Princess Falls and Fantasyland

 The next day (Sept 11, 2019) we went to Princess Falls. This is a view from above, but you could walk right down to the falls and play in the water. I think we ate lunch there. I may need to work harder at finding my notes from that trip to do a good job on these posts.

Almost every day we went out and did one or two short hikes that added up to something between 7 and 10 miles. I don't remember if this shelf cave had a name, but it was spectacular. So many places on that hike were like a fantasy land. I'm using a picture that has Marie in it so you can get a sense of the scale.

The colors were intense, the transitions were abrupt and unexpected. It just seemed otherworldly. For example, the cave walls are so red. Then the bowl was lined with those rounded, shiny rocks, and the bottom of the depression was pure sand. The light made the greens very bright. This view is looking out from under that shelf.

Also on that day, we saw pink Pinesap Monotropa hypopitys. It's usually white like it's cousin Monotropa uniflora (Ghost or Indian Pipe). I've only seen pink ones twice in my life.

In other news: I worked really consistently all day on things that need to be done. I wish I could say I made more progress. Got to cross one thing off the list. Had a Zoom meeting. Ordered one more thing I need.

See Cumberland

Saugerties Lighthouse

  There are 8 remaining lighthouses along the Hudson River. More than 24 were built from 1826 to 1921, coinciding with the rise in night use of passenger steamboats. This is Saugerties Lighthouse, built in 1869 to replace an earlier light at this location from 1835.

This is looking down the Hudson River toward New York. I'm not sure I've ever taken a hike before where you had to check the tide table before setting out. The Hudson River is actually a tidal estuary, affected by the tides as far north as Albany. At the trailhead to this short walk, the tide table is posted with the days and times that the trail is underwater!

There are two items of note here. First is the bouy with something on top. It's an osprey nest. If you look closely, you'll see a baby's head.

Squint even harder, and you'll see a bridge just to the right of center. That's the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge that Marie and I walked across in March 2023.

I learned a new plant, but it's a bad one. This is Water Chestnut, Trapa natans. It was brought to the US in 1884 by a plant collector. Of course it escaped into the Hudson River. It forms large mats that clog waterways. Animals do eat the large seed pods.

This is a fun plant, but I haven't seen it for a while. It's Dodder, Cuscuta sp., a parasitic plant that looks like someone draped orange silly string over other plants. It has to tap into the vasuclar system of another plant for nourishment. It will sometimes bloom, and I have pictures of that from back when my pix were 35mm.

Also, we saw what appeared to be an ordinary squirrel. However, on closer inspection it appears to have been crosed with a lemur. Just kidding, but I don't think I've ever seen one with stripes on its legs like this.

In other news: We sent for our FLT 50 and FLT Branch Trail patches. We bought paint. If it ever stops raining (not constant, but enough to keep things wet), we have a DIY project to do.

The reason I'm blogging late is that one of Ed and Marie's very shy kitties (two rescue cats) decided to sit on my lap for a long time. Previously, (like for several years previously) she has not even let me touch her. The other cat won't let anyone touch him. I mean, when a shy cat parks on your lap, you just can't get up and blog.

Miles hiked so far in 2024: 351.1.

Trail to Saugerties (NY) Lighthouse and back, 1 mile

See Sort of a Foodie Day

Plant Day & a Bug Bonus

You know it's a good day when there is a new-to-me plant. And I have two new ones!

This is Lance-leaved or Panicled Aster, Symphyotrichum lanceolatum. The flowers are small and really similar to Calico Aster, but the shape of the plant and the leaves are not. I may not have been paying enough attention before. It's supposed to be really common, but variable and maybe hybridizes. This tightly panicled shape seemed new to me.

The other new one may also not be brand new. But I certainly noticed it more carefully. This is Persicaria sagittata, Arrow leaved tearthumb. It's one of the knotweeds or smartweeds. Actually a semi-quality plant. Coefficient of Conservatism is 5 (scale 1-10). Supposedly, the arrow-shaped leaves are a bit unusual. Flowers range from white to pink. I may have seen the pink one with less pointed leaves. Note the deep cleft where the leaves join the stems. It's viney and clingy. The flowers don't open much more than what you see here.

Now for some plants that weren't new, but are fun. This is Beechdrops, Epifagus americana. I've shared those before. Here they are in winter.

The alien orchid, Helleborine, Epipactis helleborine, looks like a droopy, sad little mess until August when it perks up and blooms. Here are the seed pods.

Here's a more familiar one. Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, in seed. The first picture shows a seedpod cluster that is turning from green to red and a tiny green cluster, just starting.

Here's one where the color is fully developed, but it's an odd angle. The plant had fallen over and I'm looking down at it.

Lots of lovely fall flowers. We also saw some nice gardens, but I try to limit the pictures a bit. But I can't skip the bonus section.

BONUS SECTION: praying mantis

Do you remember (probably not!) in September of 2009 I told you I caught a fairy? Well, today Marie saw one and said, "What is that!?" And I knew the answer- it was a praying mantis. I got one picture today in flight- very poor- it's the white blob at the top center. The picture in the link is slightly better. They fly somewhat upright- a very distinctive posture. If you ever see one you won't forget it.

But here is the handsome guy between flights. I did some research. Not all mantises develop wings, but the ones that do are usually males. I also learned that only about 80% of males get their heads bitten off after mating.

Conservation Trail, 7.8 miles today from Cattaraugus Creek to Matteson Road.

See What Happens When You Wear Long Pants

Crystal Hills 5 - Favorite Day

  This was our favorite day so far. Even the trail markers were making us happy.

Seriously though, the blazing was excellent, the trail was well laid out, and maintained, and all but the final mile of the day was in the woods.

It was hard to choose only a few pictures to show you. This was one of the nice views as we crossed a road. I'm not sure this hill has a name, but it might be Borden Hill.

We had lunch at our own waterfall site on Erwin Hollow Creek. A totally perfect lunch spot!

The patterns in the water-washed shale were intriguing.

There were too many interesting plants to show you. I'll settle for a few. This is Beechdrops, Epifagus virginiana. It's parasitic and grows on beech roots.

We found more Dead Man's Fingers, these ones are really weird- all black. The last ones I found were gray.

Best find of the day for me is Old Man of the Woods. I've never seen one of these before. It's actually a bolete. It has pores on the underside, not gills.

And this is the first marker we've seen for the Great Eastern Trail, which this is also a part of. The GET runs from Alabama to New York. We are on the most northern portion of it.

Today was logistically challenging. We had to break camp at the state park where we were. Then we had to spot the cars with the trailer in tow. Since one end of today's hike was in the middle of a state forest, that road wasn't too good. We scouted it in Marie's car and decided I could drive it if I went really slow, so I did and we made it with no problems. Well, except that I had no signal in the middle of the move to our next place to stay. I did a little seat-of-the-pants driving and got us where we were going.

The joke of the day was that the map warned us of two stream crossings where we would need to ford, one of them probably deep enough to get wet. So we carried sandals all day for this. We did not get our feet wet at 7 of the 2 crossings. Our sandals were still safely in our packs when we were done. There are no typos in this paragraph.

Crystal Hills Branch of the Finger Lakes Trail, Steuben County, NY. Kinsella Park to West Hill State Forest. 9.7 miles

See One Big Hill

A Little Walk, A Little Work

  Cathy and I did a short walk on the North Country Trail today, but she also again helped me with some trail work. We hiked about 3 miles on the section that includes the Pere Marquette River. I never seem to get tired of this view.

We saw this nice patch of Indian Pipes, Monotropa uniflora. They are a parasitic plant (not a fungus) that has no chlorophyl. I guess I've most recently shown them to you after they have gone to seed. These are the flowers. I've seen quite a few this year, but most patches weren't this pretty.

The Northern Maidenhair Fern, Adiantum pedatum, grows thickly on the banks of the small creek with no name. It's not super rare, but it always seems like such a treat to me to find it.

The creek was flowing, although low. I like the patterns in the mud.

I liked the effect after I digitally played with it even more.

Cathy found a Minion rock! We hid it in a new place.

And we saw some little orange mushrooms. I haven't even tried to ID these.

We spent almost as much time messing around with Carsonite posts as we did hiking. First we dug out one that was overkill since there is also a 4x4 marker post at that corner. Then we installed one brand new one at another road crossing. Finally, we dug out a damaged and badly marked one and then dug up the good one which was at that same road crossing, but in a hidden location, and moved it to where the other post had been. All stickers on these posts are now correct. Good accomplishment. If you care, this is where the NCT leaves South Branch Road, and you can now see this post.

In other news: I edited all morning. Since I got home, I've been working on getting the record-keeping up to date on all this work I've been doing with the posts. That has filled the whole day.

My NCT miles for 2021 is at 346, Cathy is at 49.5 for her Hike 100.

North Country Trail, Lake County, MI, S. Branch Road to 40th St and back. 3 miles total

See Berry Nice Hike

8.5 Hilly Miles

  Cathy and I went for a hike today. We were in the Udell Hills section of the North Country Trail. This is quite hilly, but it's very hard to take pictures that show it. The brown just stretches out flat in a picture, and the sense of elevation change is lost. In this picture, you can at least see some of the curvature. This actually overlapped slightly with what I hiked on Thursday.

Worst news of the day- someone has stolen the NCT emblem that is supposed to be at the top of that post. The bolts are removed and the sign is just gone. People can be so selfish.

The pileated woodpeckers have been tearing the bark off dead trees. Could be porcupine, but several with similar damage higher up seems to confirm the woodpeckers.

Last year's squaw root. Guess I showed you some from this same section a year ago. Apparently it grows profusely there.

North Country Trail miles for 2021 is at 163. Cathy's miles toward Hike 100 is at 30.

North Country Trail, Manistee County, MI, Skocelas Road north 4.25 miles and back for a total of 8.5 miles

In other news: I've been editing like crazy since I got home. And... look who woke up. Ms. Woodchuck. This is a whole month earlier than my first sighting of her last year. Of course, she could have been awake, and I just didn't notice. She looks fat and sleek this year.

See Udell Fire Tower

More Ottawa Hike Pictures

 
Just some more fun pictures from the Ottawa County Hike.

A squirrel is always good to get your attention. A gray squirrel, but a pretty big one.



I liked this symmetrical broken cattail (I think that's what it is) stalk that was being washed by the waves.



And butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa, was in full bloom. Don't forget, it's a milkweed. Full sun.



Indian pipe, Monotropa uniflora, deep in the shade. It's a parasitic plant with no chlorophyll of its own.



Kids were having fun the old fashioned way at the campsite. Lots of water fights in the creek.



And for the end, a big robber fly. These guys are impressive. And if you are a different insect they are also aggressive and predatory, but they pretty much leave humans alone. If you capture one in your hands, though, they will probably bite defensively and it can be painful. BugGuide.net says it's Proctacanthus hinei, no common name. Often seen on sand.



So, today was a big book event. I sold just enough to cover my expenses and that's all. Not so good. But this is my year to try to figure this sales "thing" out, so I'll chalk it up to more data points and info.

	See A different Robber Fly
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