An early spring walk with Halle along the rocky shore of Pelham Bay Park:
boulders at Twin Island’s shore
Continue reading
Pelham Bay Park
2
Continue reading
Category Archives: Nature and Hiking
Continue reading
Owl at Botanical Garden
Riding the tram, in the northern section, the driver announced that there was a baby owl perched near the road. I guess they don’t move around too much. 
Sure enough, there it was!
baby Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl, don’t you think? Apparently the mother was not too far away, but I couldn’t spot her.
Orchid Show at the Botanical Garden
Van Cortlandt Park
Van Cortlandt House, the oldest house in the Bronx
Defeat at Gothics, Redemption on the Slides
Sat. Oct. 6 – Orebed and Southside Trails
It was a restless night, as always for me when camping. I literally had a nightmare of a bear breaking into the tent for some minor “smell-able,” that I neglected to put in the BC. The bright light of the half moon illuminated the translucent tent fabric between 2 and 3AM, but by 4:30, when it’s time to get up, it’s all dark. Over at the cook site, huddled over my Primus stove, boiling coffee, and munching granola, I’m glad for the printed daily food list. The last thing I want to think about is what lunch & snacks to pack. The menu tells me.
Continue reading
Friday and Balsam Cap on Cover the Peaks Day
I joined Pathgrinder for the Cover the Peaks Day (Oct. 14, 2012) – Friday Mountain. Knew it was gonna be a good day when he said that he didn’t own a GPS. We’d bushwhack with map, compass, altimeter, and his experience. It was nice to meet Jay H and Hermit at the Moonhaw Road Trailhead. “Just follow this woods road and make the second left.” We did so, but soon were ‘whacking up the steep, rocky, wooded slope (a cliff?).
Continue reading
Lower Wolfjaw from JBL
It rained steadily through the night. Contemplated the upcoming day (Oct. 8, 2012), my last here. Had to check out Lower Wolfjaw. But the last bit was steeper than Gothics! A rise of 130 meters over 200, while the steepest 400 meters of Gothics had 180 meters. Or so my topo map indicated. Hiking solo, I determined to go only as far as prudent. Got up a little late, but a more practiced morning routine put me on the trail at 7:30. Out to the now-familiar five-way junction and up the yellow-marked Woodsfall Trail.
Continue reading
Photos from Lower Great Range Hike
Some photos I took on October 7, 2012
-
- Billy before hiking Lower Great Range
-
- Halle and I at Johns Brook Lodge
-
- Orebed Slide, a year after Irene
-
- Stephen and Halle on west peak of Gothics
-
- Haystack, Basin, and Saddleback from Gothics
-
- Upper Ausable Lake from Gothics
-
- Colden from Gothics
-
- Wright from Gothics
-
- Big Slide and fall colors in Johns Brook Valley
-
- Boreas Ponds from Gothics, in the High Peaks
-
- USGS marker on Gothics summit
-
- 46ers on Armstrong in the Adirondacks
-
- Looking back at Gothics from Armstrong
-
- Stephen and Halle on Armstrong
-
- Looking south: view of Dix from Upper Wolfjaw
-
- Matt enjoys a cigar on Upper Wolfjaw
-
- Noonmark and burned area from UWJ
-
- Billy taking a compass bearing on UWJ
-
- Stephen and Halle on UWJ
-
- the grounds of JBL
-
- trails to many High Peaks from JBL
-
- The Four Musketeers, after hiking Great Range Loop
-
- Big Agnes SL2 Seedhouse tent at night
Great fun!
LOWER GREAT RANGE LOOP
An Early Start
Oct. 7, 2012 – Boiling coffee at 4:30 AM. Any bears hiding in the pre-dawn darkness? Evidently not. The morning routine of dressing, eating breakfast, and packing up is a little smoother. But I step right into some squish just at the outhouse door. Yecch.
Continue reading
Indian Head and Twin Mountains – 10/17/12
Gallery
This gallery contains 9 photos.
[portfolio_slideshow] This was a wholly straightforward loop hike, part of Devil’s Path, accurately described on the NYNJTC’s website: http://www.nynjtc.org/hike/indian-head-mountain-loop