The sound of rushing streams Tuesday afternoon was the most noticeable evidence of Hurricane Sandy’s brief visit to the Adirondacks.

Residents of the Adirondacks, the region of upstate New York devastated by Hurricane Irene in 2011, breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday when it became clear Hurricane Sandy was too busy destroying the Jersey Shore to be bothered with the Adirondack Mountains. She sent a few bands of high wind and rain to the higher elevations on Monday night to keep us humble, but Sandy girl took it out on the shore, Asbury Park included.

Although Hurricane Sandy was still hundreds of miles away, it was clear something odd was on with the weather Monday morning in the Adirondacks. Here at HQ, at ~ 2,500 feet elevation, fog limited visibility to about 200 feet. The air was warming and heavy with moisture dripping noisily off every outdoor surface. The lifestyle hound and I did a brief pre-Sandy tour of the neighborhood and discovered a grounded flock of Canadian Geese on the lake. En route to their southern vacation, the geese appeared to be settling in, having decided to ride out the storm in the mountains.

By Monday afternoon the winds had picked up and the heavy mist turned into rain. With bottles of water, flashlights, and candles at the ready we waited for Sandy. Fortunately, she passed by the Adirondacks leaving only a flutter of power outages in her wake.

Trails in the Adirondacks are ready for action, although some may be muddy and hikers may encounter some downed tree limbs. It may snow in the Adirondacks this weekend and many of us are thinking about waxing skis and digging out the base layers; we are ready for the next season.

By a fluke of nature, this time, residents of the Adirondacks can move on without missing a beat. And because of that same capricious nature, this time, millions of people and some of our friends and families were not so lucky.

Click here if you are looking for a way to help those impacted by Hurricane Sandy.