Christmas 2015; The Weather Outside is Not Frightful; At Least So Far

Christmas in Long Lake is usually white or at least frozen. Even if there is no snow you expect ice, or an icy crust, especially in the forest. And, if all else fails, the mountain summits should be coated in white. But not this year. It's December 26th (2015) and there is no snow or ice to be seen -anywhere. Not in the shadows deep in the forest and not on distant summits. It looks like October before the first hard freeze.

The afternoon temperature passed 60 on Christmas eve and night time temperatures have dipped below 30 only a few times. There was a coating of snow on the summits in mid-November, (see my post on climbing Kempshall Mountain in early Nov.) but even that has completely disappeared.

It was under these unusual conditions that Elle and I set off on a walk to the historic Santanoni Preserve great camp complex. The ten mile round trip feeling like a walk on cool fall day.

Newcomb Lake with just a hint of ice. December 26th, 2015.

It's tempting to point a finger at climate change as the cause of this unusual weather but climate and weather operate on different scales; different time scales and different geographic scales. A point seemingly lost on those who consider the area occupied by the United States to be the entire world.

For example, when U.S. Senator Jimmy Inhofe brought a snowball into the Senate chamber (February, 2015) to make the point that it was cold outside so therefore climate change must be a hoax, he personally damaged our national standing around the globe (except apparently in Oklahoma). People around the world could only laugh and shake their heads at how silly the Americans have become. But they also had to wonder; is someone paying him to be stupid? Or, is he really unable to understand the distinction between weather and climate?

So now, looking at the reverse side of the coin, let's be clear, a single warm month in one small region does not mean much. If the current Octoberish weather becomes the norm for December then climate change might be the cause. And, as the argument that I commonly hear goes, so what if it does? The climate has always changed. We just have to adapt.

Ok, but it's still a question of scale. Based on our current knowledge of climate changes in the past, it's the pace of change that is the problem. An five degree increase in the average global temperature over a period of a thousand years would represent an extremely rapid rate of change. But even so, we would expect that thousand years to provide time for natural systems to adapt. It would be a disruptive event but ecosystems could adapt rather than collapse. That same change over a time span measured in decades it might very well be an event unprecedented in the history of the earth. We can only guess at what that scenario might bring but it is unlikely to be a good thing for a human population of eight to ten billion people. And it seems pretty foolish to give it a try to see what happens.

Still, gene preservation aside, we humans are selfish creatures and if the world is going to have a melt down those of us who live in the north can take advantage of it for a while. So let's get back to the hiking.

Elle, on the bridge that crosses Sucker Brook on the northeast corner of Newcomb Lake. This spot is a half mile past the camp complex. The trail passes through a beautiful forest with notable old cedars present.

By Adirondack standards, for December, this is a sunny day.

The bathhouse and beach. This spot is quarter mile from the main lodge site. It doesn't look like much at this time of year but there is a nice sand beach and this is a great spot for a swim on a hot day.

Ripples are visible in the sandy bottom of the lake. That's Moose Mountain near Moose Pond visible in the distance.

A lovely spot along the trail around Newcomb Lake. The trail around the lake is rugged and strikingly beautiful.

Santanoni Preserve - Newcomb Lake to Moose Pond

By the time I finished my hike to Moose Pond I had, according to my GPS, covered over 17 miles. That's a long walk, but it's not as difficult as it might sound because much of the way was over trails that follow what were once well-built woods roads. That makes for relatively fast and easy walking. It also didn't hurt that it was a nearly perfect day for hiking; early fall, cool, and mosquito free. I walked the Newcomb Lake road to the Moose Pond crossover trail. Then over the crossover trial to the Moose Pond Horse trail and out the Moose Pond trail to the pond. I returned following the Moose Pond trail back to the Newcomb Lake road and out.

The route as recorded by my GPS and viewed in Google Earth. That's Newcomb lake on the right and Moose Pond at the upper left.

The highlight of the route is the five mile trail that connects the Newcomb Lake road with the Moose Pond Horse Trail. The Newcomb Lake road is the five mile long gravel road leading to Camp Santanoni on Newcomb Lake. This area is managed by DEC as a historical site and the road (closed to public vehicle traffic) is a great walk in its' own right. The road also delineates a section of the High Peaks Wilderness boundary so, when you leave the road (after four miles) you immediately enter the High Peaks Wilderness. The five mile long trail that connects the road with the Moose Pond Horse trail is a beautiful and invigorating walk.

Fall in the Adirondacks. Even the swamps look good.

The first section of the connecting trail stays south of Newcomb Lake until you reach the unnamed inlet stream at the west end of the lake. This stream flows through an extensive wetland which is crossed without difficulty over a solid bridge and then a long split-log boardwalk.

Bridge over the inlet stream.

The boardwalk crossing the Newcomb Lake Inlet. 

Just past the end of the boardwalk you reach a trail junction. Turning right the trail leads along the north shore of the lake and loops back to the great camp area and the road. The trail to Moose Pond turns left (west) and enters a spruce/cedar forest.

For someone interested in forest communities, and succession in forest communities, this section of the trail is fascinating. The terrain is flat, and wet, and the forest mix is typical for that type of terrain; dominated by Spruce and Balsam Fir. The interesting part is that the Spruce here are larger than is commonly seen. Probably not virgin timber large, but old second-growth large. Added into the mix are large Cedars that appear to be quite old. On a clear fall morning this section of trail felt like a trip back through time.

Large cedars are mixed in with Spruce, Balsam Fir and other tree species.

And this trail is little used. From the bridge the trail stays close to the stream for a mile or so and this section of trail is overgrown with some blowdown to work over and around. There are a few places where if it weren't for the trail markers you might have to search around a bit to find the path.

Eventually the route gains enough elevation that you enter a mixed hardwood forest. This section of the route covers roughly two miles before joining up with the Moose Pond Horse Trail. It's not a particularly interesting section and much of the route follows what I took to be old logging roads. The larger trees are Sugar Maple and Yellow Birch so there may have been selective logging in this area. None of the trees are particularly large and my guess is that logging took place here 50-75 years ago.

A highlight of this section is the beaver pond/swamp/meadow that you reach about half way between Newcomb Lake and the Moose Pond trail. It's an attractive spot and from the beaver dam you get an interesting view of a sharp little pinnacle on a ridge of Moose Mountain.

Fall in the Adirondacks.

Past the beaver pond the trail trends to the northwest as it contours around a couple low ridges. About a half mile before the junction with the Moose Pond trail the route veers to the south, travels in that direction for a couple hundred yards, turns west, and then back to the north.. Much of the crossover trail is faint, but at this point the route-finding becomes a significant challenge.

I knew that the Moose Pond trail was a quarter mile away to the west and I could have simply headed in that direction until I hit it. That option was unattractive, however, because a swampy wetland lies between the two trails. That quarter mile would have undoubtedly been wet and muddy so finding the path was still the best bet.

Reaching a place where I could no longer pick up any hint of a path I suspected that the trail had been re-routed and that I missed a detour. So I doubled back to see if I had missed a turn. I back-tracked for over a quarter mile and, if there was a detour, I couldn't find it. In any case, continuing on where I thought the trail should be, I soon spotted a trail marker and an arrow sign nailed to a tree. From there it was just a couple hundred yards to the junction with the Moose Pond trail. If you go this way you should be comfortable finding your way through the woods.

There it is! Back on the trail.

It's hard to keep up the pace when hiking on a day such as this. Every turn of the trail brings another photo opportunity.

From the junction it's 1.3 miles to Moose Pond with a decent little hill in between. Given the the round trip from the junction to the lake would add 2.5 miles to an already long day, I thought about just turning towards home. But I'm glad that I didn't. The view across Moose Pond to Santanoni Mountain, and its' prominent slide, was a delight. And, the forest around the pond is older. Most of the old trees are hardwoods with some large Maple and Yellow Birch present. But, best of all, close to the edge of the pond I spotted a White Pine in that rare category of "trees with diameter over 48 inches". Trees of that size are rare in the Adirondacks today.

Moose Pond with Santanoni Peak in the background. The slide is well know to residents of the Long Lake/Newcomb area. You see it as you drive east towards Newcomb on Rte. 28N.