Monday, October 17, 2011

Green Lane

The best color we saw along the shore of the Green Lane Reservoir  
Kali and I did a 6-mile hike at Green Lane County Park in the northwest part of our county.  Though we've lived in this county for 23 years, we'd never visited this 2,300-acre park.  The parkland surrounds a large drinking water impoundment called Green Lane Reservoir, and most of the parkland hugs the shore of the lake fairly closely,  so the trail system is basically a walk along the lake shore, much of which is very steep.
The parkland is located in an interesting geological area where igneous sills had intruded into sedimentary sandstones and shales.  So, it's easy to see the juxtaposition of soft, red sandstones and shales right up against very hard, erosion-resistant black igneous diabase rock.
 The Blue Trail; despite appearances, it was very muddy, even here
Fall color was not spectacular around the reservoir, the trail was frequently muddy, the guidebook did not give comprehensive directions for the hike, and the trails climbed up and down hills a lot.  Kali and I decided that (1) the experience was 25% positive and 75% a slogging trudge, and (2) we wouldn't repeat the hike.  Nevertheless, there were some pleasant spots, especially a side trail that traversed two hemlock ravines with nice, small waterfalls.  Unfortunately, my camera battery was exhausted mid-hike and I didn't get images of the best parts of the hike.

4 comments:

Carolyn H said...

Scott: I hate it when the camera battery dies unexpectedly. The photos you did get show a lot of color, though! Nice!

The Musical Gardener said...

Nice shots, but kind of the same as here in Ontario, not a lot of vibrant colour this fall.

Some days the hikes are just that 75% slog. We went for about a 6K yesterday, had intended to do more, but the wind was so strong, you had to lean into it, and it actually got difficult breathing, so we turned around and went our usual jaunt through the bush, not nearly the wind there.

Thank you for joining my blog and I appreciate commentary. Hope you will find some topics that interest you.

Scott said...

Carolyn, I even thought before I left the house, "Should I recharge the battery? Naw, it's fine! I haven't been using the camera much lately."

Scott said...

Gardener, I enjoy your posts, and am glad that I found you. It was windy here over the weekend, too, but nothing like you described.