STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann set out on his snowshoes yesterday to get a taste Of the winter weather and sent this audio postcard from the Champlain Valley in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF CRUNCHING FOOTSTEPS)
BRIAN MANN: I'm back in the woods now, under towering white pines. And down the sleep slope of this little esker here, I can see the frozen brook - kind of a white vein cutting through the woods. And that's what I'm going to follow out to Lake Champlain.
(SOUNDBITE OF CRUNCHING FOOTSTEPS)
MANN: One of the joys of days like this is that if you have the right gear, you can really be outdoors and really enjoy this cold which transforms everything. There's kind of a different sort of stillness. And even the snow takes on this dry crunchy texture that tells you that it's really, really cold.
(SOUNDBITE OF CRUNCHING FOOTSTEPS)
MANN: I'm passing a set of coyote tracks - he's also following the ice. And right here, there's actually a tiny patch of open water surrounded by dense little bird tracks. And this is where the birds have been pecking open a hole where they can drink.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHIRPING BIRDS)
MANN: For NPR News, I'm Brian Mann in Westport, New York. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
