Blueberry picking

It was too nice a day to be in cubicle hell. I took the day off and headed up to Lake George with Howie. We did a loop hike over Pilot Knob. Howie has seemed to recover from his close encounter with the porcupine just fine. The only wildlife he encountered today were chipmunks. On the way up, I passed a couple picking blueberries (huckleberries), which were plentiful. I stopped further up the path in a sunny, open spot and picked my own. Meanwhile, Howie napped under the shade of a small tree. We made it the grassy sub-peak and then headed back down.

Round-trip Distance: 5.5 mi
Elevation Change: 1460 ft

Pilot Knob Summer

Porcupain

I took another nice Friday afternoon off. Howie and I drove out to Rensselaer County to do a hike near Cherry Plain state park. I parked at the end of Schaefer Road (where it ceased to be drivable) and we continued walking on the old road. The road/snowmobile trail was very eroded. In a small clearing, saw three wild turkeys. Soon, we reached Dynamite Shack Road. We walked along this road for a while. At one point, Howie all of sudden decided to check out the ditch on the side of the road. There he encountered one mean porcupine, which was hard to see ahead of time with all the ferns. Howie emerged with a bunch of quills in his face and right leg. I removed them one at time, which was not fun for either of us. Unfortunately, there were still some under the skin which I couldn't get out. We went back to the car (Howie was hobbling a little) which was about two miles away. Drove over to the emergency vet clinic in Latham. The vet removed one quill from Howie's leg under sedation. Now he is back home recovering from his ordeal.

No proof

Took Howie to the vet for his annual check-up this afternoon. He received a clean bill of health. Afterwards, we went for a short hike. Climbed Bennett Hill near Clarksville. Sorry no pictures for I didn't bring my camera. But, it was a nice walk on a sunny, cool evening.

Muddy waters

After a thunderstorm and heavy rain this afternoon, the skies cleared and cooler, drier air moved in. This evening, I did a short walk at Rensselaer Tech Park south of Troy. I parked at the Pitney Bowes parking lot and followed a mowed path through a field to the edge of the woods. I entered the woods and crossed the creek on a foot bridge. I followed the path down along the creek passing several waterfalls in the steep ravine. Crossed the creek and followed the path on the other side back up. A nice short walk.

Rensselaer Tech Park

Buck up

I took off this afternoon and did a short hike with Howie near Lake George. We climbed Buck mountain from Shelving Rock Road. Didn't see anyone on the trail, and only a few on the summit (they came up from the lake side). Mosquitoes were out, but not too terrible.

Summit Elevation: Buck 2334t
Round-trip Distance: 5.5 mi
Elevation Change: 1160 ft

Buck