Adk's green patches?

[jjmcgo]

I flew from Newark to Ottawa last week, pretty much up the eastern side of the Hudson to about Kingston, then up the west side of the river. From the left side of the plane, I couldn't see Albany but was pretty sure I saw Schenectady. Didn't see Saratoga Springs. I think it was directly under us. Then the huge expanse of the Adirondacks.
Among the dark green of the forest and the dark blues of the lakes, there were roundish light-green patches, some of considerable size. I'm guessing that was eutrophication, ponds filling in?
Also, it was remarkable how many ponds, with their streams leaving downhill, looked from above like swimming sperms!
It was impossible to get any sort of feeling of surface altitudes from 40,000 feet with a noontime sun.

 

[Rik]

I wonder if it isn't burned areas recovering. Check out this shot of the burn on Noonmark:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/396285188/396299403WSWnnj

 

[dougb]

Beaver Meadows?

Perhaps not ponds filling in, but possibly former beaver dams that haven't grown back. They're like a large field for a while.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Perhaps not ponds filling in, but possibly former beaver dams that haven't grown back. They're like a large field for a while.

I think this is closer to the answer. Ever look at Flowed Lands from up high at this time of year? A much lighter green.

As for fire areas, look at maps.google.com, at the burned area on Noonmark, and you'll see that it is far from light green...

 

[jjmcgo]

A lot of the light-green areas were near ponds, making me think they were at the same elevation. May be it wasn't Noonmark but regeneration three or four years after a fire would be a lighter green.