What a beautiful week we had. After the rain stopped on Sunday it was nothing but sunshine for the whole week. The leaves got put on the ground with the wind and rain but nobody told the tourists as they were still here in droves.
Even the motorcycle riders had another great weekend to travel around the Adirondacks. The trailhead parking lots were overflowing and cars were parked up and down the highways in both directions. 
There are just a few yellows left in the tamaracks and yellow birches.
What a fall week it was with cool mornings, warm days and only a spattering of rain. We made up for it this past weekend, but it was getting dry.
Many of the leaves are on the ground now. Most of the color is gone except for the brown beech leaves, the yellows of the birches and tamaracks, and the red berries on the mountain ash.
The birds are on the move and the local birds are feeding on the abundant crop of berries and nuts.
Everywhere I went this week I heard blue jays working their way through the beech nuts which seem to be in an endless supply.
Karen and I walked to the outlet of Limekiln and the roads in the campsite were covered with the hulls of the eaten nuts.
Every bird and animal in the woods will use this supply of nuts on the trees and on the ground once they have fallen. Continue reading
This was one of the best weeks of the year both weather- and scenery-wise. It’s unfortunate if you missed it. The fall colors have been spectacular with many brilliant reds and yellows and refraction pictures everywhere you look across the waterways.
I took a trip today down to my sister’s camp on Kelm Pond, north of Warrensburg. (It’s called Kellum Pond on the map.) It was the first time I ever saw this pretty little body of water and the leaves there were super.
Their camp is one of three on the south side of the pond, which was well shaded by big hemlocks. It’s a beautiful camp that was built in the late 1800’s and remodeled a few times since. Continue reading
The colors are getting to their peak in most parts of the Adirondacks. While flying over the southern part of the park last Friday the reds were brilliant by old beaver ponds and small bodies of water.
Refraction on inlet to shallow lake
They were duller at higher elevations but there were some bright spots with still a lot of green in the birches and beeches.
The wind and rain over the weekend didn’t knock down or blow off too many of them.
The weather report this week appears to be very nice so there will still be a chance to catch some nice color on the landscape this weekend.
We had a couple chilly nights this week. One night it went below freezing but it didn’t seem to hit my big leaf plants too badly. The trees are changing, so get out with that camera and capture the beauty.
It doesn’t last very long and a good wind or rain will put them on the ground overnight.
On one trip I took a few years back into Cedar Lakes the leaves were in perfect shape. and I couldn’t wait for morning to come to take some pictures.
But overnight the wind blew and the rains came and most all the leaves were on the ground around the lean-to the next morning.
I got a couple good shots of a small red maple near the Beaver Pond bridge and that was about it. It’s a good thing the fish were biting as we had brooktrout and bullheads for supper both nights there.
You have to watch out for that Friday the 13th and black cats crossing your path—that day is really bad, but you can come to the Old Forge Farmers’ Market that day and pick up some great deals on potted wildflowers, wildflower seeds and some shrubs for your garden and yard, many of which are deer resistant.
The Old Forge Garden Club has been conducting the sale for many years at the Farmers’ Market to help fund the plants we put in Point Park each spring.
Tussock Moth Caterpillars
Many members will be sharing their knowledge of the plants they are selling, so get ready to have your head filled with information and your gardens with beautiful plants.
I’ve potted over fifty plants and I know many other members have several plants and roots ready for your gardening pleasure.
The temperatures are like fall used to be with a frost in early September and fog over the lakes most every morning.
The rain showers continue to come through. Some parts of the state are getting some severe weather with damaging winds and lightning. This is sure keeping things green with gardens and flowers growing.
There is a big population of grasshoppers around that likes all this green stuff. I got one report of a Monarch this week from Stan Ernst. 
A large butterfly flew by the boat the other day that, at first, I thought was a bat. It was a large Tiger Swallowtail and it landed in a nearby hemlock tree just before a small rain storm came through.
I rowed back and took a couple pictures as the bass were biting pretty fast and furious.
Speaking of biting fast, it was that way on Brother Bob’s Perfect Day Charters last Friday while catching laketrout on Lake Champlain.