Chapter 4 - Discovering Floodwood Mountain

We'd enjoyed the scenic summit of Floodwood Mountain and were on our way back down to the trail head. The dogs stopped at every brook for a drink of cold water:

The trail was reinforced with White Birch logs for a spell, making for a dry and attractive walkway:

There were huge rocks providing walkways across each brook. I wondered if these were man made or naturally occurring but concluded that only very large equipment could have moved them into place - and there was no evidence of large equipment along that narrow path through the forest. Apparently they were just found like that when the trail was made:

We reached the sign at the bottom of the mountain which left only a short stretch of dirt road to take us back to our parked car:

And the scenery along the road was superb. These Pearly Everlastings were abundant and lovely. I imagined that many a pioneer family had dried them for a touch of beauty which lasted all winter long:

The dirt lane meandered through woods and fields:

We stopped at a small pond so the dogs could have another drink of water, but they'd already had their fill:

Happy, happy dogs in a spectacular natural setting:

Goldenrod was blooming along the road and, mixed with the blue Gentians, made a colorful display:

And this White Admiral butterfly was enjoying the ferns, flowers and sunshine. It seemed to be accompanying us along the way:

Here's a close-up of its wondrously colored wings:

But all good things must come to an end. We reached the car and the dogs jumped back inside. But I had to take one more photo as I stood there enjoying the aroma of pines and balsams. And then we continued on our way:

The Hike To Duck Pond, Part 5

The dogs and I were hiking the Duck Pond Trail in the Adirondacks. The ground was littered with seeds which I guessed were from the Norway Spruces and marveled at how much food they would provide for wildlife. I shot a photo of a couple of them and have concluded that I was wrong on three counts: 1.They are apparently from Balsam Firs, not Norway Spruces. 2.They are cone scales, not seeds. 3.Since they're not seeds, there was much less food for wildlife than I'd thought. Well, zero out of three is pretty bad, but at least I looked it up when I got home:

And while November is no time to be looking for wildflowers, I was treated to several grand displays of Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea. I don't know how long these dried white bracts last, but I'll bet they'll be here in the spring if the snow doesn't crush them:

And all along the trail were brilliantly emerald beds of mosses:

We were almost back to the trail head and I was enjoying the beauty of it all:

The dead branches along the way were sprouting populations of various lichens:

This long, flowing lichen is common on trees at the tops of the high peaks and we've always called it Spanish Moss. It isn't, though. Its more correct name is Old Man's Beard, Treemoss or Usnea. You can read more about it here:

Seamus by this time had lost his get-up-and-go. He just plodded along my side. He's just the right height for patting on the head as we walk. I don't even have to bend over:

Another pine species (besides White Pine) began to appear. It had long needles, two per bundle. I looked in my field guides when I got home and the ID was not difficult since so few pines are native to this area. I decided that they had to be Red Pines, Pinus resinosa:

And a Blue-jay feather appeared on the trail like an omen of good fortune:

I kept thinking we were almost back to the car, rounding a bend and finding we had much longer to go:

But we did reach the car and the dogs were, as always, overjoyed. I noticed that I hadn't closed the rear window though I'd left my wallet in the car (oops).You can see the dirt road continued on past where we'd parked. It was pretty flat and safe at that point so I drove on another half mile and discovered it ended at yet another gate, probably signaling the REAL hike to Duck Pond. Well, that will just have to wait for another time: