Spring Mountain Beauty

Below are some photos I have taken throughout the month of May. The colors are vibrant and wildflowers are popping out everywhere. There are yellow lady slippers on the Old Golf Course road and firepink is starting to come out along Bald Knob road. We are hosting National Trails Day on Saturday, it's free for the community, come join us for a day of hiking, biking, clinics and more! Visit MtnLakeConservancy.org and click on special events for event information.

View from the overlook on Route 700

Enjoying War Spur overlook on an evening trail run.

Pinkster Azalea

War Spur Trail

Mountain Lake Birding Weekend

We just hosted our Mountain Lake Birding Weekend from May 29-31, 2009. Unfortunately, the Migratory Birding Festival canceled for this year due to low enrollment so we decided to still offer a birding weekend for those who had already booked their stay at Mountain Lake. Below are a few pictures from our trip to Glen Alton.

Elderhostel : Taking Flight: Birds for Everyone!

This week we held our first Elderhostel of the season: Taking Flight: Birding & Butterflies for Everyone. This is one of our most popular Elderhostels and it is taught by Jerry Via and Bill Akers, avid birders who lead birding programs all over the world. Over half of our group of 16 participants were returning to Mountain Lake for this particular program. Below are some pictures I took from our trip to the Biological Station down the road to spot some birds and wildflowers.

Jerry talking about the Chestnut Blight. Despite the devastation the blight caused to the American Chestnut tree, the root collar and root system of the tree are fairly resistant to the blight, so a large number of small American Chestnut trees still exist as shoots from existing root bases. However, the shoots are seldom able to grow enough to reproduce before the blight attacks them.

Look at those birders go!

Jean is quite excited about what she sees in the trees!

Ferns unfurling from their fiddlehead stage

Foam Flower

Lily of the Valley

Red Trillium

BrewRidge a Success

Our BrewRidge Music Festival was a success! We ended up switching our venue from the lawn to our Activities Barn based on the weather predictions. We had over 270 attendees and we raised over $4,000 for The Mountain Lake Conservancy. Thank you to all who came and helped put on this event. Check out the pictures below!

Chuck Haines from Williamsburg Ale Werks and volunteer, Matt

Ticket booth volunteers

Mike, Wesley and Lori at the Jefferson Street Brewery booth

The Jugbusters from Blacksburg, VA

Steve Villers from Blacksnake Meadery

John Bryce and volunteer, Dave Hrdlicka

Jefferson St growlers

The Pickin' Buds from Rocky Mt., VA

Laura Beth & The Clover Hollow Boys

Best volunteers ever!