Autumn Color and a New Trail - Part 1

I went for a couple of short hikes on Wednesday to see the autumn color in the Adirondacks and generally enjoy the woods. There is a distinct autumn scent to the woods at this time of year. I missed the peak color but it was still nice to get out. I went to the waterfall at Cascade Lakes first. It is above the public picnic area between the two lakes. There is a herd path that goes to the brook bed and then you have to follow that to the base of the falls.

Looking up the brook toward the waterfall.

Back in the 1800s there was a hotel on the narrow bit of land between Upper and Lower Cascade lakes. http://www.lakeplacidnews.com/page/content.detail/id/500096.html At the base of this waterfall part way up the mountainside they had a dam which was the water supply for the hotel. When I first visited the falls in June of 2011 prior to Hurricane Irene the trail was very different. Remnants of the dam and the pipe used to channel the water to the hotel were very evident. The heavy rains from Irene caused a landslide that opened up the falls on both sides and wiped out most of the remains of the dam as well as the upper part of the herd path.

Looking down the brook toward Upper Cascade Lake

Detail of the base of the falls - Shot using my variable ND filter

Below - Mushrooms and ferns in the brook bed

The uppermost part of the falls as seen from the shore of Lower Cascade Lake

 To be continued...

Daily Photo(s) - Day 15

I had resolved to post fewer mushroom photos as part of the Daily Photo series but this morning I met this unusual one along the trail on my morning hike. I have never seen one like it before, nor could I find anything like it in Google searches for either "bearded mushroom" or "hairy mushroom". I have seen a fair number of mushrooms similar in shape and color but without the 'hair' which makes me wonder if it is case of fungus (or mold) growing on fungus rather than all the same organism.

Daily Photo - Day 9

Yet another mushroom. A "Memory from a Year Ago" popped up on my Facebook page this morning and guess what... I was posting mushroom photos. Over the years I have accumulated hundreds of photos of mushrooms/fungus. The variety and colors fascinate me. They also make good abstract patterns like this one combined with the green ivy-like plant at the bottom.

Daily Photo - Day 6

Daily photo - Day 6

Because the forecast for today was for 90°+ I decided to do my daily walk/hike early and set out right after breakfast. It was awesome. NO ONE ELSE IN THE WOODS. :-) I took a nice long dip on the way out. The photo of O'Malley Brook Falls was made on the way in. I saw some new mushrooms, Lobster Mushrooms I think but I have mislaid my mushroom book so I won't swear to that ID.

Today's photos were made with my EOS M3. Camera phones are handy but the M3 is better.

Jenkins Mountain Hike

I had climbed Jenkins Mt. about 25 years ago at a time when the Paul Smiths VIC was run by the state (it is now part of Paul Smiths College) and my memory of the hike was rather foggy. I remembered that the trail started on an old road, but I didn't remember that the road part was as long as it is. I remembered walking along a couple of eskers and I thought I remembered being able to see the lower summit of the two-humped mountain from the higher summit. I was totally wrong on the last memory.

The road part has changed since my hike of yore. The road is no longer in the process of overgrowing as it was when the state ran the VIC. Paul Smiths is a forestry college and they call it "Logger's Loop". It winds gradually uphill and there are several demonstration plots along it showing different methods of forestry management. Not too far up I spotted a patch of Bergamot (Bee Balm) alongside the road. I don't know if it is natural or whether it was 'encouraged' to grow there, but it warranted several photos including the one above. Another subject that presented itself along the roadside near a culvert was this fungus.

Over the years I have collected more than 400 photos of fungi, a large proportion of them at the VIC and this trip was no exception. I spotted several more to add to my collection.

After leaving the road which had narrowed to an AVT trail (motorized use limited to the college's staff) the walking trail follows the ridge of an esker (deposits of glacial till) between two low wet areas. The one on the side toward the mountain contained two beaver lodges and offered a view of the lower peak of the mountain. I was fortunate that the raspberries and blackberries were in season. There were patches near the point where a stream cut through the esker to the opposite side.

There was very little climbing to the trail so far but that was about to change although none of the trail is very steep. After leaving the esker you begin climbing the mountain itself through pleasant woods. I had thought perhaps I was alone because it was mid-week and hadn't seen anyone but nearing the top I met a couple descending and at the summit a young woman, her son and their dog were enjoying the view. They soon left however and I ate a late lunch in solitude. I saw no one else the rest of the day. I made a 5 frame panorama from the summit and photographed some other views including a birch tree that was growing next to the summit ledge. The mountain peak in the panorama is St. Regis Mt.

I left the summit around 3 PM and made some photos along the trail as I went back down.

All the data I could find on the web about this hike indicated that it was 4.5 miles to the summit, but my GPS only came up with 8.2 miles for the whole trip which started at the gate by the beginning of the Logger's Loop road. Perhaps the others were using a starting point near the VIC entrance on Rt. 30.

Please honor my copyright. Do not repost the photos without permission. If you want to share this with others, give them the URL of this page.