Mount Arab, May 31, 2022

[Zach]

I was working at the house in Piercefield Monday-Thursday last week and decided that since I had made a good start on putting up the woodshed on Monday I would climb Mt. Arab on Tuesday morning. I hadn't been on a mountain since August of 2019, so it was very nice to get back to it. I got up about 4:15 and bicycled the 2 miles or so to the trailhead. I heard woodcocks doing their displays in 2 places along the road, as it was getting more than half light by then.

It was very still and almost stuffy in the woods till I reached the summit ridge and a nice breeze blowing from the other side. I reached the fire tower about 5:20 and the sun was already well above the horizon but mostly hidden in the clouds. It was a little chilly in the cab as the wind was much stronger, but not cold enough to be unpleasant. There were some clumps of flowers near the fire tower that were very pretty but not familiar to me. Does anyone know what these are? I went back down the mountain and met a toad going up the trail, but it was too dim in the woods to get a good picture of it.

Back on the road I noticed how shiny the rails are at the level crossing. I've been hearing a lot of work trains the last few weeks. I took a detour to explore the hamlet of Conifer, which I had never visited before. It seemed like a nice place, and I know there are some snowmobile trails which start there and may lead to interesting places to explore once I get caught up on work at the house. I got back home at 6:45 and after a quick breakfast was back to work at 7:15, so I didn't miss much of the day after all.