Lake Otsego: Where The Susquehanna River Begins.
It is raining outside so I am writing this blog in my hotel room along the shores of Lake Otsego in New York on a Saturday morning. Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of Lake Otsego. However, while doing some reading about the Susquehanna River, I learned that this scenic glacial lake located in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains is the source of the Susquehanna River. As many of you know, I spend a lot of time hiking along the Susquehanna River near my home in Luzerne County Pennsylvania so I decided to visit the place of it’s origin and so here I am at Lake Otsego this rainy Saturday morning. 
My journey to Lake Otsego began yesterday morning when I left my home in Luzerne County and started the three hour scenic drive through the mountains and valleys of Northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York. 
I stopped in a the small town of Bainbridge New York, located along the Susquehanna River, and had a delicious breakfast at Bob’s Diner. I love to eat at small town diners and restaurants. I love to chat with the waitresses and locals. And I had a wonderful conversation with my pretty waitress Tracy and a retired attorney. We became friends. Meeting people is another one of the many reasons I love to travel. 
After breakfast, I had another hour to drive to my hotel on the shores of Lake Otsego, The drive took me through Cooperstown the home of the Baseball Hall f Fame. Visiting the Hall of Fame has been on my bucket list since I was in Little League. However it wasn’t on the agenda for this trip. I just wanted to get some hiking in around the lake. I drove past Cooperstown and arrived at the Lake ‘n Pines Hotel around 2 p.m. I immediately fell in love with the scenic hotel with a view of Lake Otsego. 
I didn’t stay at the hotel long. I checked in, quickly unpacked, and was on my way to explore nearby Glimmerglass State Park. This almost 600 acre park is located in historic Hyde Bay on the north eastern shore of Lake Otsego. It was once part of the Hyde Hall Estate of the prominent Clark family and was acquired by the State of New York in 1963. The historic Hyde Hall is situated on a hilltop overlooking the lake. 
I paid the $7 entrance fee and drove to the Sleeping Lion trailhead. I planned to hike the Sleeping Lion Trail but I first walked down to the lake. Lake Otsego was the “Glimmerglass Lake” in the James Fenimore Cooper Leatherstocking Tales, The Last of the Mohicans being the most famous of the novels. Cooper lived along the lake and Cooperstown is named after this famous author’s family. I have not read any of his books, yet, but I just purchased The Last of the Mohicans. It was a warm and hazy day but the waters of the lake still looked clean and pristine, as they did two hundred years ago. 
There was an ancient oak tree along the road to the lake, 
and I saw my first critter on my adventure, this groundhog who glanced at me before running into the woods. 
I walked through a grove of trees and past one of the many pavilions in the park. There were a lot of folks enjoying the shade of the trees and the views of the lake. 
I came to the beach which was crowded. I enjoyed hearing the happy voices of the people enjoying the pristine waters of the lake. 
Before heading back to the Sleeping Lion Trail I first walked over to the Beaver Pond Trail. 
The trail took me through a second growth woodland of mainly ash and maple trees. 
It was mid afternoon and their wasn’t a lot of bird or wildlife activity on the trail, I only saw a few American goldfinches, 
and a lot of American crows.
There were a lot of Summer wildflowers blooming along the trail, all of which I was familiar with from my hikes in Northeastern Pennsylvania including many native wildflowers such as spotted Joe-Pye weed, 
boneset, 
wild basil, 
giant golden rod, 
grass leaved goldenrod ,
prairie fleabane and
white turtlehead flowers.
Invasive St. John’s wort,
brown knapweed 
and spearmint flowers also grew along the trail. 
The trail took me past the beaver pond but there were no beavers on the pond. 
The trail took me through a primitive camping area before ending on the main access road.
Walking back to the Sleeping Lion trailhead, I saw a flock of ring billed seagulls, 
an American robin 
and a few killdeer birds along the road. 
There were also a lot more American crows hanging with the seagulls. 
I walked up the hill to the trailhead and began my hike on the Sleeping Lion Trail. At first it took me above and along the northeastern shore of the lake through an old mixed hardwood conifer forest. Ancient white oak, black tupelo, eastern white pine and shagbark hickory trees grew along the trail. 
There was little vegetation growing under the shade of the old trees. 
The trail then took me on a fairly steep incline up side of the Mount Wellington. 
There were many large white pine trees on the side of the mountain,
and the trail was covered with pine needles and pine cones. 
There were also many shagbark hickory and oak trees so hickory nuts and acorns also could be found on the trail. 
And where there are pine cones, hickory nuts and acorns there are eastern chipmunks, 
and gray squirrels. I saw dozens of them scampering on the ground up up the trees along the trail. 
I saw this old chicken of the woods mushroom growing on an oak tree along the trail. It is a delicious edible mushroom but was too old to eat now. However, someone did cut a slice of the large mushroom while it was still young. 
There was not much bird activity in the late afternoon. I did hear a few eastern wood pee wees and a few red-eyed vireos and saw this pileated woodpecker but it was mostly quiet under the ancient trees. I did not see another person on my hike on the trail. 
As the trail reached the summit the sun shone through the trees.
The trail did not take me to the top of Mount Wellington but began to descend on the eastern side of the mountain. Here the trail crossed some streams and,
there were more ferns and other vegetation growing along the trail,
including Christmas ferns,
and appropriately named New York ferns. 
The steep trail took me quickly down the ridge,
entering a white pine woodland,
where I saw this whitetail deer. 
There were some mushrooms and
these Indian or ghost pipes growing along the trail . Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with more photos of the plants and critters I saw on my hike. Lake Otsego hike flora and fauna August 16 2024.
It was near 6 p.m. as I finished my five mile hike,
and walked back to my Jeep, enjoying one more view of Lake Otsego the Glimmerglass Lake and reflecting on it as the source of the mighty Susquehanna River, one of the oldest river systems on our planet. It begins it’s 444 mile journey to Havre de Grace and the Chesapeake Bay here, passing my favorite nature hiking trails in Salem Township Luzerne County Pennsylvania. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with more photos from my hike. Lake Otsego August 16 2024.
It was after 6 p.m. and I was tired and hungry. I decided not to return to my hotel but to look for some food. I decided to eat at the Blue Mingo Grill located a few miles from Cooperstown along the lake. Their was an opera performance the Glimmerglass Festival opera house later that evening so the restaurant was packed. I was able to get a table along the dock where,
I enjoyed a delicious Caesar’s salad and lobster roll.
I returned to my hotel and enjoyed the sounds, smells and views of Lake Otsego. I reflected on the history of the lake and the Susquehanna River that begins here. It was a long day and I was soon asleep looking forward to exploring some more of the lake and the surrounding woodlands in the morning. 
“The woods are but the ears of the Almighty, the air is his breath, and the light of the sun is little more than a glance of his eye.”
― The Deerslayer
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