Leaving New York and on to Pennsylvania

 

Maple leaves on fallen paper birch
 

 

A storm rolled through upstate New York and New England bringing rain during the night then high winds for the next few days.  The perfectly peak leaves in the Adirondacks started tumbling down.  We were glad we had stayed and enjoyed a few more days but decided if we wanted to catch any more leaves we had better move on.  Much of Vermont and New Hampshire experienced this same storm system so rather than going east as originally planned, we decided to start heading south.  The government shut-down was also a factor as the national forests were closed making it much harder to visit and camp near the White and Green Mountains.



Keene Valley the day before the storm blew in...

View from Bald Mountain after the storm

Still pretty but so many leaves blew down

Fire tower on Bald Mountain

 

Maya is an excellent fire tower climber

 

We had not really planned on returning to the Catskills but since it was a state forest and "open" we camped there for three days.  The leaf colors were more muted and many had fallen, still we had a great time taking two long hikes in beautiful fall weather.  A cold morning with leaves both crunching under foot and floating down from above, the whole day ahead to wander by streams and waterfalls, then a mountain to climb – it doesn’t get much better than that.

 

Inspiration Point, Catskills

 

Katterskill Falls, Catskills

 

Sunset Rock, Catskills

 

 

 

 

We left the Catskills and New York for the Delaware Water Gap on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Here the Delaware River carved a ‘gap’ or path through the mountains.  The Appalachian Trail, plus I-80 and a few other roads take advantage of this passageway through the mountains.  On Columbus Day we hiked the AT through the water gap.  Again the leaf colors were subtle more in the yellow and rust hues, partly because of the lower elevation and types of trees native to the area and also because of the leaf drop.  The trail was almost crowded with hikers enjoying their holiday and the beautiful fall weather.  I suspect that many people were just like us - out enjoying state parks and other trails that were open since it wasn’t possible to visit a national park or monument. 

 

Delaware Water Gap

 

Searching for another open campground, we drove into southern Pennsylvania to the Michaux State Forest and Caledonia State Park.  We had thought of stopping in this area earlier in the summer as it was so near Gettysburg but it was just too hot then.  A few months and a new season can change everything.  With the holiday crowds gone, we practically had the park to ourselves.  We hiked two sections on the AT enjoying subtle fall colors on the cool overcast days.

Along the Appalachian Trail in Caledonia State Park

 

We were trying to decide what to do and where to go next when the great news came on Thursday morning that the government was back in business.  So we packed up and headed to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with plans to head to Williamsburg and Jamestown shortly thereafter.  Life is better when the government is functioning...

Underside of maple leaf

 

 

David’s Stats:

Days Hiked  8

Rain Days   2

Total Miles Hiked  43.84

Ave. Miles per Day      5.48
Total Elevation Gain       6,553
Ave. Elevation Gain per day   819