Sometimes things come together in unexpected ways and you just have to savor the moment. It was four PM and I had hiked to County Line Lake from the trailhead on Pinnacle Road (southwest of Benson NY). I'd scrambled part way up the small unnamed mountain north of the lake and now I was just a mile from the trailhead at the crossing of the northeast branch of Pinnacle Creek. Pausing, I was struck by what a perfect day it was. March 26th on the calendar but not the day I had expected. Temperature in the upper 40s. A brilliant blue cloudless sky. Not an annoying insect of any kind to be seen. And the transition from winter to spring nearly complete.
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| Route to County Line Lake from Pinnacle Road. The side trip to the right was to the vly that is the primary source of the NE branch of Pinnacle Creek. Image from Google Maps |
Ten hour earlier I had been drinking coffee and scanning a map of the southern Adirondacks looking for a place to get out for a hike. I always have a few options tucked away in the back of my mind but I was looking for someplace completely new. One of the things I love about the Adirondacks is that there are so many unique and interesting places to explore. And there it was; County Line Lake.
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| A small cascade on the slope of Pigeon Mountain. |
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| As beautiful as the day was it's still March in the Adirondacks. The overnight temperature at 2500 feet had certainly dipped into the 20s. The light spray from a small cascade encased these leaves in ice. |
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| Beaver shape the Adirondack landscape. Pinnacle creek flows through a valley where Beaver create small ponds in an endless cycle of use and reuse. |
Most years on March 26th this area would still be firmly held in Winter's grasp with plenty of snow and ice. But the winter of 2015-2016 has not been most years. This winter is now in the books as one of the mildest since records have been kept here abouts. A few lonely patches of ice remain in sheltered places above 2000 feet, but very minimal. And, most remarkable of all, even the dreaded "mud season" has nearly past. In a typical winter the first couple feet of soil freezes solid. In the spring, after the snow melts, that frozen soil transitions first into a soupy mud; mud season. But not this year, for the most part this route has already dried out.
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| County Line Lake. March 26th, 2016. The lake sits at 2500 feet and, it was still iced over. But probably not for long. The ice was out on all the water lower down. |
The namesake of this route, County Line Lake is pictured above. It's a decent sized body of water but I couldn't get a sense of the depth and it might be shallow. Bill Ingersoll notes in his
Discover the Southern Adirondacks that the lake has been devoid of fish for many years. And that fits. The trail arrives at the southeast corner of the lake and basically just ends. The herd paths you typically find around a body of water that attracts fishermen and campers are not present. I crossed the inlet stream and fought through a quarter mile of brush along the north shore of the lake. From there I went up the slope of the unnamed mountain that borders the lake on the north. I wasn't looking to get to the top. I just wanted to avoid a return trip through the tangle closer to the shore. This strategy was only partly successful. The entire slope is brushy with almost no canopy sized trees.
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| At 2600 feet on the unnamed mountain north of County Line Lake. A snarled mess of stunted Beech saplings dominate this slope. |
The forest on this slope is odd. I saw no signs of a blowdown event or fire or logging. But there are almost no large trees. The stunted trees visible in the photograph (above) are mostly American Beech and it may be that Beech Bark Disease has disrupted the normal cycle of forest succession. American Beech is a pioneer species and when the forest canopy is disturbed Beech quickly fill in. However, under some circumstances, Beech Bark Disease can kill the Beech trees before they get large enough to shade the soil so that moister loving species can get going. This can set up a cycle where Beeches fill in, die off, and fill in again. This creates a tangle of stunted Beeches that I have seen referred to as a "beech hell". Of course, that may not be what is going on at this location. The soil on this slope looked to be thin and the southwestern exposure had already left the slope bone dry. Interestingly, the few larger tree that are present (not tall but judging by the bark old) looked to be Black Cherry. Not sure what to make of that. I'd appreciate knowing the fire/logging history of this area to get a better sense of what might have led to the current state.
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| A beaver meadow on the inlet to County Line Lake. A short distance from the lake. |
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| Along the inlet stream. |
On my return trip I paid closer attention to the forest and it struck me that the lake is not the main attraction of this route (I might see that differently on a hot July day). The trail passes through stretches of attractive middle-aged forest with some large trees ( diameter > 30 inches) present. But it's the variety, the interesting terrain, and the streams that make this route the gem that it is.
Returning to where this tale began, sitting on the bank of Pinnacle Creek with the late afternoon light filtering through the trees, I was struck by the beauty of the spot. The first mile and a half of the route passes through a magnificent Hemlock forest; open, cool and inviting. Resting for a minute I didn't want the day to end. And hey, with three hours of daylight left why not follow the stream to it's source? Within 30 minutes I had reached the swampy vly that is the source of this brook. When the beaver have raised the water level this is probably a nice spot. But on this day the water level was low and the pond was surrounded by a mud flat. Not that it mattered. The 1/2 mile walk along the stream is as good as it gets. Through a deep hemlock forest along a brook with numerous cascades. After resting for a few minutes it was time to head for home.
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| Mallards on the shallow pond (vly) that is the source of the northeast tributary of Pinnacle Creek. |
