East shore of Sunshine Pond

On May 14^th through the 16^th I went for a bushwhacking trip into the Pepperbox Wilderness in the northwestern part of the Adirondack Park.  The primary reason for this trip was to participate in the National Audubon Society – Onondaga Chapter’s Birdathon on May 15^th. 

The Birdathon is a 24-hour contest to identify as many bird species as possible within Kingbird Region 5 of New York State (Onondaga, Oswego, Madison, Oneida, Herkimer and the northern portion of Cayuga counties).  I haven’t participated since 2002 (when I got snowed on) and this was the first time I ever bushwhacked my route. 

Deer Pond near its outlet

The weather was less than ideal for finding birds with cool temperatures, wet foliage (rained around 2 AM), thick cloud cover and very windy conditions.  Although the temperatures increased mid-day with a mixture of sun and clouds, and diminishing winds, but the overcast cloud cover returned later in the day accompanied by lower temperatures and increasing winds.

Included is a rough map of the route I traveled assembled by downloading waypoints I took during my bushwhack using a handheld GPS. The route is only approximate since I drew it freehand using the waypoints and my memory as a guide. I visited multiple ponds and wetlands with such names as Sunshine Pond, Deer Pond and Cropsey Pond. A more detailed map and photographs will be coming soon.

View Pepperbox Birdathon 2010 Entire Bushwhack in a larger map

Over the next week I’m going to post a detailed description of the trip with each day appearing as a single post. My next post is for May 14th and starts at the end of Necessary Dam Road (in the hamlet of Stillwater) at the very bottom of the map and includes walking up a well-graded private dirt road (to an inholding on Raven Lake), an unmaintained trail and a relatively short bushwhack to the east shore of Sunshine Pond.

Stay tuned.