The Mystery of THE Blue Dot- Solved

You may not remember it from the blog post a year and a half ago, but if you've had to listen to my stories from the big hike, you know that a favorite has been of the trail that ended at the blue dot in the woods... followed by a mile of bushwhacking and then more bushwhacking the next morning when I lost the trail again. (see link below)

Both those mysteries were solved today. Voila- the blue dot.

My goal today was to hike in from the north, instead of the south, to see if I could find where the trail was supposed to be, in both places. The adventure was successful, and the trail was not anywhere near where I had expected it to be. As you can see, we found THE blue dot. The trail markers for this trail are blue disks like this, but there was only one that was mounted on a horizontal board, and we found it coming in from the other direction. We also found the car at the end of the day. Always a plus.

We crossed Bear Creek on rocks- a typical Adirondack stream crossing.

Bear Lake itself was looking beautiful, getting ready for fall.

The colors are really starting to pop, and there are lots of reds.

Most of the trail we followed today was very narrow and faint, but this section was looking appealing.

By far, the best find of the day (well, other than the trail itself), is thie huge yellow toad. I don't think I've ever seen one this color before.

The weather was about as perfect as it can get.

North Country Trail, McKeever TH to Gull Lake TH parking on Bear Creek Road. 6.1 miles.

Tonight we are with my friend Paul. It's been so much fun to hear from other trail friends who are making their ways to the Celebration. Rome, Ithaca, Canestota, one hiking in Vermont.

See Bear Lake Trail Adventure

Bushwhacking Day

Well, the day began with this nice view from the top of a ridge that overlooks Gears Gulf. I haven't figured out the "gulf" term yet. I've encountered it in western NY a few times. It seems to be a deep, narrow valley. Makes sense, but I think of a gulf as a body of water.

After that, things went downhill. Literally and otherwise. There was a Conservation Trail register box, which seemed a good start.

I really didn't expect this hike to be the kind of challenge that today presented. We lost the blazes numerous times and made it through to the road with the aid of Avenza, but the going was not easy or timely. The trail hasn't been walked much this year, and we were mostly doing what I call "bushwhacking with blazes," except a lot of times there weren't even blazes. Hooray for Avenza which allows you to follow where you are in real time on a map.

We were so tired when we got to the car that we just came "home" and took a nap. We hadn't even eaten lunch. But we saw some pretty things on the way. No hike in New York is complete without a little red eft. I know I've probably shown you a dozen or so, but I never get tired of them.

I caught the Canada Mayflower, Maianthemum canadense, with its berries.

After we had descended 700 feet (with one extra down and up to cross the "gulf") we crossed Cazenovia Creek (not the one by Cazenovia, NY) and started climbing again.

At the hardware store where we used a rest room, look at the company that sells plumbing fittings!

Perfect for me!

We climbed 500 feet back up to the top of Vermont Hill, and we are ready to take on tomorrow. There's a surprise coming, too!

Conservation Trail, 7.8 miles. Matteson Corners Rd to Vermont Hill Rd.

See Plant Day & a Bug Bonus