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- Aug 18, 2018
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All summer we have been longing to see the Milky Way and stargaze an evening. So about 2 weeks ago in a snap we packed up our camping gear and headed to the Adirondacks. Hiking the high peaks is very popular now, so we decided to do a hike around numerous quiet and beautiful ponds, almost all in the wilderness. Thanks again to @kwc for the recommendations and as promised to @Rockskipper here is the TR and also lots of photos for @John Morrow
No shortage of reflections on this trip!
It had rained overnight. The air was cool, crisp and the leaves of the Maidenhair ferns were still wet.
Plenty of shade, nice and green everywhere
Interesting fungus, we would see plenty during the trip
Colorful mushroom, I’m guessing not eatable!
The first pond was just outside the wilderness, but the reflections of the clouds in the pond were beautiful
Plenty of moss covered rocks and it was so green
Interesting fallen tree with large rocks in between the roots
We had to be careful to avoid stepping of these colorful Salamanders. They were everywhere (!) on the trail.
"Hi there, thanks for not stepping on me"..... @Miya , you would have taken beautiful photos of these
Same lake, different spot. Right on the wilderness border.
Wild how the roots wrap over the rocks
This pond has a very non flattering name, but it's in the wilderness! Reflections of clouds and trees in the pond.
Close by we saw a birch tree with layers of fungus
Another pond, with a primitive campsite right there.
This was a very clear pond, though it doesn't show well on this photo
Nice rock wall covered in moss
This might be my favorite photo of this trip!
The photo doesn't do this piece of trail justice, it was just beautiful
Yep, yet another pond. We would circle around it and come back to fantastic reflections later on
Water lilies blooming everywhere
Further around the same pond, this looks like a postcard I think. It is kind of a more swampy area in between 2 ponds.
Same pond, further around, various cool rock formations. Rippled cloud reflections. Primitive campsites across the pond.
A nice rocky island in the middle, it looked nice!
As we looped around this pond, it got more rocky and hilly
We did see the elusive Loon that @kwc saw, but no telephoto lens with us.
Then we saw stellar reflections and primitive camping near by
Lots of ferns along the trail
Cool view of roots wrapped around a big rock!
Back to the dual pond area, this is the smaller pond with clouds reflected
Then we spent lots of time taking photographs, just stellar reflections everywhere we looked....
Just stunning!
Rick in action
We had planned to loop further out, but we cut it short to 10 miles. This is the other end of the dual ponds.
On the way back we saw this fungus with many nicknames
That’s the rootball of 3 trees that went down in a creek
Followed by a giant burr
On the way through the campground Rick got a nice pond shot, close to where we started the day
We located our campsite and quickly set everything up. Nice that we don't feel like complete newbies anymore. Though- those chairs are new!
Since the whole trip was a spur of the moment thing... we had packed our favorite backpacking meal / brand for dinner. @McKee80 , this one is for you
We are totally happy to eat a Brazilian BBQ or a grilled piece of Salmon, but after hiking all day we just want to sit down, have a beer and enjoy the evening, as we already cook extensively at home. We are big fans of Food for the Sole, super tasty meals!
Sun set and a wonderful cool evening, clear skies!
Last fall we were spoiled with superb dispersed campsite views in Utah, but we least we could still see a few stars from our campsite
Here’s some of Rick’s evening photography, as good as it gets in the northeast. We were thrilled to see the Milky Way and plenty of stars that evening.
This is around 9:15 pm
Around 10:15pm
A couple of planes came into view, think around 10:30 pm
We slept really well during the cool night, until about 4 am, when a snake moved into the tent and it came right up next to my head! At least in my dreams it did…., so I screamed and woke us both up. @scatman...... just having Katie talk in her sleep would be much nicer!
It was 50F when we woke up to another sunny and clear day. A little fog was sitting over the pond.
We quickly packed up and headed out for just 1/2 day hike, since we had to be back by late afternoon. The crisp morning hike started out with more green stuff! We met a ranger out on patrol and got some helpful info about the Adirondacks. We noticed more details, moss covered trees, baby trees, tiny clovers, ferns, etc
2 people out in kayaks
On the way to the next pond we saw an unusual looking mushroom
A “Lean-To” to be found at various ponds, often there’s also primitive campsites. We are not too excited about these super dark Lean Tos.
Supposedly a place where mice like to roam around....
Yes, another pond in the Wilderness! The backpacker we met leaving the area said the water was warm, great for swimming.
An unofficial primitive campsite away from the Lean To
Plenty of dead wood...
Never seen so many down Birch trees!
A boardwalk over the narrow end of the same pond with some nice looking clouds
That boardwalk was a bit bouncy....
Last look of the wilderness!
We chatted with a very local backpacker, who gave us a few ideas for the future. Then we turned around shortly after since we had to be back late afternoon. We had a super relaxing trip, we saw plenty of cool stuff and it was great to see the Milky Way. We are going back end of this week....
No shortage of reflections on this trip!
It had rained overnight. The air was cool, crisp and the leaves of the Maidenhair ferns were still wet.
Plenty of shade, nice and green everywhere
Interesting fungus, we would see plenty during the trip
Colorful mushroom, I’m guessing not eatable!
The first pond was just outside the wilderness, but the reflections of the clouds in the pond were beautiful
Plenty of moss covered rocks and it was so green
Interesting fallen tree with large rocks in between the roots
We had to be careful to avoid stepping of these colorful Salamanders. They were everywhere (!) on the trail.
"Hi there, thanks for not stepping on me"..... @Miya , you would have taken beautiful photos of these
Same lake, different spot. Right on the wilderness border.
Wild how the roots wrap over the rocks
This pond has a very non flattering name, but it's in the wilderness! Reflections of clouds and trees in the pond.
Close by we saw a birch tree with layers of fungus
Another pond, with a primitive campsite right there.
This was a very clear pond, though it doesn't show well on this photo
Nice rock wall covered in moss
This might be my favorite photo of this trip!
The photo doesn't do this piece of trail justice, it was just beautiful
Yep, yet another pond. We would circle around it and come back to fantastic reflections later on
Water lilies blooming everywhere
Further around the same pond, this looks like a postcard I think. It is kind of a more swampy area in between 2 ponds.
Same pond, further around, various cool rock formations. Rippled cloud reflections. Primitive campsites across the pond.
A nice rocky island in the middle, it looked nice!
As we looped around this pond, it got more rocky and hilly
We did see the elusive Loon that @kwc saw, but no telephoto lens with us.
Then we saw stellar reflections and primitive camping near by
Lots of ferns along the trail
Cool view of roots wrapped around a big rock!
Back to the dual pond area, this is the smaller pond with clouds reflected
Then we spent lots of time taking photographs, just stellar reflections everywhere we looked....
Just stunning!
Rick in action
We had planned to loop further out, but we cut it short to 10 miles. This is the other end of the dual ponds.
On the way back we saw this fungus with many nicknames
That’s the rootball of 3 trees that went down in a creek
Followed by a giant burr
On the way through the campground Rick got a nice pond shot, close to where we started the day
We located our campsite and quickly set everything up. Nice that we don't feel like complete newbies anymore. Though- those chairs are new!
Since the whole trip was a spur of the moment thing... we had packed our favorite backpacking meal / brand for dinner. @McKee80 , this one is for you
We are totally happy to eat a Brazilian BBQ or a grilled piece of Salmon, but after hiking all day we just want to sit down, have a beer and enjoy the evening, as we already cook extensively at home. We are big fans of Food for the Sole, super tasty meals!
Sun set and a wonderful cool evening, clear skies!
Last fall we were spoiled with superb dispersed campsite views in Utah, but we least we could still see a few stars from our campsite
Here’s some of Rick’s evening photography, as good as it gets in the northeast. We were thrilled to see the Milky Way and plenty of stars that evening.
This is around 9:15 pm
Around 10:15pm
A couple of planes came into view, think around 10:30 pm
We slept really well during the cool night, until about 4 am, when a snake moved into the tent and it came right up next to my head! At least in my dreams it did…., so I screamed and woke us both up.
@scatman...... just having Katie talk in her sleep would be much nicer!It was 50F when we woke up to another sunny and clear day. A little fog was sitting over the pond.
We quickly packed up and headed out for just 1/2 day hike, since we had to be back by late afternoon. The crisp morning hike started out with more green stuff! We met a ranger out on patrol and got some helpful info about the Adirondacks. We noticed more details, moss covered trees, baby trees, tiny clovers, ferns, etc
2 people out in kayaks
On the way to the next pond we saw an unusual looking mushroom
A “Lean-To” to be found at various ponds, often there’s also primitive campsites. We are not too excited about these super dark Lean Tos.
Supposedly a place where mice like to roam around....
Yes, another pond in the Wilderness! The backpacker we met leaving the area said the water was warm, great for swimming.
An unofficial primitive campsite away from the Lean To
Plenty of dead wood...
Never seen so many down Birch trees!
A boardwalk over the narrow end of the same pond with some nice looking clouds
That boardwalk was a bit bouncy....
Last look of the wilderness!
We chatted with a very local backpacker, who gave us a few ideas for the future. Then we turned around shortly after since we had to be back late afternoon. We had a super relaxing trip, we saw plenty of cool stuff and it was great to see the Milky Way. We are going back end of this week....
