Trees, Rocks, Roots And Fungi On Windham Mountain

The hike from trail head to the summit of Windham Mountain was reported to be only 3.3 miles. That's not very far, but it also had an ascent of almost 1800 feet. I was getting unusually tired and moving more slowly. The green Catskill forests, however, were lovely and I made it a point to watch them and try to appreciate their beauty:

And the forests were ever-changing. From mixed hardwoods we entered a spruce forest. Someone had placed large flat stones on the trail for use when the ground was muddy:

And after walking over many rocks, many of them with sharp edges, we passed through a long section where the tree roots were exposed. As I walked across them, I more and more regretted my decision to wear sneakers:

And there were spruce seeds on the ground in small clusters. Apparently a squirrel or bird had dined here:

The trail turned sharply uphill once again:

Up, up we climbed - and I was moving slower and slower:

I'd just been wondering about all the beautifully colored mushrooms I'd seen on the Jug End Ridge trail and wondering why they were so dull here. I began wondering if there were any green mushrooms and there in front of me was this specimen. I know it isn't very green, and what part of it is green is probably from algae. Nevertheless, I counted it as a sort of milestone - my first and only green(ish) mushroom:

Higher and higher we climbed, my aching feet stepping on sharp rocks and exposed tree roots:

And while they were not particularly colorful, this pair of mushrooms was by far the biggest I'd ever seen, perhaps 10" tall:

And this tiny golden fungus. I thought it must surely be coral fungus, but after a Google search I've decided that it was Yellow Staghorn, AKA Jelly Antler. What wonderful, descriptive names!:

The trail leveled out again and we were walking right across the bedrock. It makes one wonder how on earth those trees can find a place to take root:

Onward And Upward On Windham Mountain

The trail up Windham Mountain in the Catskills was becoming steeper. Seamus decided to rest on a hill and Fergus joined him. But the rest was very short and we continued our ascent:

The dogs love to climb rocks and strike poses. I think it is an instinct which enables them to better scan the surrounding area, probably an evolutionary adaptation which helped their ancestors find food:

We continued onward. Fergus ran back to check on my progress every few minutes:

And we passed many glacial erratics, random stones left behind as the glaciers retreated:

And many mushrooms, though nothing so colorful as those we found on the Jug End Ridge hike. Alas, I doubt I'll ever find such odd and beautiful mushrooms ever again. Nevertheless, this hike had some very large mushrooms:

The trail continued to narrow:

And it continued to get rockier and steeper:

Daphne perched atop a small rock to greet me as I passed by:

Onward and upward through the rocks:

And through the forests:

I could sense that we'd gained significant elevation and the bedrock became more evident when the trail for a while consisted of solid rock. The passing of untold numbers of hikers had worn down the thin layer of soil to expose the rock beneath. Seamus again took a rest on the soft, mossy soil on the side of the trail: