Update

Hi! I'm super busy these days!

Please follow me at one of the following locations:

http://www.adirondackanimalrights.org

http://twitter.com/AdkVegan

http://www.facebook.com/jessica.ryle

Thanks! :)

So much is going on these days!

I cannot believe that it's been since January since I last posted. This year is seriously flying by.

I just got back from my first bike ride to Lake George and back. I've been dreading it because the first time I did it last year sucked. I suffered like no other. But this year it wasn't bad. Some of the hills were a little tough, but nothing to cry over. 18.76 miles in 89 minutes. I'll definitely be taking less time soon enough.

What have I been up to? I've jumped head first into animal activism. One of my New Years Resolutions was to be more active for the animals and I'm keeping this one! I started a group called Adirondack Animal Rights on January. Find us here on Facebook. I'm working on a website, so I'll share the link to that when it's ready. It needs a lot of work at this point.

I took part in a march against the Canadian Seal Hunt in Montreal on March 13th. Here I am speaking out for those who cannot speak for themselves:

I'm hosting a free screening of the film Sharkwater this month to educate people on the plight of sharks. As apex predators, they are vital to healthy ocean ecosystems, yet it is estimated that populations of large shark species have declined by 90%. The numbers are staggering. Three sharks are killed every second by humans. This is unacceptable. Please come to the screening and, if you can, leave a donation. I'll be sending all donations to Sharkwater Productions. Here are the details:

Sharkwater - Free Film Screening
Friday, April 23rd @ 7PM
Rock Hill Bakehouse Cafe
19 Exchange St
Glens Falls, NY

I've also planned a bake sale as part of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale. It'll be on Sunday, May 2nd and will benefit a local shelter. More details will be announced soon.

I'm planning a peaceful demonstration in Albany for World Week for Animals in Laboratories. I'm waiting to hear from the Albany City Clerk if my permit application is approved, so details will be given asap, but it is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, April 18th.

Finally, I've been invited by Bob Timmons, Artist for the Ocean to be a leader/organizer for the new grassroots ocean awareness group, Ocean Activists United. The goal of this group is to create worldwide awareness of issues affecting the ocean and its inhabitants through collective events planned throughout the world around the same time. I am so honored that I was asked to be a part of this group since I'm just getting started out in my activism. Our first events are tentatively scheduled for May 15th and will be for Lolita, the captive orca who has been forced to perform and live in a tiny pool at Miami Seaquarium for 40 years. That's right folks, forty years. Please do your part and do not support these abusement parks, as Ric O'Barry calls them. Don't buy a ticket!

I am so glad that I finally decided to become active. I feel like I've finally found myself and I'll work tirelessly for non-human animals as long as I live. This is the life I was meant to lead. Please support my efforts. Join my Facebook group, spread the word to your friends and family who care about animals (really, who doesn't?) and let me know if you have any ideas for events or campaigns.

Now that I have so much going on, I hope to post more often. I have some exciting things in store and I can't wait to share them with you!

A winter hike, some pictures and some thoughts

Well I finally got around to making vegan doughnuts! These are glazed and the recipe is from the VeganYumYum cookbook. They are delicious. I haven't had doughnuts since going vegan seven months ago. They really hit the spot. I just wish I had some sprinkles to dress them up a little.

We decided to finally try for a winter High Peak on Sunday.


We chose Algonquin Peak, not only because we've heard what a great hike it is in general, but I was told that it was good to start our winter 46 with. We started out at the Loj parking lost at 6am. It was freezing... definitely below zero. I'm just not sure how much. My hair turned to icicles!


Our water froze too, of course, so we put the Camelbak inside Pat's coat to thaw. It was a really great hike. Our trail book said that it gets steep toward the summit and we kept coming to these steep sections and thinking, "That's not so bad..." This is one icy steep section that I actually slipped down on the way up. Oops!

But then we got to the really steep part. I had never hiked anything like it. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures, but it was crazy steep. This made for excellent butt sliding on the way down though!

We didn't make it all the way to the summit, so it doesn't count toward our 46. We could see the top, we were above treeline, we were almost there! The winds were crazy though and we were nervous, so we decided to leave the summit for another day. :)

View of Whiteface.

I love my new goggles. I want to wear them everywhere.

The views were excellent. This is from just below treeline.

Butt sliding!!

I can't wait to get back for more hikes. I need to move north. I always feel so at peace and happy when I'm up there. It's definitely where I'm meant to be.

In other news, I've been seriously considering starting an animal rights/protest group. I know there are like-minded people around here (probably more so toward Albany) but there are only vegetarian meet-up groups around, which I'm not all that interested in. There are demos going on all over the world this week to support Sea Shepherd and protest the the killing of whales and dolphins by the Japanese. I would have loved to take part in one, but of course there are none around here. This is why I need to start a group. We could hold SSCS benefits, protest the circus and rodeo when they are in town, participate in the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale and so much more. I'm planning on researching the idea and drumming up some interest soon so let me know if you or anyone you know would be interested.

First hike of the year

We went on our first hike of the year yesterday. We had to do something quick because I had to work at 3 and we couldn't leave Gabby for too long, so we decided on Shelving Rock Mountain. We were the first ones there that day and there were a few inches of fresh snow. It was a great walk!

I love hiking in winter because it's so much easier to see what critters have been up to. Here's a big area where it looks like a deer was rummaging around. At the far end we could plainly make out cloven hoof prints.


The views from the top were great, although somewhat gray due to the snow and overcast skies.

It only took us an hour to get to the top and about half an hour to get down (and we really take our time). I love this hike though. I still have yet to do it when there isn't snow on the ground!

Butler Pond

We went on a short walk around Butler Pond on Wednesday.

Gabby was suited up in her winter gear and we were on our way! There wasn't enough snow for showshoes, but we still had fun.


Gabby gets cold pretty quickly, so we were only out for an hour or so, but we all enjoyed ourselves!


We're hoping to find someone to take Gabby out tomorrow so we can go on a slightly longer hike up Shelving Rock Mtn before I go to work tomorrow.