Beautiful October In The North Country

I traveled along Converse Road in Fort Jackson, New York to photograph this golden colonnade:

And on nearby Sheldon Road, I found a corner lot filled with these beautiful leaves:

There is a gravel road beside my house where I saw these red Sumacs:

Continuing down the gravel road, red and yellow trees towered above me:

I like autumn color when there is still enough green to highlight the red and yellow:

Along a neighbor's property:

A tree so red it almost glowed:

A small hay field between a stone wall and an autumn colored woodland:

Explosions of color all along the road:

Down toward the end of the road, this house was selling pumpkins:

The light colored bark of Aspen trees stood out among the brighter colors:

And colorful trees bordered the Amish farmer's pasture. It is down the road from his house and barn, and he takes a milk can down there in his buggy every morning, milks his cows and hauls the milk back to his family. New York's north country is beautiful all year long, but October is especially so:

County Reforestation Land, Sheldon Road, Fort Jackson NY

Normally I take a few scenery photos while hiking with the dogs, but then weed them out while editing photos. But I took so many of them while hiking with the dogs in the Fort Jackson State Forest (see previous two posts) that I decided to present them as a separate post. I began with these Pileated Woodpecker holes in a White Pine:

Technically, we were walking along County Reforestation land, though I think of it as Fort Jackson State Forest because this is the road which leads us there:

The forest was a mixture of Red Pine, White Pine, Red Maple, Sugar Maple, Beech and Aspen. I'm sure there were lots of other trees also, but these were the main forest denizens:

There was a snowy ridge along the road to our right (on private land), which I decided must be an old stone wall. I'll try to remember to look the next time we're there when there's no snow:

A forest troll:

The road took us through both tall timber and scrubby woods:

When we came to an old logging header, I snapped a picture and turned back toward our parked car:

It was obvious that this section had been logged, but how long ago I could not tell. I also didn't know if it was logged before or after being designated as County Reforestation land. I would think that "reforestation" means no more logging, but I realize "it ain't necessarily so:"

Beech trees and White Pines:

We would have ventured off into the forest if hadn't been for the snow. Maybe we'll do so this summer:

I am always inclined to wander off into the trees, just to see what mystery and beauty lies therein, but the time I got lost in the forest a few years ago has made me much more cautious. I am, after all, a crippled old codger:

More forest beauty:

We were soon back at our car and this excursion came to an end. I hope that you enjoyed the wintry loveliness along the way:

Winter Scenery Along A Gravel Road - Part 1

We hadn't had significant snow in more than a week, though we had more than our share of bone chilling cold. I decided to drive again down the gravel road beside my house to see the woodland sights:

It was beautiful and quiet, with no other cars or any signs of life other than the trees. White Birch and nearly white Aspen trunks stood out along the road:

But the most striking sights were the Beech trees, for they held their golden leaves right through the snow, cold and wind:

This gnarled old Maple trunk has stood for many decades, and I imagine it began as a seedling over a hundred years ago:

Snow was heaped up over a fence post and Beech tree leaves brightened this frigid woodland:

I couldn't identify these conifers, nor could I determine if they were alive or dead. I wasn't going to get out of the car and climb across those snowbanks to go see:

The remnants of old barbed wire fencing lined much of the way:

And Red Pines had been planted on former potato fields in other places. These trees had recently been thinned by a crew who wanted telephone poles:

A lovely scene, with a golden Beech tree in front, surrounded by Aspens and backed up by what I think was a White Pine. Notice the old barbed wire fence in the foreground:

More of the strange, needle-less branches of the mystery conifers. They weren't Tamaracks, but beyond that I don't know:

The woods were quiet and mysterious - inviting, but I had no intention of going in to see. It was private property anyway. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: