MIDDLE SMITHFIELD TOWNSHIP -- We are a long way from maple syrup season because the daytime temperatures are still way too cold, but an early sign of spring is when you see folks tapping trees before the sap starts to flow.
It was a busy day in the sugar bush in Marshalls Creek. Volunteers and environmentalists began getting ready to start tapping trees.
"We're out here getting ready for maple sugar season. That's what we're out here doing today, and the first step in the process is laying out the tube lines from last year," explained environmental educator Darryl Speicher.
Snoe shoes helped everyone get around as we tagged along with Monroe County Conservation District workers.
"We do have about a foot of snow here in the sugar bush so it does mean we kind of need snow shoes to get around," said environmental educator Brittney Coleman.
Hand-drawn maps help volunteers find which trees to tap.
One volunteer came up from Kingston, anxious to learn about the maple syrup process from the very beginning stages.
"I'm always up for adventure. It seemed like a fun thing to do. And my kids are in school so I'm doing it by myself," said Lisa Liebetrau.
Running all of the hose is the hard work but once it's all strung here in the sugar bush, Mother Nature will take care of the rest.
"Because we have the tube system, we're not constantly running out to all these different trees we tapped, getting buckets and bringing them back to the evaporator. We have all of it fed by gravity."
Some trees are tapped the traditional way,too, with buckets collecting the sap.
Once the weather starts warming up during the day, the sap should start flowing, and the syrup making process will begin.
Monroe County's Conservation District says, based on conditions right now, sap shouldn't be hard to come by.
"This is good. Snow pack early in the season is really good because it insulates the ground."
The public is welcome to visit the sugar bush in Marshalls Creek the first Saturday in March.