Timeline:

  • 11:39 AM Start hiking
  • 3:15 PM? Summit Indian Head
  • 4:30 PM Twin South summit
  • 4:50 PM Twin summit

  • 6:50 PM Back at the car

  • Tracks: eBird 1, 2, 3 (separate checklists for each NY Breeding Bird Atlas block)

GPS Track of the hike

We saw a snake on the trail near the start of the hike. As we approached Indian Head along the Devil’s Path, things got steep!

Getting Steep (approaching Indian Head)

Somewhere along here Alex spotted nesting Dark-Eyed Juncos in a rock face. We stopped for a while and had great views of baby birds being fed:

Baby Juncos being fed

As we got to the first viewpoint, Alex did her customary mountain tree pose:

Tree Pose at Indian Head Lookout

In the scrubby conifer forest near the top of Indian Head, we heard and then saw our first Blackpoll warbler (a “lifer” as the birders call it).

As we came down to the Jimmy Dolan Notch, we had a decision: continue on to Twin, or head back to the car. I pushed Alex to go to Twin over her protests about doing two peaks in one trip. I found out later that I’d done Twin years ago with Max, so I somewhat regret this!

Panorama from the south summit of Twin

I wanted to check out the Jimmy Dolan Notch viewpoint on our way down, but Alex wanted to head down. Next time!

Dan at Twin