Celebrating the Spring Equinox & Lake Update

Today marks the official first day of spring! Although, it has felt like spring for some time now here in the New River Valley. The wood frogs and spring peepers have been calling for several weeks already, and the birds are singing loudly across the property. If you didn't catch it on Facebook last month, check out this video of the wood frogs calling from the wetland on a foggy morning!

Along with unseasonably warm temperatures, we've seen plenty of rain on the Mountain recently. The water level in the lake is slowly and steadily rising, very similar to spring trends of previous years. The water is not far from the floating "T" dock, and we hope to see a continuing rise to get that dock floating in the next few months!

Current lake level, photo taken March 19, 2012

The water is approximately 15 fee from the floating dock

The arrow in this picture points to the ring of grasses that delineate the water's peak level last year

We have several volunteer groups, including students from Virginia Tech, up to hike and clear the trails throughout the next few weeks. One pro to the lack of snow this winter is that our trails didn't get nearly as wrecked as they usually do! The weather is fine all week long, and it's a great time to be out walking the forested trails at Mountain Lake!

Banff Film Festival: MLC is non-profit partner for Blacksburg show!

BANFF FILM FESTIVAL: WORLD TOUR

Wednesday, March 14th

 - Doors at 6pm, Film at 7pm -

at the Haymarket Theater on Virginia Tech campus

>> Banff Film Festival Information

>> Blacksburg, VA Event Information

Sponsored by Blue Ridge Mountain Sports!

The Mountain Lake Conservancy is very excited and proud to be this year's community non-profit partner for the upcoming showing of the Banff Film Festival in Blacksburg! A portion of the ticket sales will be donated to the MLC - what a great way to support the Conservancy while experiencing an amazing multi-film event showcasing spectacles of the outdoor adventure culture! We'll be at the show promoting MLC membership, 2012 events and programs, and more. There will be several raffle giveaways throughout the show, including a pair of tickets to the BrewRidge Music Festival on May 5th!

Tickets sell out for the Blacksburg showing every year - so please make sure to get your tickets early!

Vacation Giveaway, 5th Annual BrewRidge, and Lake Update

Vacation Giveaway 

with Blue Ridge Mountain Sports!

Six (6) lucky winners will win a FREE 2-night stay for 2 people to be used at the Mountain Lake Conservancy & Hotel in the 2012 season!!

- Click here to find out more information and to enter -

Tickets Now on Sale!! BrewRidge Festival

May 5th, 2012

We have been working hard to get all of the details set for the 5th Annual BrewRidge Festival during opening weekend this season. The festival hours have been extended this year and the event will run from noon to 5pm that Saturday. We are currently confirming and finalizing the featured musicians and microbreweries. Visit us on Facebook to tell us who YOU would like to see jammin' and on tap! 

Festival and ticket information available here.

Lake Update: February 13

Recent snowfall has added some water to the lake, but levels remain low and similar to the past few seasons. There is a current layer of ice on the top, but with mild temperatures ahead this week we will expect that ice to thaw out. We are working on neat, new display for the Conservancy Visitor Center that will feature two slices of trees taken from past stumps in the lake bed. The tree samples are donated by retired Biologist Bruce Parker, who studied the lake in-depth over the past several decades. The wood from the two stumps was carbon-dated as part of past studies, and reveal some really cool insight to the history of the lake cycles in relation to forest biology and tree growth. More on this new display coming soon! Many thanks to Dr. Parker for providing the tree slices and facts for the display.

Photo taken February 13, 2012

Snow on the Mountain - Photo taken from the Salt Lick Spur Trail on February 9th

Tracer Dye Test and Frozen Lake

Research on the lake has continued for Virginia Tech Geological Sciences Masters student Luke Joyce, along with Engineering Geologists Skip Watts and George Stephenson from Radford University. Exciting developments include the implementation of a tracer dye test to determine outflow of water from the lake - how much water is flowing out and where exactly does it go? Earlier this week, one pound of harmless Fluorescein dye was injected into each of the large holes in the lake floor (see image below). About 3 inches of solid ice on top of the lake had to be hacked through! Coal traps have been set all around  and down the mountain at water outlets and streams to try and "catch" traces of the dye that originated at the lake bed. After about a week's time the traps will be collected and replaced with fresh ones. It will be several weeks before results are configured. "The dye seems green to orange to red to invisible depending on how diluted it is and what background it’s on when you see it" says Dr. Watts. Residents of the mountain will be on the look out for where the dye shows up, and any instances will be recorded for the project. Very cool stuff! If you are in the New River Valley area mid-March, consider attending a presentation "HYDROGEOLOGIC INVESTIGATIONS INTO WATER LOSS AT MOUNTAIN LAKE" as part of the Radford University Museum of Earth Sciences Public Lecture Series. The above mentioned scientists will be presenting an overview of their work thus far at Mountain Lake on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 7:00 pm. The lecture series flier with more information can be viewed here.

Luke setting the charcoal traps

Locations of dye release

Happy Winter Solstice

On this First Day of Winter Season the mountain is in a cloud of fog - wet, misty, and mild (about 50 F). I took a walk along the Indian Trail around the lake, it's a beautiful hike on days like today. The colors outside really stand out against the white fog, plentiful lush greens with the rhododendron, mountain laurel, hemlock, moss, and persistent ferns. To me, the Solstice is a day to appreciate the "reasons for the seasons", and that can sometimes be a hard thing to do when anticipating the long Winter ahead! One thing I enjoy about this time of year is being outdoors and observing the environment in just one of it's many "layers", that of bare branches and leaf-littered forest floors. I can see things in a different light, and not be distracted by the eye-catchings of blossoming wildflowers, mating and migrant songbirds (although the resident birds are certainly a welcoming sight in this season!), and the constant activity of life sprouting, growing, and flourishing. Winter allows for a time to soak in the quiet, dormant, replenishing part of the energy cycle, and take notice of simple attributes that you may not have given much thought to in the past few seasons.

Cheers to the Winter Solstice, and Happy Holidays to you! Wishing for "layers" of Winter snow to cover the landscape in the coming months.

Lake Update and Go Green NRV

The recent precipitation has brought some water back in to the lake, and the mountain is currently blanketed in just under 2 inches of snow (and ICE!). The fluctuations in water level here in the past few months have been very responsive to the amounts of rain and snow due to the fact that the growing season has slowed and the forest is retaining less water. Here's to hoping for a very wet winter season on the mountain, from which we'll benefit in more ways than one!

Lake on Dec. 8, 2011

Gorgeous blue sky

As you may know, the Mountain Lake Conservancy & Hotel is a participating member of Go Green New River Valley (which you can learn more about here!). This morning I attended the Go Green NRV Breakfast Series which featured a presentation on energy efficiency in the home and in the workplace, given by the folks at Community Housing Partners in Christiansburg. The presenters did a great job explaining how a building, whether it be your home or your workplace, works as a system when it comes to maximizing resource efficiency. One point in their discussion that really stood out to me was the difference between efficiency and conservation. Efficiency speaks in terms of technology, while conservation is behavior-driven. This distinction was very re-energizing for me in terms of Mountain Lake's sustainability effort. Our organization's management team strives to provide energy and resource efficiency by technologies used within the business. Additionally, the Conservancy & Hotel must work together to encourage conservation-minded behavior on the mountain by both employees and guests. It makes me very excited to re-assess the progress that Mountain Lake has made in 2011 in terms of our sustainability plan, to set goals and outline ideas for improvement in 2012, and to renew our affiliation as a Participating Business with Go Green NRV for the upcoming year.

If you work or live in the NRV, I encourage you to check out the Go Green NRV organization. Events like the Breakfast Series are educational (and fun!) and provide a great resource to community members and businesses seeking to decrease their impact on the environment. Stay tuned by checking the ggNRV website for news and events in 2012!

A Stroll with Bruce Parker

On the beautiful afternoon last Friday, Bruce Parker came up for a visit on the mountain and to check out the current lake level. We were joined by Tom from the Mountain Lake Biological Station on our stroll down White Pine Road along Pond Drain. Dr. Parker is a Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences from Virginia Tech, and has studied the lake and ecology here on the mountain for the past 40 years. Dr. Parker pointed out many super-neat geological features along our walk, and talked to Tom and I about his past research and ideas about the lake. It was a very fun and informative afternoon, we'd like to thank Dr. Parker for sharing his knowledge and experiences with us on the walkabout. Be on the look out for a new display in the Conservancy Visitor Center this spring - it will include samples from carbon-dated, mature tree stumps from the lake bed, and updated historic account of the lake fluctuation levels, a new geological rock formation display, and more!
 

Tom and Dr. Parker near a stream conversion along White Pine Road.

Ice wonders and stream crossing White Pine Road

A mild yet snowy walkabout at Mountain Lake