Today’s first snow of the season here at HQ, at ~2,200 feet elevation, arrived early and stayed all day. Temperatures hovered around freezing, cold enough to keep the wood stove simmering, getting ready for the predicted low of 24 degrees tonight. My camera and I played hide and seek with the mountains as snow showers, some heavy, blew through most of the day obscuring and then revealing the lower snow-dusted peaks. Mount Marcy, hidden deep in the snow clouds, never even showed up for the game.

There is not enough to ski on yet, but here in Lake Placid, the first snow is celebrated and a good excuse to lift a mug of Adirondack Hot Cocoa to Ullr, the Norse god of snow, seeking his favor for the upcoming ski season.