2020-07-02: Joseph Chadderdon Road

The summer here has been much warmer than average, the hottest summer in recent memory, and that makes roadwalking difficult. However, early this month I braved the heat and walked a 6.2-mile loop in Cairo NY, through the center of the hamlet of Acra. I walked several backroads high on the slopes of Acra Point, including Joseph Chadderdon, and several more well-used highways along a fairly convoluted circuit.

Roads walked: Joseph Chadderdon Road, John Holtzman Road, Hearts Content Road (CR-31), CR-20, CR-20A, NY-23

Acra Point, seen here from a field in Acra, dominated the view for most of the walk.

A close view of a distant hemlock stand on Acra Point's lower slopes.

After years of roadwalking this was a first for me: I found this sign marking a nearby survey marker near an abandoned motel on CR-20A.

The survey marker itself was overgrown by bushes under some power lines.

From the crossroads of Joseph Chadderdon and John Holtzmann Roads, Windham High Peak takes on a sharp, pyramidal appearance.

Stands of orange day-lilies (Hemerocallis fulva) lined various areas along the roadside in the more populated places along the route.

Surrounded by large, expensive houses, this forgotten home has become so overgrown that I almost didn't notice it, even while walking right past it.

Lilypads completely covered the west half of this pond, bisected by CR-31 south of Acra.

A small break in the forest of lilypads reveals tiny yellow flowers poking above the shallow water.

The east side of the pond had much clearer water, surrounded by pine forest on all sides.

At less than 4.5 miles distant, this may be the closest view of Cairo Round Top I've yet taken.

As in every southward-facing clearing along the walk, Acra Point presides over the pond and surrounding fields.

A wide-angle view from the pond's north side shows that Acra Point alone dares to peer above the surrounding landscape.

Geese can be very nasty animals to interact with, but the curvature of their necks is almost surreal (albeit hard to convey in a still photo).

A look down CR-31 towards the center of Acra. Hills on the far side of the Durham Valley rise above the trees.

Old buildings in downtown Acra. Much of the town was destroyed in a fire almost seventy years ago; few original buildings remain.

Unusually heavy mid-day traffic crowded Route 23 where it heads uphill towards Windham's distant limb.

Acra Point seen from a clearing along NY-23.

This banded hairstreak butterfly (Satyrium calanus) kept flying around me as I headed back to the car on CR-20A. Evidently these bugs are quite territorial.