Wilson Powell Wildlife Sanctuary(Columbia County)

Visited the 145 acre Wilson W Powell Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Old Chatham, after work this afternoon.  The Sanctuary is owned by the Alan Devoe Bird Club and protected by the Columbia Land Conservancy.  From the hamlet of Old Chatham follow County Route 13 southwest, then turn left onto Pitt Hall Road for a short distance before bearing left again onto Hunt Club Road.  A sign indicates the entrance to the parking lot uphill on the right.

 Leaving the parking lot I headed northeast towards Reilly Pond, crossing a beautiful open meadow.

 Bluebird skies made for a perfect photographic backdrop.

Late season wildflowers.

 A short distance in, I arrived at the shore of Reilly Pond.

Reilly Pond is a very shallow body of water, chock full of plant life.

A sign on a rock near the shore indicates that the pond was named for Edgar Reilly, a local Conservationist and Charter Member of the Alan Devoe Bird Club.

 Retraced my steps back toward the parking lot on the main trail at the Sanctuary, blazed in white.  This trail turns southeast, entering a woodland.  Beautiful old stone walls closely parallel most of the trail.

 A little ways in a small sign nailed to a tree indicates a right turn to access Dorson's Rock.

A small climb brings you up to an open rock perch with very nice views.

The westerly vista is the best, with views stretching over the treetops, across rolling farmland and Albany's skyline barely visible on the horizon.

Dorson's Rock is actually a series of ledges and can be explored for different views.

 Further down the open ledges one gets a sense of the sheer drop below these cliffs.

 After enjoying the scenic views, I headed back into the woods on the white trail, looping around the southern edge of the Sanctuary and then picking up a green blazed connector trail, which crosses a ravine.

Followed the green trail to a red trail and then an orange trail before eventually arriving back at the white blazed main trail.  All of the trails pass through very open woods, making for very pleasant conditions.

A bend in the trail, wrapping around another stone wall on the way back to the parking area.

Hiked about 2.5 miles total on a picture perfect first day of autumn.