Where are we?

We cannot read the hiking maps. An easy walk turned into a 5.5 hour moderately difficult hike. Thank goodness we met a couple from the Isle of Skye, equally confused, who shed some light on where we might be.I became extremely quiet and stated an absolute turnaround time but we confirmed our location before we needed to turn around. 

The trail numbers are variable, Tim thinks he’s got it now, I remain dubious. But the sights, which cannot be captured by camera, were spectaculor. 

We could see our little village of Aniane way off in the distance.  

 We were even higher than the other day. I was surprised when some mountain bikers rode up the trail. 

  Some parts of the road were built more than a thousand years ago and were better than any Adirondack trail.   

We enjoyed some fresh spring water and a cold beer at the end of the hike and all was well with the world.

   
 

Time to camp, reap and dye

Summer is almost over, the crowds have left and kids (and sorry, teachers) are back in school. So we took advantage of some time off and spent a few glorious days in the woods. We hiked to waterfalls, a gorge, lots of ponds and a mountain, with lots of swimming along the way.

I packed light with a pair of shorts with zip on legs. However, one zipper was broken and my exposed leg was enjoyed by many mosquitos at dusk. Luckily we had a bandage in our pack and I taped the leg to the shorts but couldn’t make any fancy moves for fear of another mosquito feast.

We returned to my bountiful garden where there is not much left to do except remember to harvest now and then.

I’ve used some of my flowers to dye yarn with, so far, mildly disappointing results. I used colorful zinnias, dahlias and day lilies (with an alum mordant) all of which produced a yellow dye.

I saw so many mushrooms during our hike, I want to learn about mycopigment. In the meantime, I’m soaking various lichen I have collected in ammonia to see what they produce. Early results are promising.

Balanced rocks and pickles

Yesterday was bracketed by bread and butter pickles. I salted the cukes, peppers and onions before heading out for a hike with friends.

The day was perfect and we walked to Balanced Rocks, which offered beautiful views of the High Peaks and the slide on Cascade Mountain. The wind was whipping around the top and I’m surprised those rocks (or we) didn’t blow away.

Here’s a link to my 360 app panorama.
When I got back home, I made bread and butter pickles. Why are they called that?

Nice view from the top

We had a bonus day today and took a hike. The temperature was in the 50’s. The only problem was I dawdled leaving the house and we didn’t get to the trailhead until 12:30. In all fairness to me, we were waiting for the clouds to clear because we wanted a view. We had a beautiful view.

We walked the new trail to Jay Mountain and it was great. It is unlike many here, which are basically up stream beds. This was a walk in the woods, pine needles, fallen leaves and a little mud which I managed to slither down. Just the way I like it – the trail not the mud.

I have to confess, however, that at some point I felt as if I was on a death march. We started late and the day is short; sunset at 4:15. Early into the hike, I realized I didn’t have my headlamp and my trusty guide wasn’t sure he had one either. So I picked up the pace and kept at it. Well he did have one and we made it back with time to spare.

A low pressure system was moving in from the south and the wind nearly knocked me over. But I found a nice spot to sit and scarf down my pb&j sandwich before we headed back.

A good time was had by all.

Bonus Fall Day

The weather was perfect yesterday and since I didn’t have to cook, we went for a walk in the woods.

Icicles hung from the shady side of rocks but we hiked without jackets.

It was a short walk. We probably spent as much time at the summit as it took us to get there. I have a new panorama app, 360, and played around with it. Here’s a conventional pic,

And a self portrait

Here’s the link to my panoramic view

For an interior shot, here’s my house
Now I’m off to knit!

Hill walking

Not hiking nor mountain climbing, just Just hill walking. We drove 15 minutes to the trailhead and headed out from there. It was perfect hiking weather, cool and the clouds had lifted.

There was only one small mishap. Luckily I didn’t break my new iPhone (it’s a long story), a hip or my newly repaired ankle. I only injured my pride and got my pants muddy.

There was a terrific 360° view from the top of the fire tower.

I was able to identify at least a few of the wildflowers as we climbed around what seemed to be a lot of new blowdown.

A walk in the park

Actually two walks, very different, but both were lovely. On Tuesday, we bushwhacked to Clements Pond and enjoyed beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, fields and trees along the way.

I think this is looking west. The only hiking obstacle was dry, slippery leaves on steep slopes.

This tree can be seen from the road, perched on a cliff.

Yesterday we walked through low forest and fields. We found early wildflowers, ferns and animal carcasses.

Spring at home. Trees in bloom and frost on the ground.