Me in my "regular" Hidden Pond campsite.
The last time I was at Hidden Pond was June of 07. I had not yet started Geocaching. One day I wondered what geocaches might be near Hidden Pond and found there were several. My work schedule, home life, etc. finally worked together to allow me to plan another hike up there (it's 90 miles from home). Of course, I decided to do some caching while there.
I chose the weekend after Labor Day, knowing that it would still be too hot for all but the most diehard outdoorsmen, and that many of them would have been out the week before. The strategy paid off. I was able to leave the clothes in the truck, and spend the whole weekend comfortably naked, including the hiking in and out.
It kept starting to rain, so I didn't get many pictures in this time. That's a shame, cause I would've liked to have shown the altered landscape. A major fire obviously came through even since my last hike here. It was a little depressing walking through an area with little plant life more than shin high, but it was also interesting to see all the exposed rolling hills. I have hiked many of those hills, but I still would've considered the area to be much flatter overall.
Not only has there been a fire, but a recent storm (tornado?) has knocked down a number of large trees from the roots. The leaves were still green, so this was very recent. Don't get me wrong, there were pockets of unburned areas, and none of these caches were burned.
It never rained hard, though I heard that back home 90 miles to the south it rained 5 inches!
It was interesting hiking through the 'lunar landscape of barren hills, but I think I'll wait another couple of years before returning here to let the scenery recover.
