The Fairy Woods

I've haven't written anything for awhile. I've been in the process of moving. I'm now down south, in the middle of the East Coast. Virginia Beach, Virginia is my new home for the next few years. I was devastated leaving Saratoga Springs though. I had made such close bonds with a few friends I met up there. And while I'm thrilled to be by an ocean again, I already miss the mountains and cold from up north. Before I left though, I went on a hike. I've hiked a lot of places in my life, both west and east coast, and this hike was by far one the most beautiful ones. I know it's October, and I'll have a blog of something scary for Halloween, but I just wanted to put my last adventure in the area around Saratoga Springs before I left.

I originally wanted to go explore an old mine that lays in the forest of Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area, but I couldn't find it. My dog was getting restless so I pulled over to a random trail and just decided to take an adventure through it. Spectacle Pond was the trail I was lucky enough to find. I've never seen such a lush ecosystem. The forest was sustaining itself so well. It felt magical to walk through, like fairies had inhabited the forest. This blog will mainly be on the pictures, and less on any history. So, take a walk with me through the Adirondacks.

The rushing streams that went over and under a multitude of rocks was a sight to see. You can see the heavy moss growing on the side of this specific stream.



To the picture on the right here, this root looks like a hand. It's like the fingers of the tree are sticking out and glancing at those who walk by. Maybe even playing jokes and tripping people who aren't paying attention.

This was a gorgeous, small stream. It flowed under all of this vegetation and came from a tiny pond covered in lily pads. You can't see from the picture too well, but there were these small, frail lavender flowers growing in between all the ferns and other brush. The stream kept this habitat alive and growing well.

Here are the lily pads floating around. You can see also see the reflection of a pine tree in the left hand corner of the water. In the bottom right of the water, you can see clouds reflecting off of it.



In the picture below was Spectacle Pond, but the outskirts of it. It and the lily pad pond weren't connected though.

This was by far the best photo I took that day. It's perfect. I didn't even edit it. The boat was just sitting there on Spectacle Pond's shore, and the reflection of the clouds created a full scene of beauty. I miss the thick forests up there, and the wise mountains I hiked up.

A campsite right by the pond. There was a little fire pit and it was on the other side of the hill where the boat was. I'll show the view from the campsite in the next image, but it was a truly pretty place. I would have liked to have camped there.

Here's the view from the campsite. The pond looks never-ending here. This was right as the season was transitioning to fall, so the air was crisp and cool. The leaves were just beginning to change. Everything was dark green still though because of all the recent rain.

Do you see it?


It was the first out of two frogs I saw that day.

This was the bridge over the lily pad, mini-pond. This was on my way back. To the left is the lavender flowers, thick vegetation, and small stream. To the right in the lily pad pond and the beginning of Spectacle Pond.

I saw this on a rock. It might be a symbol I don't recognize, or the Blair witch has been there. Or someone probably carved out at random on the moss when they got bored, but to me it looks like some fairies made it a landmark. Maybe one was making some art from the stars they looked up to each night.

I've got to give credit to my husband here. He didn't take the shot but he gave me the idea to. As I said earlier, the leaves were just beginning to change at the start of the autumn season. This was one of the first leaves I saw changing color in the northeast.

I loved the way the roots stood up through the soil here. Tangles of them creating a bumpy earth to walk on. Looking up from the roots, the thin trees looked like I could run through them and never look back.

I can see a little critter taking shelter in here when it rains or snows. A home for an animal to put their family in maybe. Or to burrow in when hibernating.

There were a lot of mushrooms here. These little guys were so cute. They grew like little balls on the fallen tree and plentiful moss.

This wasn't the only time I saw this on the walk. Two roots growing on top of rocks. Like they were covering the rocks from harm. The conjoined, two different types of earth was unique, I'v never seen anything like it.

These are the type of mushrooms that look cute to touch, when you squeeze them though their spores go everywhere. It looks like a thick layer of dust flying off of it. They look bouncy almost.

Some baby plants poking their heads out of the dirt, curious to what's going on, and wanting to grow higher,

This stump looked like its top half got blown off. Or like it just crumbled off one day. The rest of the tree is in a multitude of pieces laying on the ground.

A miniature, purple mushroom. I know the more colorful something is, the more poisonous it is. I'm not a mushroom expert so I can't say what kind this is, but its color was pretty.

There was very little water running down this stream. I can't imagine how thick the water would be flowing on a rainy day. You can see all of the fallen branches here, laying everywhere. It was a wild scene with the tall trees, multiple streams, and immense amount of fallen twigs and branches.

A picture of the mountain I saw by the pond but from a different angle. This was just through a small opening between the trees before getting to, and then leaving from the pond.

This little mushroom was in its full glory. Raised and perked perfectly up, it stood there proud as can be as I sat there admiring it.

This is one of the cutest sights I've seen. There's a mushroom perfectly in the center of a hole in the tree. You can even see a small spider has made its home in there as well. This is where I really started to be convinced that there was something magical in this forest.

Spongy moss spread out along the soil. It was a bright green and healthy moss.

Some big fungi growing off of a fallen limb. This is just one example of the thriving ecosystem here. There were so many fallen branches that were degrading extremely nicely back into the forest. You could witness the circle of life in these woods.

Some more fungi growing off of a tree. This fungi was pretty though, and had a pink outside and white inside. It looked like something you'd see in the ocean, not growing in a forest on a tree.

I took this photo as an example of how green and rich everything was. The abundance of greenery flowing through here was dazzling.

This was one of the many fallen trees. All of them were covered in moss, fungi, or both. The ecosystem was flourishing. I know it may seem like I'm making a big deal out of a simple walk through the woods, but as stated earlier, I've hiked a lot of places and never seen such luxuriant foliage around.

On top of the spongy, green moss, a blue jay's feather laid on top.

A pathway through the forest. I wasn't on a stone path the entire time, but there were several places on the trail that had these endearing, stone paths.

This piece of wood was turquoise. I'm not sure if that's a type of bacteria or maybe it was painted, but I'm glad my eye spotted it.

This silky stream was on some pretty flat rocks that it had eroded nicely over time. It looked like I could go over and grab the water like it was smooth fabric.

As I was leaving I saw more of these tiny, lavender flowers. They were right next to my car and were growing under some twigs, through some thick leaves. I wanted to remove the twigs from on top of them to let them breathe, but I got the feeling that the forest knew what it was doing.

Saratoga Springs and all its surrounding areas were spectacular. I miss all the beautiful sights and kind people I met. The cold weather was perfect and something I missed so bad. I'll be seeing this area again though. I'll be back Saratoga Springs.