Pitchoff Mt.

• As you go out toward the balanced rocks, a different rock blend appears.

• Much of the strata is covered with lichen, but it’s pink hue makes it clear that it is different.Alison admires the view from Balanced

Rock.

Pitchoff Mountain

This boulder can be found underneath the balanced rock. Protected from weathering and also shaded from the sun (no lichen cover), this rock contains large vibrant crystals. According to Jaffe, the rock here is considered a hornblende granite, because it contains more quartz (Jaffe, 54).

Pitchoff Mountain: more photos…

Pitchoff Mountain

Cascade Mountain

• Heavy rains in the spring causes flooding throughout the Adirondacks in the Spring of 2011, followed by worse flooding from Hurricane Irene.

• This picture, taken in the spring of 2011, illustrates how small streams grow into rivers during high rain and snowmelt. Water shapes the mountain.

Cascade Mountain

• The summit of Cascade Mountain is composed of gabbroic anorthosite which contains mostly plagioclase and 10% dark minerals (Jaffe, 61).

Top: Chloe Armstrong poses at the summit marker of Cascade Mountain. Underneath: Jim Campbell poses on the summit of Cascade. Photos by Jaime Armstrong.

Cascade Lake view

According to “Roadside Geology of New York”, page 307, as you look at this view, you see anorthosite to the right and to the left you see syenite.

Cascade Lake view: a closer lookTo the left, Pitchoff Mountain, composed of syenite.

To the right, Cascade Mountain, composed of anorthosite.

Cascade Slide

• The trail to Cascade Slide is flooded due to excess water from Hurricane Irene.

Cascade Slide

• The waterfall at Cascade Slide is shaped by a camptonite dike. The camptonite gets eroded faster because it is softer than the adjacent gabbroic anorthosite and Van Hoevenberg (anorthosite) gneiss (Jaffe, 68).

Landscapes change over time.Cascade Mountain Slide

• The excessive water from Hurricane Irene has widened the many slides in the area, including the slide on Cascade Mountain.

View of Cascade Mountain from Pitchoff Mountain.

Cascade Slide

• Hurricane Irene caused a lot of destruction in the High Peaks Region. The picture to left shows the debris swept from the hurricane’s flood at the base of Cascade Slide.

• However, this disturbance has improved the number of exposed minerals at Cascade Slide, a favorite spot for gem enthusiasts.

• Please continue on to part 3 of 3.