Borestone Mountain
Aug 31
I have climbed Borestone Mountain many times, with my family, friends, etc and thought that it would be nice for Robin and I to climb together; I wanted to hike it during peak foliage this year but we will be on our honeymoon during that time so I decided to hike it today after church. We took the new scenic route vs. the 1 mile road you normally would walk on. Along the way we spotted Horse Chestnuts beside pine cones on a bed of moss. The trail consisted mostly of light elevation, tree root steps, etc. The weather was in the high 70’s with mostly clear skies. We were not able to spot any wild animals up to this point but we did spot our Sigg Bottles taking a rest.
We arrived at the half-way point where the hike actually becomes a hike; there’s a Warden’s cabin along with an informational booth near the edge of a pond. Every time that I’ve visit, I’ve always been amazed how a pond can exist on an edge of a mountain. Robin spotted a Chipmunk eating on a moss covered ledge; it was a little shy as it kept turning from my camera. Whilst standing and waiting for the chipmunk to turn a Red-breasted Nuthatch landed on a Pine tree. Robin asked if there were any turtles or frogs in the pond, as she asked I noticed a large Bull Frog resting in the water.
The hike because more interesting as the slop was roughly at a 70-80’ angle consisting of exposed ledge & roots; it’s amazing to see such large trees grasping onto ledge as an anchor to reach the sunlight. At one point there’s an area that you can climb the face of the ledge safely without gear which Robin and I did. As we ascended to the top the wind become very strong, once atop if you were not careful it would blow you over; unfortunately due to the wind I was not able to take many good photos. I was able to capture a few panoramic shots however. To my surprise we found blueberries bushels on the side of the ledge, Robin handed me a sandwich bag and I climbed down the side of a drop off onto a plateau and picked berries; as we progressed westerly we found more bushels and were able to fill the bag (roughly a quart). We plan on making a Blueberry pie, one of my favorites next to Raspberry. Our Sigg bottles very brave to pose for a couple of photos.
