Blind Mans Vly

This was my second attempt to reach Blind Mans Vly and this time I got there. My first try had been turned back by an unexepected late-spring snow storm (on May 15th) and high water in East Canada Creek. This time I had a mild mid-October day and low water.

East Canada Creek just below Big Alderbed Vly.

Blind Mans Vly is a small shallow pond just half a mile (as the crow flies) from Big Alderbed Vly. Big Alderbed can be reached via a snowmobile trail that leaves the Powley-Pisceco Road north of Stratford (2.7 miles). The trail to Big Alderbed tends to be wet but it is hiker friendly with the only possible challenge coming at the crossing of East Canada Creek just below the vly (easy at except at times of high water). Blind Mans Vly is just 100 feet higher than the trail end at Big Alderbed. It is, however, tucked in between two small ridges and I discovered that it's a lot easier if go around the end of the interveening ridge. I went over the ridge and learned that it has a couple of bands of small cliffs that are surprisingly rugged. Much easier to go around.

The route as recorded by GPS and overlaid on Google Earth.

Blind Mans Vly is an appealing destination but, even so, I don't often go back to places I've recently visited. There are so many new areas still left to explore. So the real reason for repeating this route lies in the trees themselves. The forests west of the Powley-Piseco Road, and the area around Blind Mans Vly in particular, are notable for the presence of old growth timber. Understanding and mapping the history of the Adirondack forest is my hobby so I wanted to take another look.

Happily, having returned and looked again, I've come away with new questions. Were these tracts logged? If cutting did take place when was it done and which species were taken? Three things stand out; the presence of large Red Spruce, the presence of very large Yellow Birch and what strikes me as an uncommon prevalence of Black Birch mixed in with the standard hardwood species. Spruce were the most sought after trees during the unregulared logging period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This route passes through scattered pockets of spruce some of which are 24 inches in diameter and greater. Spruce trees grow slowly so those are old trees. Also present are many very large Yellow Birch. A number of these trees are over 40 inches in diameter and a few elders push 48 inches. Like the spruce, Yellow Birch is a long-lived species so these are undoubedly old growth trees. As mentioned, there are also significant numbers of Black Birch mixed in. I don't recall having seen that species in such significant numbers elsewhere and I don't know what to make of that.

And old growth Yellow Birch with a diameter just under 48 inches. I didn't provide anything to show the scale so you'll have to take my word for it.

The perplexing part is that the Red Spruce and Yellow Birch are the only species present that appear to predate the logging period. In a virgin forest I would expect to see large Maples and other hardwoods as well. And I would definately expect to find large Hemlock. And it's not that these species are absent. Maple and Hemlock are both fairly common along the route but the largest specimens are around 24 inches for the Maples and slight larger for a few of the Hemlock. For those speices that means the trees are unlikly to be much over 100 years old.

Maybe the old growth Maples were taken by loggers looking for just speicific hardwood species. Based on what I know about logging practices in those days that would have been unusual. The lack of old Hemlock is easier to understand. Hemlock bark was the essential raw material of the tanning industry that flourished in the southern Adirondack region in the late 1800s. So it's easy to imagine that the old growth Hemlock might have been taken while other species were ignored.

It would also be easy to overthink this. It could easily be that the combination of land ownership, forest composition and topography simply made this area less attractive to loggers than other nearby places. The East Canada Creek West Branch is large enough to float logs but between Big Alderbed Vly and the confluence of the west and east branches at Powley (near the starting point for this route) the creek passes through several long flat stretches where even the spring flood might not have provided enough water to move logs downstream. These meadows are filled with grass and they look like hay fields ready for harvest. That also strikes me as unusual. I'll guess I'll have to go back again.

Along East Canada Creek below Big Alderbed Vly. The creek meanders through several very flat grass-filled meadows.

Very flat terrain. East Canada Creek is flowing through the middle of this sea of grasss. 

Big Alderbed Vly following an unusally dry summer. Quite different than the last time I was there with a heavy spring snow storm blowing through.

A glacial erratic close to the north end of Blind Mans Vly. Yes there is a tree growing on top of the rock.

The color was past peak but some bright spots remained.

Blueberry Mountain Parts Two and One

This was my second ramble to the vacinity of the top of Blueberry Mountain. This particular Blueberry Mountain is located just south of Kemshall Mountain; a mile from the east shore of Long Lake. I had previously bushwhacked up the mountain from a point on the Northville Lake Placid Trail about 3.5 miles north of the NLPT parking area on Tarbell Hill road. The route I took on that first trip was very steep and it passed through a dense swath of Spruce and Balsam. At the time I decided my route was ill chosen and in fact I came down the north side of the of the mountain where I stumbled on the old trail up Kempshall Mountain. Since then I've been back and followed the abandoned trail to the top of Kemshall. That route climbs to a saddle between Kempshall and Blueberry and I figured that the best route up Blueberry would be to follow the old trail to the saddle and then bushwhack to the top from there. This is indeed the easier way to go.

A low cloud cover limited views from near the summit of Blueberry Mountain.

But the main reason to hike Blueberry again was that my brother Mike was visiting from Colorado and we were looking for a good outing. Something close to town, of moderate length and hopefully with views. Blueberry normally has fantastic views and I figured it to be a 12 mile round trip with the last 1/2 mile a bushwhack up from the saddle. That seemed like the right mix so off we went.

And we did reach the top basically as planned. The bushwhacking stretch was a little harder than anticipated but 45 minutes after we left the old Kempshall trail in the saddle we came to a boulder with a small cairn on top of it. There didn't appear to be any more "up" anywhere around so we declared that point to be the summit. As for the view, the top of Blueberry is in the elevation zone where dense stands of Spruce and Balsam typically dominate. And the cover on summit of Blueberry varies between dense and very dense. However, I knew from my prior visit that open rock slabs exist on Blueberry with great views. Searching around on top we did find some rock outcropings that could have had good views. Unfortunately, as the day had progressed the thick overcast had lowered until visibilty from the top was on the order of a quarter mile. Basically we were staring off into the clouds.

Yup, still limited over on the other side of the summit area.

There it is, the view, looking southwest from one of the open areas near the summit of Blueberry Mountain. This shot is from my prior visit in July of 2014.

Still, I assured Mike that there were two large areas of open rock where good views would normally be found and that maybe we could sneak a view through the clouds from one of those areas. After half an hour of searching, beating through the thickets, I sensed that Mike was starting to doubt that these "open areas" even existed (Ok, it didn't require any great powers of perception, he readily pointed out that this was his theory). Eventually we paused for lunch at a place near where we had first reached the top.

Screen capture from Google Earth showing our route. The orange line is the GPS track. The yellow line is the trail overlay from the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation trails map. This version (of the overlay) still shows the trail up Kempshall Mountain. That trail is officially abandoned and while still easy to follow it is not a marked trail.

A broader perspective on our route and the summit of Blueberry mountain. Kempshall is in the background.

Returning home the GPS track told the tale. We had circled around the summit of the mountain and the two large open areas (yes, they do exist) are slightly lower down; one on the west side and one on the east. We had come close to each one but had not gone far enough down the slopes to break out into the open. Oh well, there wouldn't have been views anyway. That is the story I'm sticking with. Now I'll just have to make the pleasent walk down the lake and up Blueberry again to see those great views. It could be worse.

Along the shore of Long Lake near the point where the abandoned Kempshall Moutain trail intersects with the NLPT. The lake is very low, even for this time of year (Oct. 1). The summer has been unusually dry and hot 

Long Lake from near place where the picture above was taken. The bushes in this photo are also in the previous picture. In that one seen from the side. A point was under water when this picture was taken in July of 2014.

Forest scene from along the NLPT along the way to Blueberry Mountain.

Another forest scene. From July 2014.

Near the top of Blueberry Mountain. Previous visitors had built chairs from which to watch the sunset (one might imagine).

Near the top of Blueberry Mountain. July 2014.

Near the top of Blueberry Mountain.

Lichen, near the top of Blueberry Mountain.

Whitehouse to Piseco on the NLPT

The six mile stretch of the Northville Lake Placid Trail from the Whitehouse parking area north to Piseco doesn't get a lot of use. The first 3/4 mile stretch sees day hikers headed for the side path to Big Eddy on the Sacandaga West Branch but beyond that there's nothing special about this section of trail. Hamilton Lake Stream (2 miles) is attractive, as is Priests Vly (3.2 miles), but most hikers using this route are backpackers.

Late afternoon sun along the Sacandaga West Branch. A glorious early fall day in the southern Adirondacks.

Near the far end, a mile short of where the NLPT crosses Rte.8 at Piseco, the trail crosses the outlet stream from Buckhorn Lake. The lake --shallow and swampy-- lies just a quarter mile off the main trail and while the lake is uninspiring the stream and surrounding woods are very attractive. This area has several nice camping spots and it seems likely that local people use the spot for day hikes and camping.

My hike from Whitehouse to Piseco and back, with side trips to Buckhorn Lake and Big Eddy, covered just under 15 miles. Most of this walk was in complete solitude through a rapidly maturing second growth forest. Keeping the hiker's creed in mind --start slow, taper off-- it took me nearly 9 hours to cover the distance. I walk slowly studying the forest and the mix of trees that make up the canopy. The hardwood forests of the southern Adirondacks are dominated by a few species: Maple, Yellow Birch, Ash and Hemlock. Where these trees have reached full height but with diameters commonly less than 30 inches (4 feet above the ground), I take it to mean that the area was probably logged early in the Adirondack industrial logging period. That period ran from roughly 1860 until the early twentyeth century and the southern forests were scoured for valuable timber first. If these assumptions are correct then canopy trees present today have been growing for 120 to 150 years. I have no formal training in forestry but that age estimate fits with trees that have attained full height but that are not yet middle aged. Much like people, middle aged and elder trees have greater diameters and they eventually take on a grizzled and worn look.

And the forests seen along this trail do contain some elder trees, so even if my logging assessment is generally correct the logging was probably done selectively. The largest and oldest trees, some with diameters over 40 inches, are mostly Maples with some Yellow Birch and Hemlock mixed in. This is typical of areas in the southern Adirondacks where White Pine, Spruce and Hemlock were sought out and taken but where hardwoods were sometimes ignored. In those days softwoods were prized but hardwood timber was available in more accessible locations.

The more adventerous part of my day came near the end. With less than a mile remaining on the return leg I left the main trail and followed the well-worn path towards Big Eddy on the Sacandaga. Then, as I approached the river, I foolishly came up with the idea that it would be nice to see something off the beaten path. So I left the trail seeking to bushwhack to the place where Hamilton Lake Stream joins the river just downstream from the "eddy". The water in both streams is exceptionally low this year --following a hot, dry summer-- and the undergrowth near the confluence is deep and thick. And swampy, really really swampy. I realized pretty quickly that my route was poorly choosen but I didn't want to turn back without at least seeing the river so I plowed on through. After 30 minutes of muddy, itchy, bushwhacking I had indeed seen the river and I was back at the place where I had left the trail. And that was a good thing. It was 5:30, I still had a mile and half back to the car, and I was moving rather slowly. Start slow, taper off.

Forest scene along the NLPT north of Whitehouse.

Another forest scene along the NLPT north of Whitehouse.

Hamilton Lake Stream from the bridge. Low water in late September of a dry year.

Priest Vly

Buckhorn Lake

Sacandaga West Branch just above the point where Hamilton Lake Steam enters.

Fading light, time to head for the car.

Cold River via the Ward Brook Truck Trail

I had forgotten about the circus that emerges spontaneously in the High Peaks on a holiday weekend. I've done plenty of hiking in the high peaks but in recent years I've avoided the region almost entirely. Somehow it never occurred to me that my plan, a long walk to the Cold River along the northern edge of the Seward Range would pass straight through the melee.

The High Peaks Wilderness region is rugged and strikingly beautiful but not particularly wild. However, this intersection, near the place where I turned around, is about as far away from civilization as you can get in the Adirondacks.Several trail systems come together in this vacinity but no trailhead is less than nine miles away. 

It used to be the that the "Sewards" were remote and untrailed. And these four remote mountains represented one of the stiffer tests to be overcome by a potential '46er'. But these days the access trails are much improved and what were once herd paths up the mountains are now well worn trails. Even so, I was caught off guard at finding 50 or so cars already present in the parking area at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning. I really should have known; labor day weekend with a darn near perfect weather forcast; cloudless sky, 70 degrees, low humity - Jackpot! Seeing all the cars I considered heading for a different trailhead but if I did no one would know where I had gone so I stuck with the plan and headed out. And despite the overflowing parking lot I didn't encounter a single person on the first leg of the trip; the 4.5 mile walk to the Blueberry lean-to. The scene at the lean-to, however, brought a chuckle. I counted 11 tents in the vacinity of the lean-to and a half dozen packs inside. But it was quiet and there was no one around. The tents and gear belonged to what I imagined must have been a parade of hikers setting off a couple of hours earlier to bag the peaks.

Beyond the Blueberry lean-to this route passes  --in succession-- the intersection with the Ward Brook Truck Trail, the Ward Brook Lean-to, and the two "Number Four" lean-tos. The Number Four location is 6.5 miles from the parking lot and it also features a horse coral though I saw no evidence that any horses had recently come along to enjoy the spot. The "number four" that gives this place its' name is seen on old topograpic maps. The spot is marked simply as "Camp" on the 1923 edition of the 1:62500 scale USGS map but that was changed to Camp No. 4 on the 1930 edition. To distinguish it from other camps shown on the maps one might suppose.

The 1930 edition of the 1:62500 USGS topographic map of the area. Camp No. 4 is a little right of and below the center of the image. This image was taken from a map available from the USGS Topoview map repository.

Also seen on the map is something called the "Government Trail". That "trail" at some point became the Ward Brook Truck Trail connecting roads in the Ampersand Lake area with Duck Hole and probably the mines and iron works at Tawhaus further to the southeast. The trail from the Number Four lean-tos to the Cold River follows this truck trail and the abandoned gravel roadway provides an excellent base for walking. These "truck trails", found throughout the Adirondacks, were mostly built in the 1930s as Civilian Conservation Corp projects or in the years immediately following World War Two. Most have deteriorated badly in the 50 years since maintenance ended but this one has held up very well. In particular, the bridges that span the many brooks and streams were well built and only a couple are starting to sag. The story of the truck trails can be found on-line and it represents an early battle over how the forest preserve was to be managed.

Intersection where the Sewards trail joins the Ward Brook Truck Trail.

The Ward Brook Truck Trail follows a well build gravel road all the way to Duck Hole. This photo was taken from the same location as the one above (looking in the opposite direction). From this point it's .7 miles to the Ward Brook Lean-to and an additional .7 miles to the two "Number Four" lean-tos. The trail is smooth and well traveled to that point. Past the last lean-to the forest is closing in and the trail narrows to a footpath.

Past the last lean-to the road narrows to a path and it takes on a distinctly wilder feel. But this was a well built road as evidenced by this bridge nearly eight miles distant from the trailhead. When this road was in use it reached all the way to Duck Hole and every brook and stream was spanned by a sturdy bridge.

The hike to the Cold River and back covered a bit over 19 miles. That's a long way to walk by any standard but the relatively smooth made it a bit easier than it sounds. Much of the day passed in the solitude that I enjoy on these long outings but at the very end of the day a lost dog brought me back to earth. Over the last few miles of my return trip I had passed two backpackers, a man first and then a ways further on a woman, both looking for their lost dog. The dog had run off and not returned and while the man looked worried the young woman --forlornly calling her dog's name into the woods-- was clearly stressed. They were asking every hiker to be on the lookout for the black dog with the yellow kerchief.

Continuing out to the road I found that the dog had returned to the trail head parking area where it was crouching next to the couple's car; peeking out to see if one of its' humans had returned. The dog also was stressed and, despite assurances from the woman that the dog was super friendly, any approach closer than a few feet brought a growl. Luckily a second hiker, who had also heard the story and, most importantly, was much younger than I am, volunteered to go back up the trail to fetch the woman. Not wanting to chance the dog doing something even crazier I sat on a log and waited; trying all the while to coax the dog over to me with some carrot sticks (that being the only edible item left in my pack after a ten hour hike). But the dog was having none of this. So we waited. After a while we heard voices and the dog went to full alert. When moments later the woman and the second hiker appeared in view there was a most joyous reunion. The dog sprinting to greet her and then coming back to me as if to say, "I wanted to be friends with you but I wasn't sure". With carrot sticks laying about on the ground I explained that I was trying to lure the dog over, to which the woman replied that the dog was "not vegetarian". This slightly ridiculous exchange flowed out of the overwhelming sense of relief and joy that everyone was feeling at that moment. We didn't know what to say. In thanking us the the woman made the point of saying that she if had a million dollars she would have handed it to us on the spot. Failing that she added that she would find a way to thank us by "paying it forward". Ah, joy.

What a wonderfully odd but happy way to end the day.

A water strider enjoying a stroll on one of the numerous streams that flow down out of the Sewards.

Now walking with a friend.

One of the numerous streams that are the primary appeal of this route.

 

The three mile stretch from the last lean-to to the NLPT trail junction is remote and wild.

Sturdy bridge over Moose Creek. Just above the confluence with Cold River.

Moose Creek looking towards the Cold River Confluence.

The flora of the Adirondack forest is a big part of what makes it feel like home for me.

There's no substitute for late afternoon light.

Rock Pond, Cascade Pond and Stephens Pond

Leaving the Rock Pond trailhead on Durant Road (Blue Mountain Lake) this route visits three interesting ponds; any one of which is a worthy destination. Rock Pond, which is connected to Lake Durant by a quarter mile long flow, is less than a mile from the parking pullout. The trail crosses over the flow on a long bridge with Blue Moutain visible over the trees. This is a lovely spot and, despite being close to the road, it does not bear the scars of overuse seen in many similar places.

From the bridge over the flow that connects Rock Pond and Lake Durrant. This is looking back towards Lake Durrant.

From Rock Pond it's two miles further to Cascade Pond which,takes its' name from the rocky cascades on the outlet stream just below the pond. After crossing the steam on a narrow log bridge the trail descends slightly into a rocky flooded meadow. It's easy to lose the main trail here and end up at the nearby lean-to. If you find yourself at the lean-to, turn left. The main trail passes through the woods 75 yards behind the lean-to.

The bridge over the Cascade Pond outlet stream.

From Cascade the trail soon reaches an intersection with the NLPT. Following the NLPT south brings you to Stephens Pond a little more than a mile from Cascade. Stephen's pond also has a good lean-to and it is sure to be popular with NLPT thru hikers.

Stephens Pond from near the lean-to.

From Stephens Pond I followed the Northville-Lake Placid Trail (NLPT) south for a couple of miles. I was considering the possibility of visiting the ridiculously obsure Dish Rag Pond, But, it was two and a half miles further and continuing would have meant a 19 mile round trip instead of the 14 miles I was already committed to. Too far on a very warm and muggy day. Tiny, swampy, Dish Rag pond will have to wait.

The NLPT south of Stephens Pond passes through wild and little visited forests, some of which appear to be old or very mature second growth. One stretch passes through an uncommonly open forest with a high canopy composed entirely of hardwoods including some very large Ash specimans. At first I thought the unusual forest composition was the result of selective logging. But if that was the case stumps should be evident and I didn't see any. There are many decaying logs from large downed trees indicating a blowdown event. Based on the apparent age it's a reasonable guess that these trees might have come down in the 1995 storm. Perhaps this is an area where the winds of that day produced moderate and somewhat selective damage. That's the best theory I could come up and I'm looking for a high resolution map of damage areas to see if effects in this area were noted at the time. While searching online I did stumble on a fascinating journal article describing the 1995 blowdown and the policy debates that followed.

I also came upon this document. Everything you could possibly want to know about Derecho storms.

The route from Google Earth. Blue Moutain Lake Village is top left. The yellow lines are DEC trails in the area. The orange line is the route described in the article.

Fungus growing on a tree near the trail.

Hoffman Notch

We've recently started taking the Blue Ridge Road when traveling between Saratoga Springs and Long Lake. Going that way I couldn't help but notice the DEC trail sign about five miles from the Northway at Exit 29. When I got around to looking on a map I realized that this was the northern end of the Hoffman Notch trail. I say 'realized' because I could vaguely remember reading about the route in Barbara Martin's mother of all Adirondack hiking guides, 50 Hikes in the Adirondacks.

Much of the first mile of the route at the northern end crosses a flat bottom-land. This is prime beaver territory with every stage of beaver altered landscape present. The various meadows and small ponds provide views of the nearby Washburn Ridge.

A forest scene along the way.

Big Marsh provides good views of the mountains to the east. As of August 2016 beaver have backed the water up so that it covers the trail in a few places.

Numerous signs of past activity, including logging, are seen along the way.

Hoffman Notch Brook is a particularly attractive stream. And in the Adirondacks that's saying a lot.

From the northern terminus the trail runs for a little over seven miles to an even more obscure trailhead west of Schroon Lake. There's no particular destination reached by this trail and, given that both McMartin (writing in the mid-90s) and the current DEC website note that sections of the trail are commonly flooded by beaver activity, it's little wonder that the trail gets very little use.

From the parking area on the Blue Ridge Road the trail descends slightly into the broad bottom land where several brooks join up to form "The Branch" - one of the two feeder tributaries of the Schroon River. This is one of the sections where beaver commonly flood the route but, in early August of 2016, the water was low and the passage was dry. That first mile of trail passes through private land until at about a mile you reach a sturdy bridge over Hoffman Notch Brook. Just past the bridge the trail enters the Hoffman Notch Wilderness. From there the trail climbs gradually into the notch following the brook for much of the way. At about 3.5 miles Big Marsh is reached with good views of the mountains to the east.

The "notch" is valley between ridges. The valley floor is filled by a series of beaver ponds and meadows.

Past Big Marsh the water flows the other way (south) with the marsh providing a primary source for the North Branch of Trout Brook. From there the trail passes by and through a succession of beaver ponds and meadows eventually reaching a junction with the Big Pond trail at six miles and the southern parking area at 7.2 miles.

If hiking through a little visited and rugged landscape --with absolutely no destination in mind-- appeals to you, this route is a hidden gem. So many places to explore and so little time. Sigh.