Day Four- Will to Wakely

We failed to get a decent picture of one of the best events of the day. We were shuttled to the beginning of our hike by Will Brazill, the new Regional Trail Coordinator for Vermont and New York. So we got to spend an hour in the car getting acquainted.

Then he hiked with us for several miles, so we got to learn even more about him. I think he's taking on this job at just the right time for the association to see some great things happen in the Adirondacks. He stayed with us until the NCT turn off the Kunjamuk Trail. You can see the rocks and muck we hiked through. (Always- typical Adirondack Trail)

This cluster of Tiger Swallowtails was certainly interested in something.

I am beyond pleased to tell you that the entire route from Cisco Brook TH to Raymond Brook TH (22.5 miles) is sporadically marked with blue blazes and NCT emblems. At the present time the NY DEC will not allow the frequency of blazing we are used to, but at least there is something. One really good thing is that there is a turn blaze going from the Kunjamuk Trail to the Wakely Brook Trail.

The Wakely Brook Trail is a connector that the DEC built just for the North Country Trail. This is a typical stream crossing anywhere in the Adirondacks. This doesn't even have a name. It's a tributary of Wakely Brook. You step/hop from rock to rock and may or may not get wet feet. We've given up on dry feet. There's too much mud.

One of the neatest features of the Wakely Brook Trail is a sheer cliff the trail skirts. It's called Pine's Point.

And you get a pretty nice view of Humphrey Mountain.

We only made 6.5 trail miles. It took a long time to get the cars spotted, and there was a lot of mud even though we were in Siamese Ponds Wilderness where snowmobiles aren't allowed. (The snowmobiles compact the track and even tear it up a little, and then the water doesn't drain but just pools.)

We camped near Wakely Brook. We were within a quarter mile of where I camped three years ago. We did need room for two tents. This worked, but it was more slopey then would have been ideal.

The weather has held out for us. Our bodies are holding up, and data is being collected. So far, so good.

Adirondacks, NY. Cisco Brook, Kunjamuk, and Wakely Brook Trails. 6.5 miles

See Day Three- Mud and More

Day Three- Mud and More

Here we are with our spotting crew for these first three days. Sarah is middle back and Lisa is on the right. We are blogging from their cabin, and showering so we appreciate that.

We were checking out an alternate NCT route that doesn't deal with the broken bridge. NY DEC doesn't get around to fixing things too fast.

This is Woodhull Creek (not Little Woodhull). It's truly beautiful, but this trail follows a snowmobile trail. That's not a problem when things are frozen, but it was sphagnum squishy and full of wetland plants which are lovely but scratchy for walking through. We stumbled along for a half mile in that before the trail went into higher ground. The deer flies were fun too.

If I'd had time to botanize, there were tons of neat plants. A nice clump of pitcher plant.

We ate lunch at the Sand Lake Lean-to, a nice clean one. Sand Lake Falls is right in front of it.

After that it was continual mud pits for a 3.8 miles. But we saw a lovely frog.

It was very difficult walking. That said, we finished at 4 pm. We logged 20 inventory items. I explain more about that another day.

North Country Trail, NY Adirondacks, Little Woodhull Trailhead to Gull Lake Parking. 11.5 miles

We start backpacking tomorrow for three days. Definitely will not blog until the 17th.

See Day Two- Across THE Bridge

Day Two- Across THE Bridge

The big "if" for the day was getting across Little Woodhull Creek. We knew the bridge was damaged but parts were still there. Yes. Actually, everthing was quite stable. We scooted on our butts across the undamaged stringer. There were some nails we had to watch out for, but it really wasn't difficult. Good thing. There is no good place to ford and the water is moving fast.

Saw my first red eft of the year. They aren't found as far west as Michigan.

We went past Chub Pond and Gull Lake. This is Chub.

And Bill and I both think this is the largest beaver lodge we've ever seen.

It was an 11 mile day. Quite difficult, because what I didn't show you pictures of is that the part of the trail that is also open to snowmobiles was a total mud pit. Very bad slogging, and it slowed us down. But we finished before 5 pm.

North Country Trail, New York Adirondacks, Stone Dam Pond Trailhead to Gull Lake Parking.

Items inventoried 28.

See Day One- We Did It

Day One- We Did It!

Officially, we only hiked 7.5 miles today, but it was closer to 9. There was some backtracking and side trails, and then we had to walk back to our campsite.

Bill signs us into a trail register.

We made it to one of my favorite places for lunch- Bear Lake. The hill has no name, but I really like this spot.

There is a boat there- no oars, but it made good seating for lunch.

And guess what! I got my 2025 Hike 100 there.

We even saw a pair of loons

I think this birch "hand" was reaching down to grab the mossy knoll.

OK, this is hard work to collect all this data. Tomorrow we have 10 miles to do. Maybe we got some of the kinks out.

Gull Lake parking to McKeever. I'll update these mileages etc later. Barely enough service to blog.

See Bear Lake Trail Adventure

Home, Sweet Adirondack Campsite

We have landed, and right now things could not be better!

We stopped in Forestport for a few minutes. It's always been considered the last jumping off spot in NY before the Adirondacks. For proof of the "always", see this trail sign. The NCTA logo was changed from this in 2006, so this sign predates that by at least several years.

We are actually hiking northeast of here but Forestport is close to the "blue line" (the Adirondack Park border). And it has some awesome geology that I wanted to show Bill. The Black River runs through town, and it is where you can definitively see the volcanic geology of the Adirondacks. This is just below the dam. It's obvious New York has had significant rain recently.

This is the third time I've been here, and I really love this spot. Here's a view a little farther down the river.

Then we went to find a campsite. There are a number of free sites along back roads in the Adirondacks. We found ourselves a preemo one, close to the trail. High ground, level, large. Two tents all set up.

Ready for an evening out of the bugs.

We even have a little potty tent for privacy.

Here's the frosting on the cake. The site has a decorative rock entrance.

BONUS SECTION: I got to visit with Irene for a couple of hours.

Tomorrow we begin the hiking and the reason we are here- to track the trail. Weather looks good for a few days. Can't beat that! We are eating in Old Forge. Much less certain I'll be able to blog tomorrow. See you when I can.

See Famous Forestport

On the Road- Day 2

Missed the Ohio sign, but I got PA- with the appropriate addition for what it was like most of the way through Ohio.

Then NY.

To Sarah's house where we are spending the night. Another great meal with no picture. Meat on the grill, salad, asparagus, ice cream!

Then we got out the maps. Sarah is very familiar with the area where she will be spotting us beginning Thursday so we aren't likely to have snafus with meeting up. Of course we had to discuss the whole Adirondacks, loudly and with passion. These are the National Geographic maps spread out and lined up. The little yellow papers are stuck on along the NCT route.

Sarah, Bill, and Sarah's husband Jim.

One more travel day, but we will be setting up camp tomorrow and may or may not be able to blog. If you don't hear from me until 17th (when we have a motel for one night), don't worry. May be able to post occasionally on Facebook, and we may go into Old Forge for dinner tomorrow where there will be service. I'm just saying, it's the Adirondacks, and we can't count on having internet.

Our first hiking day is Thursday.

See On the Road- Day 1

On the Road, Day 1

Once again, I did not get all the appropriate pictures. I'll start at the end point. Tonight I'm at Bill's house.

His wife Anne fixed a yummy dinner. Bill and I, of course, spent our time yakking about maps, testing (again) electronic maps, and telling trail stories.

But on the way I stopped to see blogger buddies, Chuck and Sylvia. Again, it's been two years since I visited them. Hard to believe. And I forgot to take a picture of them, or of the nice lunch they fed me.

But I did get pictures of some of Sylvia's flowers. She's embarrassed about the weeds. Ha. She's 82, and hasn't had time to get to the flowers beds yet because she's been putting in their vegetable garden.

Peonies and iris.

The rhododendron bush is spectacular.

We had a great visit, although it really seemed too short. Better than nothing.

The car is packed. Bill and I head east in the morning. I'll be able to blog tomorrow night, not sure about after that. See you then.

See Letting You In on the Plan

Rock Garden (mostly) Report- June 2025

June is bustin' out all over!

This is going to get too long, but it will be the last garden post for three weeks. First, to keep the same reference views going for comparison, here are the top and bottom of the rock garden. The far side of the bottom section has more rocks and fewer plants for two reasons. Some of that is as new as last summer. Also, when I built the first part, I didn't put in enough rocks. I've been contemplating if I should try to fix that. Not a priority.

Sure has filled in from last year! Of course a lot of that is the Bloody Geranium which I rip out by the shovelful when I get something better to put in its place.

Before you get bored and leave, I want to show you the Lewisia again. The lower clump has never stopped blooming since April 25 when I planted it. The upper clump is reblooming. The dark patch in the middle is Sempervivum 'Black,' and I hope the Wandering Jew above it (not hardy) starts to get larger soon. Sedums and Vinca in the foreground.

Let me show you the Lewisia up close. It is stunning! You may recall I tried one of these long ago, and it didn't live. I sure hope these decide they are happy because right now they are my favorite rock garden purchase of this year.

Here's another success and survival story from the original rock garden. This is Sedum kamtschaticum 'Weihenstephaner Gold.' It was almost as robust when I recovered the garden in 2023 as it was originally, but it didn't bloom that year or last year. It's going to this year!

I'll miss the full bloom, but I'm just happy to know it's happy again. In fact, I even split off a chunk and put it in a second location last year. Look at those nifty flowers.

Dianthus has continued to be one of my best-blooming genera. Here are two that also looked good last year. This one is 'Kahori' which tolerated my disturbing it a lot to remove grape hyacinth bulbs that were under it. Still a couple more to dig out, as you can see.

And this one is 'Eastern Star' with foliage friends

Not everything is a success story. Two years ago I bought a 'Coral Reef' Dianthus. It got chewed severely that fall. Looked like it might recover last year. All gone this year. I never even took a picture of it. Oh well. A couple of weeks ago 'Olivia Wild' was half price, so I've added that to the mix. I like the dark bands on the petals. Shown here with 'Dream Dazzler' sedum and some of the Bloody Geranium.

Speaking of the geraniums, here's some of the Bloody one with the pink one which may be cinereum. They do look nice together.

The pink one really has nice detail seen up close. And it's not nearly so invasive. It's also shorter which is good.

The creeping thyme is also blooming. It looks nice with the 'Oddity' Sempervivum. It's another plant that you have to rip out by the handful or it will take over. But I'm getting good at ripping.

Thought I was going to miss these blooming. Nope! They started today. This is the 'Siskiyu' primrose. This is another plant that goes nuts spreading everywhere. But it's easy to rip out where you don't want it. This was one of last year's favorite purchases. 'Lime Twister' sedum behind it.

I can't stop until I show proof that the two Ice Plants that overwintered are starting to bloom. This is 'Red Mountain Flame.'

And this Ice Plant I bought at the Garden Club sale last fall, and I wasn't sure it was going to make it. But here is 'Granita' orange. It's surrounded by Sedum sexangulare, another plant that I really regret. It's only redeeming factor is that it fills in around other plants well. It's getting ready to have yellow flowers which are nice. I will miss those. But its ability to fill in means that you have to keep ripping it out all the time. And after it blooms the long stems are ugly and have to be cut. (Not as bad as Sedum acre- I removed all of that one!)

I have to throw in one picture that isn't the rock garden. For several years now, I've either had the salmon poppy bloom or the red-orange poppy bloom, but never in the same year. Look what happened! I thought they wouldn't open for me to see before I leave, but here they are. And that dumb pink fleeceflower just keeps looking good for weeks while the poppies only last a couple of days.

Speaking of leaving... I have just a few little packing things to do and wash the dishes. Better get at it. Tomorrow morning, I'm on my way east! This is really going to happen.

See What's In Full Bloom?