Oct 29, 2015
15 OCTOBER 2015
I hiked in Shunnemunk Mountain State Park today. The pageantry of fall has begun. I’m sure it never gets old for long-time residents, but it’s only my second year in New York so I can’t even get on the highway without tearing up. Besides the beautiful changing of the leaves, this is also when the asters start to shine. I came across some New York iron weed (Vernonia noveboracensis) in the field leading to the trail, humming with bumblebees in its riotous pink hue. At the summit of the trail, I found swaths of a low growing brilliant red shrub, which I identified later as lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium.)