Back to Babylon

The hike from Croton Dam to Hodenpyl Dam wet well. I haven't posted recently because all that time away caught me in a lurch. When I returned home, bills had to get paid, gardens weeded and watered and a billion other chores tended to. On top of that, Julie and I had to go up north again this weekend to lead a mowing crew on the North Country Trail. Early July is when the bracken ferns get the highest and hide the trail in many places.

We dubbed this hike the Dam 2 Dam hike. In between the two dams, there was a lot to see--forests of all sorts, oak savannah prairies, huge wetlands, rivers big and small, glacial ponds, and loads of deer. We saw an unusually high number of spotted fawns this year, often twins. Other animal sightings included two sandhill cranes hiking the trail, numerous redtail hawks, a bald eagle, a hognose snake (pictured) and a bevy of songbirds.

The hike ended up being closer to 140 miles, and we only got rained on twice, both times at night. The second time was a little crazy, as we camped on a rather exposed knob on a clear summer's evening. The knob with the view (picture) is dubbed "Far Away from the Maddening Crowd," and it was.

Shortly before midnight a vivid thunderstorm rolled in. Given our exposed location, we secured our camps, donned our rain gear and high-tailed it for a lower location with smaller trees. Fortunately the storm only lasted for ten minutes, then it was back to bed.

All photos for this entry are courtesy of Andy Mytys, the only hiker of the four with a camera.