Hiking by Fish Creek

Today we parked by the boat dock on Fish Creek and walked up through the camp sites towards Floodwood Pond, walking on the red trail.  Where it crosses the portage from Follensby Clear to Fish Creek, we walked east on the portage to get to the blue trail.  We had hoped to follow it by Horseshoe Pond then up to Polliwog Pond as marked on the paddler's map.  But it petered out not too far after the first glimpse of Horseshoe Pond.  We finally gave up and took a shortcut back to the red trail and walked some more of it towards Floodwood before turning around, walking a total of about 3.5 miles.

Hiking More of the Rail Trail

Today's explore started at Floodwood Road and headed south.   The surface was much worse than the other sections we walked, and we won't be going back again until the trail is finished.  It was very rough large gravel most of the way.  We walked on Paradise Lane where we could even though it is a private road, because the trail was so rough.

 

But we made it all the way to Rollins Pond, for a round-trip total of about 4.5 miles.

Hiking by the West Branch of the Ausable River

We hiked today along the flume in Wilmington.  I'm sure I've taken these photos before but it is always nice to revisit favorite spots.  We had expected there to be more water, given all the rain we have been having.  Then we played miniature golf in Lake Placid.

Walking More of the New Bike Trail

This morning we explored the Tupper Lake end of the soon-to-be bike trail.   I didn't keep track of the distance but we started from the train station and walked to the point where the nice meandering stream crossed under the tracks.  Much of the distance after the rails end could be ridden with a trail bike.  But where we turned around at the culvert was very large gravel that was hard to walk on and would be difficult to ride over.  We were intrigued by the stacks of cans near the station.  And there were many empties nearby.  It was a shock to read the label on the lid and discover they were full of railroad spikes.  What a strange way to transport them.

Hiking at the VIC

We had a marvelous 4-mile hike in the VIC today.  We walked our usual Boreal Life Trail, then explored the longer Heron Marsh Trail where we had never been before.  Here is a perfect pitcher from boardwalk on the Boreal Life Trail.

And colorful mushrooms.

 

This is a view of the Heron Marsh from the trail. 

Walking the New Bike Trail

We had a great explore on the rail trail today.  We walked 3.5 miles round trip, starting near Little Green Pond, west of Little Clear Pond, and walking to Hoel Pond and back.  Most of the surface was fine for walking, but wouldn't be great for biking yet.  A trail bike would work a lot better than my hybrid.  There are soft spots and things like small pieces of railroad tie that would need to be avoided.

There were lots of Lycopodium in one section.

Hiking to Lower Saranac Lake

It was warm and very humid today, so we got mighty sweaty on our hike.  We started at Forest Home Road and walked down an unmarked but easy-to-follow trail to the north shore of Lower Saranac Lake.  We had our lunch there and some folks swam in the lake.  Then back to the car for a total distance of about 5 miles.  I took my phone expecting to get at least one photo to record the trip, but it was so hazy due to the fires out west that it wasn't very photogenic.

Hiking at the VIC

We took a brief hike at the VIC today.  We had to turn around before we got to the bog since I was not feeling well.  But we did see a very large toad.  It hopped to the side of the trail and stopped to get its picture taken.

When we came back up the trail it had not moved much, but was on a log where it was even better camouflaged.

Golf Course Trails

We decided to stay close to home for today's hike and went to explore the new trails near the Tupper Lake golf course.  We walked about three miles on the wide trails that have been cleared for cross country skiing. But they apparently are not maintained in the summer, since wherever much sunlight filtered through there was high grass covering the trail.  We did a very careful tick check and showered after the walk but I'm not sure we will do it again this summer.  Unless they mow, the vegetation will get very thick as the season goes on.

Buttermilk Falls

We had a nice scramble around Buttermilk Falls today.  This is the view upstream of the falls.

This is the highest part of the falls, which are really just rapids in the river.

Neat rocks and trees along side the falls.

Bluets (Houstonia caerulea in the Rubiaceae) scattered around.  We walked the portage route downstream for a while.  Can't imagine carrying a canoe there.

Hiking at Massawepie

We had a marvelous 2.4 mile hike on the trail at Massawepie today.  They close to the public on June 15 so we were glad we made it.  It is a beautiful walk through the woods and around the lake.

And there are still wildflowers to be identified.  This time I took a sample of the white-flowered shrub that was also blooming along the Upper Osgood and was able to identify it as labrador tea (Ledum Groenlandicaum in the Ericaceae).  I also saw common wood sorrel (Oxalis montana in the Oxalidaceae)

and twinflower (Linnaea borealis in the Caprifoliaceae).