I would be in the hills already buy things have kept me busy at home. A couple more weeks which will put me into the beginning of June and I will be free. In fact I made this camping and hiking adventure back in the beginning of May. It is now the second weekend in June and I am just now publishing this.
A couple weeks ago I spent a Sunday night on Moss Lake near Eagle Bay to satisfy my need for some camping and hiking time. One night is too short but it was still wonderful!
Moss Lake is a quiet lake looped by a 2.5 mile trail with 8 campsites scattered around it. Some of these campsites are handicap accessible as the beginning section of the lake loop trail is packed gravel and the sites have wheelchair accommodating picnic tables.
Parking is at the road in one of 2 parking areas. Coming from Eagle Bay the first area is Handicap only. It also has the sign in sheet for hikers and a board to indicate vacant/occupied campsites. Parking for non-handicap is about 500 feet down the road. From this point everything must be carried to the camp sites.
Since it was a Sunday night and the only other campers had already left I picked the last of the handicap sites on the north side of the lake. If it was a busy weekend I would have continued further on and stayed in one of the less accessible sites. As it was it took quite a few trips back and forth to the car as I am not too good at the minimalist thing. But it was worth it! I had a great view from my tent down to the lake.
I could hear loons out on the water and about 10:30 the sky in the east began to glow with the approaching moonrise. The night before was the "super-moon" so I knew that it would be almost full. Grabbing my tripod I walked down to the waters edge and waited.
Temperatures were forecast to drop into the upper 20's that night so after many moonrise photos and the campfire burned low I headed into the tent covered my sleeping bag with a thick blanket, keeping another close by which was needed later. I was comfortable through most of the night but could feel the frigid air sneaking in and onto my face when rolling over. When I woke the sun was up. I was dreading leaving the warmth of my bag to dress and start a fire. To my surprise it was already warm out.
My butane lighter gave one puff and was out. No coffee this morning. (At least until I get into town)
For my first Adirondack hike of the year I chose Cascade Falls. This was a walk that I started back in March. Then it was a warm early spring day with temperatures well up into the 70's. The snow had long since disappeared around Camillus so I was completely surprised to find it still looked like Winter as I approached Old Forge. Lakes frozen and snow everywhere! With shorts and a tee-shirt I was hot hiking in the calm air of the forest while trudging over snow and ice. I would guess that about halfway to Cascade Falls on the south side of Cascade Lake I gave up and turned around. On the way back I went down the the lake edge and looked across to see the north side clear of snow in the sunshine. A completely different climate on the north side from what I experienced on the south.
Now retracing my steps a couple months later the going was easy and in about an hour and a half I was at the falls. And they were beautiful! I hung around for a while snapping pictures before deciding that I should have enough and it was time to head back.
Returning along the north side trail I found that some bushwhacking was needed as the trail cut straight through mud and water. Perhaps the lake was still high from Winter. The detour probably only took me 10 minutes and the woods were easy to walk through. I picked back up with the trail for some fast easy walking stopping to look and photograph flower that had long since peaked and were gone in the lower elevations.
Trillium
Trout Lilly
Fiddlehead Ferns
Rounding the bottom of the lake I passed a beaver dam on the creek draining the lake. Perhaps this is the reason for the high water levels that put the trail at the other end under water.
Completing the loop of the lake trekked back along the final half mile or so back to the car arriving about three hours after beginning the walk.
