very little wasted motion, and a lot of hustle. Chef Andrew is the composer and conductor of this train, and he runs a tight ship.

For me, it is pretty neat to experience and watch and learn. I've learned a lot of organizational things that might work in my environment at the ski shop during the crazy days when there are a crush of people waiting to get tickets and rentals. I've learned how hard the kitchen and wait-staff work at their craft to provide an exceptional dining experience right outside the swinging doors. But, I think the most valuable thing I've learned this winter is how to stay out of Andy's way when the heat is on. He is the guy that feeds me after all! In all seriousness, Andy is a really great chef that I've learned a lot from so far, from culinary ideas and method to management skills, and it has only just begun. Getting back to the tactile element theme, it is all of that combined flow that brings your food out at the perfect temperature and succulent goodness. Thanks Andy.

And Happy New Year to you from all of us at Garnet Hill Lodge!

New Year's dinner

Chef Andy lights it up
2012!

Happy New Year to me!