Wednesday, August 13, Bob and I hiked into Duck Hole from Corey's.  We left Bob's house about 0530 and got to the trailhead about 1000.

We took a short break on the way in at the Blueberry lean-to.  It was threatening rain so we applied our pack covers. Good thing, too because it rained the rest of the way in. When we got to Duck Hole, a group of 8 students from Colgate U were at the upper lean-to, so we moved into the lower (older) lean-to. I got water over my boot tops crossing the famous alpine meadow, so I put them on the roof to dry out. After cooking supper we had a peaceful night.

In the morning, the students from Colgate packed out of Duck Hole. I took photos of them leaving, as they crossed the Cold River, leaving Duck Hole, headed for Bradley Pond on Thursday morning. This is the new river crossing since the DEC removed the bridge from the top of the dam.

After the Colgate kids left, we moved to the upper Lean-To.  Then we went for a two hour run, then jumped into the lake for a nice swim to cool off. Then we relaxed in our new abode.  After our run and swim we were bushed and had a nice, relaxing evening, and watched the moon rising over Duck Hole.

In the morning we got water and enjoyed the day. We heard our loon calling to a seaplane that flew over very low. That made the trip for me.

After a while we decided to explore. We ended up bushwhacking around Duck Hole. which is something I had always wanted to do.cWe bushwhacked around the entire lake. I took some shots are from the south shore of the lake, about opposite the Lean-Tos. Then some more from the east end of the lake, where a waterfall is formed from the outlet of Lower Preston Pond running into Duck Hole. Then some more taken while sitting at the top of the waterfall. Bob crossed and was on the South side of the outlet/inlet stream.

Back at the Lean-To after the bushwhack and a nice cold swim, it began to rain. It was so nice to sit in the lean-to all nice and dry and watch the huge drops pound down.

In one sequence of photos, I tried to keep the camera in exactly the same spot and observe the light change as the sun set. In another sequenceI shot looking West from the lower lean-to. I was also trying to catch the very low fog or cloud moving across the area.

It was getting dark fast and we were in the lower lean-to chatting with another backpacker. And then the moon began to rise... It was really cool trying to get shots of the moon rising, and they didn't come out too bad.

After we went back to our lean-to and had dinner, I watched Bob do the dishes at the lake and saw an interesting web, woven in just a couple hours after the downpour. Then we retired for the evening. We were tired but relaxed and enjoyed the moon, the cold front and the dark.

On Saturday Bob and I packed up and packed out. I wore my Crocs until we crossed the alpine meadow and then changed into boots at the Lean-To pair. In the morning the fog took a while to burn off.