New Trails Into Winter Wonderland

Oh my gosh, here it is, the last day of January!  What have I been doing since I last posted here?  Not much, besides sulking about how crummy our winter has been so far, with more rain than snow and no sub-zero temps to freeze the lakes solid enough to walk on or for tumbling creeks to create their elaborate crystalline iceworks. But we finally did have some snow, and some pretty snow, too, that stayed on the trees to transform the woods into winter wonderlands.  Just in time, too, since I have offered to lead my fellow nature-loving friends on a visit to Saratoga County's newest nature preserve, the Graphite Range Community Forest, a few miles north of Saratoga Springs.  I asked my friend Sue Pierce to join me on a scouting mission there this week, and here are just a few of the highlights of our most delightful visit.

As the map on this welcoming kiosk demonstrates, visitors will have their choice of many trails, most of which are open to both bikers and hikers, although each group can find a trail here for exclusive venturing (and bikers are allowed to ride up but not careen downward on many of the trails). Most of the trails require only moderate endurance levels, although all lead up into the forested regions of the Palmertown Mountain Range.   For more information about the development of this preserve, here's a link to a newspaper article that provides considerable background regarding how this project came about.

As this photo reveals, all trails from the ample parking area along Rte. 9 in Wilton start out on level ground along a grassy road that soon connects with trails that gradually ascend into more mountainous regions. Just a few inches of soft snow lay on the road when Sue and I visited, so we easily made our way without needing snowshoes.

Rather than follow the road, we chose to take a trail that immediately led from the parking area to a more wooded path along a rushing creek.

And oh, how lovely the woods appeared along this trail, each branch and twig of the surrounding trees coated with sparkling snow! 

Our path led along a steep rocky gorge, where a small creek tumbled down from the mountains above.

We were accompanied on this trail by the pleasant sounds of rushing water crashing over rocks.

The droplets tossed up by the rushing water decorated the far bank with beautiful icicles.

At one particularly pleasant spot overlooking the stream, a pair of Adirondack chairs provided a place to rest and enjoy the surroundings. We noticed several other spots throughout the woods where other chairs invited hikers to sit a spell, either to rest or just to become one with the beauty of the place.

Sue and I chose the Old Mine Road to follow toward our destination, the several abandoned graphite mines toward which I hope to lead our Thursday Naturalist friends when we meet on February 8.  The mines are located just about a half-mile from the parking area.

Although we had wished that more of the preserve's trails would be reserved for hikers only, we were happy to learn that bikers should not be charging downhill towards us if we happen to crouch to observe a plant or insect near the ground. That's if the bikers observe the restrictions, anyway.

At one point we branched off the Old Mine Road to explore a bit further along the Upper Works Road,  walking as far as a bridge that crossed the creek, widened now and flowing more quietly through a level area in the forest.

This Upper Works Road passed by some impressive old stone foundations, the remains of structures that must have served the graphite mining operations in some way.  Perhaps in the future explanatory signs will be posted that tell of the history and purpose of these old stone ruins.

It was near these old ruins that we chanced upon mossy banks that contained outcroppings of a crystalline kind of rock (marble or quartzite?).

On a section of bank that was carpeted mostly with Delicate Fern Moss, we also noticed a moss with broader fern-like leaves.  This moss reminded me of one of the species of Fissidens moss, but I cannot be certain of the species.

The presence of American Beech trees in this area was revealed by the still-visible remains of Beech Drops, a forest-floor wildflower that needs no green leaves to garner its nutrients, since it is parasitic on the roots of beech trees.

We also detected the presence of occasional Witch Hazel shrubs, their snow-covered branches knobby with numerous ripening seedpods.

We soon back-tracked to re-connect with the Old Mine Road and continued on our journey toward the mines.

Our journey was not only onward now, but also UPward, and we wondered if the rise in elevation was the reason the surrounding branches were even more snow-whitened than those we had admired at a lower elevation.  Was it possible that hoarfrost had settled on every twig up here, whitening them even more than the snow did?

I'm glad that Sue was wearing such a bright-colored coat.  Otherwise, my photos of this snowy woods looked as if they were shot in black-and-white, not full color.

The twigs were actually puffy with frosty snow!

Since I had failed to carry drinking water on this hike,  I found these snow- and ice-tipped twigs could offer me easy refreshment if I just popped them into my mouth.

And here are the entrances of the old mines. Quite an impressive site!A placard here describes some of the history of these mines, which produced the mineral to be powdered and used as a lubricant for machines.  When more abundant sources of graphite were later discovered in Asia and Africa, these mines were abandoned in the early 1920s.

I found an interesting article from The Saratogian newspaper that provides some additional history of these mines. 

The mine openings may appear to tempt us to explore within, but such entry is restricted now, with the area fenced off to make access difficult. Also, water fills the floor of the mines, making for slippery ice in winter and knee-deep sloshing in warmer months.  Better just to marvel at this dramatic sight (and site!).