Grafton Lakes State Park(Grafton, Rensselaer County, NY)

When I got out of work today I decided it was way too nice out to not get out for a small hike.  A slight breeze, low humidity and temps in the mid 70's spelled out perfection, so I headed up to Grafton Lakes State Park on the Rensselaer Plateau to do some exploring.  Knowing that it's a holiday weekend, I chose to hike from Shaver Pond Road, which not only avoids the crowds but the park entrance fee as well. From the parking area, I dropped down the short distance to Shaver Pond through the quiet woods.  Along the pond's western shoreline, there are many good photo ops of this beautiful body of water.

 

I headed north along the pond's west shore, hugging the water on marked and unmarked trails. 

Even off the marked trails, the informal paths were pretty easy to follow.

What a terrible place to have lunch! 

Beyond the north end of Shaver Pond, I picked up the "Little Johnny Trail" which passes through a sea of ferns on its way to the far north boundary of the State Park.

Late summer wildflowers in bloom along the trail.

Although subtle, September is quietly a battleground month, with summer slowly giving way to autumn.

The Little Johnny Trail skirts the north edge of the park before finally dropping back down towards Long Pond after 2.2 miles.  Between Little Johnny and Long Pond is a rough park access road, which also doubles as a snowmobile route.  

After just a couple of minutes on the road, I arrived at the far north end of Long Pond, where a boat launch is located .  No motorized boats are allowed on the pond, but there were several folks out in kayaks and row boats.  I proceeded to follow the Long Pond loop trail west, along the north end of the pond, where there are several good views across the water south.  It was here that I really began to notice the ominous storm clouds moving in overhead.

A nice little informal campsite near the NW edge of the pond.

Continuing south along the west side of Long Pond, where the darkness began to really creep into woods.

From a small vantage point near the south end of the pond, I enjoyed this view back north.

The solitude of the woods was abruptly broken up along the pond's southern shore, where the public beach is located.  The impending rain, however, seemed to keep things a bit quieter than it would have been otherwise.

Passed by this pretty wetland after leaving Long Pond and heading west back over park access roads towards Shaver Pond.  With the dark clouds quickly moving in, I picked up my pace just a bit.

Unfortunately I didn't quite make it back to the car before the rain started to fall.  Luckily though, I got pretty close so I stayed mostly dry.  Hard to believe that in just a couple hours, Shaver Pond went from sun splashed blue water to so dark and gloomy.  Here's a look at the south end of the pond, just prior to arriving back at my car, with a soft rain falling.

Hiked about 5.5 miles total, with less than 600 feet of ascent.