June 9, 2007 Places Seldom Visited or Seen

It is beauty this morning. A very cool with a temperature of 53° as I leave for my walk. It is very early, just a little after sunrise. The woods has the beautiful morning light, impossible to capture with the leaves fully out. Wood Thrush, Pewee, Blue-headed Vireo, House Wren, Hooded Warbler, Towhee and Juncos all singing loudly. In the woods I flush a female Hooded Warbler. I do not want to disturb her from a nest. From her behavior t is obvious she has one nearby. The Woodcock is getting used to my forays. It just runs a few meters rather than fly as I come by.

I decide to not walk on the summit but around it, staying 50 to 100 feet down the slope. Below the ledges that rise vertically 20 to 50 feet around much of Gildersleeve mountain. There are no trails and this involves bushwhacking on sometimes very steep terrain and avoiding some areas labeled by the powers that be as “Restricted”. The old quarry is one such area but I wanted to savor the view and take pictures this morning. Visibility is wonderful, clear and crisp. The angle of the light makes it difficult to pick out far off features like the power plant at Avon. Still I would say visibility is better than 50 miles. Downtown is colorful in the morning light and the lake is very blue.

Most interesting is the northwest side of Gildersleeve mountain. This is the Portage escarpment and from here it is down hill all the way to the lake. This down hill is very obvious and in along here it makes sense why 18th century European surveyors and settlers called this feature a “mountain”. From the lake it is one of 2 obvious features visible. On the land in the trees the climb is long, and at times very steep.

The predominant trees are Canada Hemlock and Yellow Birch. Some of the Birch are impressive for that species, more than 2 feet in diameter. There are numerous ferns along the slope and at times the cover the ground over a large expanse. The seeps run in narrow furrows. The outcrops of Sharon Conglomerate are sometimes small solitary buttes rising out of the slope 20 feet high. I recognize one formation. It has been so long since I was here. When I was a boy I called this Sphinx Rock, because to me it vaguely resembles that monument. There is a large head like element with a narrower neck atop a reclining body like element. I had forgotten about this, and laugh remembering the time I first saw it. I was perhaps 7 or 8 and exploring here on my own for the first time.

As I hike, anywhere the paths allow people to approach the edge of the ledges above, I find trash below. Bottles, glass and plastic, cans, even a diaper. It makes me wonder. I am not sure about what. This behavior is expected. It is not like there is a lot of it either. Just a little here and there, and given the number of people who visit this area it is sort of surprising there is not more.