Hudson River Warrensburg, NY

Lake George Wild Forest
Hudson River Recreation Area-Nature Trails & X-Country Ski Trails
Warrensburg, NY-Warren County
June 3,2012

The entrance to this area is near Cronin's Golf Course. It might be listed as River Road, Cronin Road, I really don't know which is correct. This is not the first time we have visited this particular area. We have walked the trails previously viewing wildflowers and to see the Hudson River. So many cars have been there that we stopped to see what it was all about really.

We saw pink lady slipper flowers. I think that was the first time we had come across them in person. Definitely an odd shaped flower.

Neat looking rock huh?

Dragonfly's are one of my favorites.

I enjoy being more down near the river where my husband found many different kinds of flowers he hadn't had pictured and catalogued before. He take pictures and I carry a portable chair and sit in the sun and relax, sometimes play with my phone, read, look at the scenery or just chat away.

Or I can amuse myself in other ways as you can see. That rock was so round I couldn't help myself. Shortly before me doing that, we found a snake den. There were all sizes of snakes in there. I almost tripped over one and when my husband went looking where it went, over the bank, he saw several of them. One was curled up on a rock sunning himself. The huge one disappeared. He was hoping to get pictures of it. We think they were water snakes from the pictures and descriptions of them online. I don't mind snakes, but I wouldn't go searching them out either.

Here are some pictures of the river. Pretty spot, especially if its hot out. But the kids/teens have really trashed the area. Leaving broken beer bottles, cases of empties and food wrappers everywhere. Plus, someone had the bright idea to paint all over the rocks. What a shame. If you teach your kids anything in the woods, teach them to pick up after themselves and in some cases pick up after others if necessary. 

We had just had some decent rains and the river was still up. But mid-summer, I'm sure it's down in this spot like other spots I can see. I'm glad I live so close to this much beauty.

Next excursion, unknown. But I'll find somewhere to go before the weekend is here. Bye for now!

Falls on Tributary to Nichols Brook to Split Rock Falls

Falls on Tributary to Nichols Brook
June 10, 2012
Keene, NY, Essex County

Where are the falls on the Tributary to Nichols Brook? You don't know? Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you either really....and I was just there. We searched....but couldn't find either one of the supposed 15-20 foot cascades.  We did find the small ones in the above pictures. We walked all the way to the vista and scenic rock outcroppings described in the cascade book I have been using. We also saw a beaver floating in a severely flooded area possibly covering up the cascades. We watched over on the rocks where climbers were in various states of decent or ascent, it was hard to tell from the distance we were at. But.....

Let's talk flowers! We spotted so many that we had not seen or photographed before as well as some old stand-bys that we have identified before. Some of flowers we found were Indian Cucumber Root(right), Tall Meadow Rue, Clustered Snake Root (above) and False Solomon's Seal(left)  to name a few.

One of the other interesting or ironic things that happened was this...we were on our way home, driving on Rt 73 and were detoured due to some sort of accident or emergency. We were just kind of following the flow of traffic, not knowing where we were detouring to. We decided to take a road, which I believe was Rt 9N and it led us past Split Rock Falls in Elizabethtown, NY. Wow! What a falls! We do hope to go back some day so that we can get a few more pictures of it without the people climbing all over it as it was when we first spotted it. There were bunches of kids climbing up half way and jumping into the pool in the bottom of the falls. Oh to be a teenager or in my early 20's again. I would have definately been one of them jumping off.

So what turned out to be a search for one set of falls, turned out to be a flower extravangaza and then a huge unexpected set of falls. What a great day! I am including a picture of a field of buttercups which we took and thought was pretty. Enjoy!

Falls Near Clay Meadow Trailhead

Falls Near Clay Meadow Trailhead
5/27/12
Bolton Landing, NY, Warren County


Back on our finding the waterfall quest, we decided to check out the Falls Near Clay Meadow Trailhead. This was a pretty although small falls. We had a couple of days last week that it rained and I am assuming that helped.  I doubt in mid summer that this falls is very impressive but the way it was, I enjoyed the sight. We climbed around on the rocks, crossed the small stream leading to the falls in one or two steps and climbed down the other side. Other than smelling dog poop on and off at the falls and during the walk out, it was nice spot. I certainly have nothing against bringing your pet on a walk in the woods, but I do object to people who don't pick up after their pets or themselves.

Due a camera malfunction, we weren't able to get a clear picture of it, but we found Anise Root. A new and exciting find for us! I wish it wasn't against the rules to dig up and transport plants cause I would love to do that with the Anise Root.  We also saw Bluets, Cinquefoil, Foam Flowers and Canada Violets. We even saw a small snake sunning himself on the wooden bridge. I hear that there are rattlesnakes in that area and am thankful we saw none of them!

         This is about the only picture I had that came out.  Get to Bolton if you get the chance.

Death Falls

Death Falls
5/26/12
Between Blue Mountain Lake and Raquette Lake, NY, Hamilton County

We almost missed it! We were trying to clock the miles on my odometer but since I just got a new car last week  (2012 Honda Civic), I haven't figured out how to use everything. I am still adjusting to the fact that I have a car because I have been driving a Suburban type vehicle for the last 27 yrs. I am having trouble parking since I can't see the end of the front of my car. I'm sure that will change in time. Oh well.
Back to the falls... well, the only marking on the roadside is a yellow unlocked gate acting as a barrier. There is a small pull off which will accomodate a few cars. The trip to the falls starts with short .1 mile easy walk down a grassy road path. The path leads out to an open meadow. On the other side of the meadow go back into the woods and follow the path straight to the falls.
The volume of water is low, but the main attraction of this falls is the fact that it falls over a wide cliff face. Climbing the sides was  tough. I didn't make it up to the top but my husband did. He said it was a nice view. The total trip was .4 miles.
It was a popular spot. We encountered 3 groups of people in our short time there. We saw some people with their fishing poles but I can't imagine there being any fish in that area. I could be wrong.

It was a very nice short walk and worth a peek!

The directions I have say to turn left at the junction of Rt 28 & 30 in Blue Mountain Lake driving southwest on Rt 28 for 9.4 miles. The gate barrier will be on your left.

Enjoy!



Rock Lake

Rock Lake
Outside Indian Lake NY, Hamilton County
5/20/12

We found the Rock Lake trail and Rock Lake in general as a result of our hike to Sawyer Mountain. When we were at the top of Sawyer, we could see an unknown body of water so when we got back to our car, we drove a short distance north on Rt. 28 towards Blue Mountain Lake and found first a turn off for Rock Stream. That from what I understand it is a 3 mile hike to the stream. Approximately one more mile down Rt 28 is a turnoff for Rock Lake. So we decided to give the trail a try.
I think our pedometer clocked it at .7 miles vs the .5 that the state sign says. Either way, it was a relatively easy hike.

Once again to our surprise, there was a nice canoe left there and a flat bottom boat that looked heavy and unused. As was before, no oars in sight. We did find a somewhat homemade oar but the wind had picked up and we were afraid if we had gotten out in the lake, we might not be able to get back to shore with the homemade oar.  We decided when we got home to order some collapsible oars we found online for these occasions. There appears to be Bass in the lake. My husband was going to do some research of the fish found in that lake but I am not so sure if he did or not. There were a couple of fire pits and spots for what appeared to be primitive camping. I can't recall as to whether or not I saw signs prohibiting camping but I don't think I did. But don't quote me, check on it before you make plans to camp there or anywhere.


We're definately going to go back with our new collapsible oars and our fishing poles. If you get the opportunity, go hike the Rock Lake trail.

Auger Falls

5/12/12
Auger Falls
North of Wells, NY/ Hamilton CountyAuger Falls

Auger Falls is a series of drops and plunges that span approximately a 100 ft. drop on the Sacandaga River that  eventually runs into the Hudson River. I have lived about 20 minutes away from this waterfall for more than 20 years and had never been, have never even heard of it. We considered it quite the treat once we got there. The half-mile hike although over uneven terrain was an easy one. Well worth the trip! We visited at a time when the water was flowing quite heavily. I am told that there are more rock formations and much more to see when the water level is not so high. We plan to go back to see the changes later in the summer.





 My daughter Sarah and her friend Moriah joined us on this short hike. It was nice to get the kids outside and doing something with us. They explored a small cave and found a Geocache stash. We did open it, looked at the stuff inside, signed the notebook and replaced the contents and the cache in its place. We didn't come prepared to leave anything so we didn't take anything. We walked the sides of the falls in both directions as far as we could go. For flowers we found Violets, Goldthread and Trilliums. What a nice day. The weather and the company were great! Can't wait to go back. Cool trees, huh?

From the intersection of Rts 30 & 8 going north on Rt 30, go an additional 1.7 miles and pull into the dirt parking lot on your right. Walk the dirt logging road heading south for .1 mile, turn left at the end of the road, sign in on the register and then follow the trail.

Here are some other pics of the falls.

One more...a friend we found on our way out.

Sawyer Mountain

May 6, 2012
Sawyer Mountain
Indian Lake, NY

This 1.3 mile hike is a relatively easy uphill climb to the summit of this approx 2500 ft. mountain. It's located 4.5 miles northwest of the town of Indian Lake, NY on Rts 28 & 30. The view consisted of forested areas, Blue and Wakely Mountains. A pic of the view....

Some of the scenes on our trip up the mountain....

It was a gorgeous day for our climb. We saw lots of different kinds of flowers....Painted Trillium, Red Trillium, Spring Beauties and thousands of Trout Lily's in bloom. I was amazed at how many Trout Lily's were there.

Other than some toads, chipmunks and squirrels there was no other moving creatures about that we saw. We did hear several woodpeckers almost pecking in chorus all around us as we walked. The black flies weren't as bad as we expected either. All in all it was a great Adirondack hike.
In reading about the history of Sawyer Mountain, I found that a heavy wind storm in July of 1995 with tornado-like winds did alot of damage to the trees and trails of this mountain. New undergrowth has taken cropped up but remnants of the storm are still visible in spots.