ADK Vacation Road Trip #3

This roadtrip will henceforth be known as the three hour tour. LOL!

I had planned on hiking around Moss lake but happened to see signs for hiking Cascade Lake, both on Big Moose Road. I checked my cheap tourist map which had a little info and thought I could hike both on the same day.




I Love how all the pine trees were about 5 feet tall under deciduous trees.

 

I got my usual early start on Friday and, after stopping at the local pastry shop for a little sugar, got started on the trail. From my cheap map I knew there would be a spike off the trail to Cascade Falls and that was what I really wanted to see. I thought the 4 mile hike around the lake would be too long so I would hike to the falls and then head back to my car and Moss Lake.

I've never seen such tall ferns

The trail had the usual rocks and tree roots to navigate and there were lots of wet spots. Part of it also appeared to be a horse trail so there was oopma to watch out for. Shortly I came to several signs at a junction in the trail offering different routes to take. I headed for the falls.

The trees were pretty dense and I could sometimes see "blue" - I wasn't sure if it was blue sky or blue water from a different lake so I just kept trudging along in the heat. After 2 hours I finally got to the lake and was kinda worried that I wasn't yet to the waterfall and would still have a 2 hour hike back to the car. I never stayed at any spot long because I was still hunting for the waterfall.

Eventually I happened to meet someone walking towards me on the trail. I asked if I was really on the right path to the waterfall but he said I had passed it quite some time back. It was obviously way back by the way he was apologizing so I decided to just follow along the path I was on a little longer and then decide what to do.

A few minutes later, after another really wet patch, I noticed signs at a junction in the trail. It didn't take me long to realize they were the signs I had seen hours ago. I had missed the unmarked waterfall trail and walked all the way around the lake! I could have stopped to really enjoy the lake and make some hexies. Except by that time I really wasn't heading anywhere but back to my car which promptly told me it was 90F...in the shade.

Yikes, that was enough hiking for one day. I had been gone 3 hours and entirely missed what I wanted to see. It turns out I hiked 30 minute miles on this 6 mile tour and I'll keep that in mind for hikes next year when I have no idea where I am going or how long I've been hiking. Next year I'll find the waterfall...I'm determined. 


My entire car was covered in dust and it had infiltrated every crevice between doors, hoods and trunk.
The storm later that night did *not* wash it all away.

 While enjoying the AC, I headed to Stillwater. It's the name of a huge reservoir but also a restaurant there. Unfortunately, it's at the end of a 20 mile dirt road with logging trucks barrelling along and the dust really flying. 

Just 3 of the 6 feeders.
Notice the stick protruding from the left most support beam - it's for the little hummers to sit on. So cute!



I didn't see any walking trails so I just headed for the restaurant. My burger was ok but I really wanted to see the hummingbirds. She has lots of hanging baskets and feeders on the deck so I would see up to 10 hummers at any given time.

Thru the deck railing

I enjoyed the deck for quite a while, mostly just me and the hummers but then the restaurant owner noticed I was making hexies and asked me about them. She also had me show her daughter. I forgot to take pictures of the hexies so you'll just have to trust me :)

This hand belongs to a young man helping at the restaurant.
The owner allowed me to do the same and a little hummer did sit on my finger but wouldn't do it again after I remembered the camera in my other hand.