No Bottom Pond(Austerlitz, NY)

Took a short walk after work to No Bottom Pond in the Beebe Hill State Forest, located in rural Columbia County.  The radar showed rain moving in soon, so I knew I had about an hour of dry hiking before it arrived.   Parked in the large state forest parking area on Fog Hill Road, near its junction with Osmer Road and then set out on the horse trail.

 The trail is wide and easy to follow, with some areas being a little overgrown.

 Fall colors are really starting to make the turn in this part of Columbia County.

 Enjoying the foliage and blue skies, with the impending clouds soon to move in.

 The horse trail heads northeast before turning left about .2 of a mile before No Bottom Pond.  Instead of turning left, though, turn right here and follow the blue marked trail.

 This trail will bring you right down to the "pond". One thing No Bottom Pond is notorious for, is appearing and then disappearing at different times of the year.  Today, it was just an empty shell of the pond.  Seems the pond's waters exit to the northeast into a drainage area.

 A closer inspection of the dried up pond, and fall colors along its shore.  State land meets with private property along this shore, so please be careful not to cross into private property.

 I turned back, retracing my steps towards the car, as the sun kept the clouds at bay.  About a quarter mile before the parking area, I did a very short bushwhack off trail to a large beaver swamp. 

 The fall colors on Fog Hill's south side can also be seen from this vantage point along the swamp edge.

 Finished my short walk back to the car, just as skies began clouding up.  Even the quiet country roads are beautiful this time of year.  Here is one last look at Fog Hill Road, as I headed for home. 

Nice, short hike on a nice fall day.  About 1.5 miles RT.  Unfortunately, I did have to pull off a couple of ticks once I was back to the car, so please be aware of this if hiking the area.