A Summery Day for an Autumn Paddle

Eighty degrees in October?!  Well, I'm surely distressed by more evidence of our warming climate, but I did take advantage of this summery day to go enjoy the glorious spectacle of autumn along the Hudson.  Here was the view that greeted me as I launched my canoe behind a large island, with forested mountains rising beyond.

Although a brisk breeze was riffling the water out on the open river, back here behind the island the water was calm, reflecting in shimmering beauty the gorgeous colors of the trees that lined the sheltered coves.

I remembered a Flowering Dogwood shrub grew here on the shore of a cove, and it certainly wasn't hard to spot its beautiful red boughs.

Again, the shimmering reflections amplified the beauty of all the autumn colors.

I love the view of West Mountain from the back of this cove, so I sat for a while just to take in its splendor against a radiant blue sky.

Here, I am heading out toward the open river, delighting in the crazy-quilt colors that adorn the forested mountainsides.

Looking up as I pass beneath a large Sassafras tree, I am dazzled by its vivid leaves glowing against a sapphire sky.

Looking down as I pass along tree-shaded banks, I am delighted by the multicolored plants that decorate the shore. Dewberry leaves, in shades of both pink and green, and a lime-green mound of sphagnum moss crowd in on a glossy green patch of Partridgeberry, dotted with scarlet fruits.

Rounding a rocky point that juts out into the river, I next enter a quiet swamp that lies behind this island that is crowned by three tall White Pines.

The star of the shoreline here is a cluster of Black Tupelo trees, displaying their signature scarlet.

Those vivid-red Tupelo boughs were thick today with pendulous blue-black fruits.

The rounded, rolling profiles of the mountains here create a dramatic shoreline along this stretch of the Hudson, especially when those mountainsides are dotted with autumn's colors.

It was time to head for home, but the beauty of the woods along the river kept urging me to linger. As you look at these final photos, can you understand why I was loathe to leave?

As I climbed from my boat and scrambled up the riverbank, I spied this single oak leaf resting on a bed of emerald-green Haircap Moss.  Here was a fine souvenir of this beautiful day:  all of the gorgeous colors of autumn displayed on a single leaf!