Adventures of 2025 in Images

Still far from complete but I feel like this is the bulk of what I'll post for now. Keep in mind I've added photos all the years in review from 2008-2024 over the last few months, so the album with never truly be finished. But either way, enjoy a little slice of my adventures in 2025!

Direct link to the Flickr album can be found here: 2025 in Images or you can click the highlighted links below each photo on the photo collage to see full size individual images. Order is left to right, top to bottom. So 1-5 is top row, 5-10 is the second row and so on.

1. Marshall on Hurricane, 2. Skiing with Marshall, 3. Deore Purgatory, 4. All That the Light Touches Is Yours..., 5. Love, 6. Moose River Madness, 7. Marsh and Sen, 8. Enjoying the Campfire, 9. Seneca Falls, NY -Cayuga-Seneca Canal, 10. Buc-ee's, 11. Ouachita Trail Single Track, 12. My name is Marshall..., 13. November 2025, 14. Memphis Zoo, 15. Memphis Zoo, 16. Finger Lakes - Erie Canal Trail Bike Tour, 17. Sweet Relief, 18. I'll Always Rembember Us This Way, 19. Erie Canal Bicentennial Bike Tour, 20. Mid-fat at the Lake, 21. Bikewhat....?, 22. Spring on the Erie Canal Trail - New York, 23. Marsh on Moonshine, 24. Seneca, 25. Preview to Heart of the Finger Lakes Bike touring, 26. Looking out at 2026...Let's Roll!, 27. Breaking Away, 28. The Road to Paradox, 29. Autumn sunset on Blue Mountain, 30. Mashall backpacking in the Adirondacks

1. October Roads, 2. Autumn bikepacking in the Adirondacks, 3. Autumn at the Lake, 4. 1991 Trek Multitrack 7900 on the Erie Canal, 5. Transition season in the Keene Valley -Adirondacks, NY, 6. Cup of Contemplation, 7. Adirondack Autumn Views, 8. Big Wheels Keep On Turning, 9. Camping with Dogs: Seneca, 10. The Road to Paradox Panorama, 11. Sun Beams Over the Northern Adirondacks Descending Haystack Mountain, 12. Adirondack Groads: Gravel bikepacking in the Northwest Adirondacks, 13. Aim and the Marshmallow Man, 14. Gully Piton, 15. Grass River Revival, 16. BCXC In the Western Adirondacks, 17. The Pyramid, 18. Father and Daughter, 19. Oooops.....!!!! (WATERSHED BREWING - GENEVA, NY), 20. Marshall and crew on the Crows, 21. Mountain Biking Vermont: Green Mountains Fall Foliage at Sunset, 22. Rollin out, 23. Sunset snowshoeing at Moreau, 24. Descending Sugar Hill into Watkins Glen, 25. Bikepacking: Hector Falls - Hector, NY, 26. Crooked Lake Ice Cream Company - Hammondsport, NY, 27. I Love New York - bike touring / bikepacking edition, 28. Ski Trail, 29. Overwatch: Backpacking in the Adirondacks, 30. Sunset after glow over the Northern Adirondacks (panorama)

Turning the page on Winter 2010/2011

Though Mother Nature says there are still a few weeks of winter left at various higher elevations, and I'll certainly be playing in the snow for a few more weeks this winter, I'm going to call this the official end of winter for this blog. Yep, on April 5th, a full two weeks after the calendar said it's spring and almost a month following the vernal equinox, Mountain Visions is slowly making the transition to another fine Northeastern US season; spring!

For what it's worth, while walking around Peebles Island State Park and Waterford, we did see some crocuses popping up. Spring is coming, even if it's still very much winter in many places around the region! 

Enjoy a few images from this winter's adventures!

Going mirrorless in the mountains of New Zealand!

Some time ago I wrote a rather lengthy and extensive review of the Samsung TL500/EX1. Though the review covers the history behind selecting this camera, it all boiled down to having something that almost fits into a pocket but produces professional quality imaging. This sort of camera isn't quite ready to replace a larger SLR system in utility or image quality, but it will go places an SLR probably won't and gives every photographer another weapon in the arsenal.

Having the camera now for 5 months, I am always pleased with the output, even when testing the technological bounds of the TL500. So upon seeing some skiing videos that used the TL500 and NX10, I was glad to learn the Samsung TL500 was in fact being used in professional settings for the purposes I originally envisioned a camera like this.




Some images I've shot with the TL500 (EX1) can be found here:





The full review of the EX1 / TL500 can be found here at Enticing The Light. Not recommended reading for the casual photographer or snap shooter, but certainly the sort of review that will leave you without surprises when Amazon delivers it to your doorstep!

What I can add post review is that this camera has performed admirably in all sorts of weather for me so far. From 90 degree sunny days to -10F winter days. Coupled with a Lowe Pro Terraclime 30 case, it is really just shy of the ultimate on the go compact that pretty much leaves you without an excuse to come home with a shot or two. Besides a few software updates, I'd have weather sealed it to make it the perfect on the go professional grade compact. Inclusive of those minor issues, it's a joy to use outdoors and enables me to get more than web quality snapshots when I don't want to (or can't) carry an SLR!

A little more fun from the New Zealand shoot with some really insane skiing (some of us would just be happy to be able to turn in both directions when needed, this is just insane!)...

Post Sunset Moonrise Over the Adirondacks Crane Mountain

I'd moan about how hard landscape photography is, that if you're standing on a wind blown summit at sunset it means you have to hike back in the dark...but I confess, I'd have it no other way. I love hiking at night! In fact so much so that following this wonderful scene, which didn't end with this photograph, I didn't turn on my headlamp until I reached the slab below the pond outlet, just shy of half way back. Much of that time the 3/4 moon cast a shadow in my path as I walked through the forest. Hiking by the glow of the moon is really very peaceful, even more so than via headlamp, and it's nice to get lost in the solitude of the softly lit darkness.

Darkness though is what makes November a depressing month in this part of the world, the sun only shines about 30% of possible daylight hours, and daylight is only about 9-10 hours at the start of the month. The positive is that provided you can see the sun, you don't have to wait 18 hours between nautical twilight's like in the summer. Photography is best done at the ends of the day, and November is temperate enough that spending an entire 10 hour visible light day outdoors isn't all that hard most days if you get a sunny day. Or you can time a sunset blitz hike like this ascent of Crane Mountain, and still be home in time to eat dinner at a reasonable hour, rather than midnights like you do in the summer!

I have a few "local" places where I can gain some reasonable elevation since moving to Saratoga County a few years ago, although I do miss my 30 minute drives to challenging 3,000ft+ single summit days in the Catskills, 90% of the time I'm glad to be at the foothills of the Adirondacks even if it means the same drive gets me only 1500 foot single summit days. Crane Mountain is not only a favorite semi local hike (about ~55 miles and 50 minutes) but it's a favorite hike overall in the Adirondacks. Barbara McMartin once said it was among the most beautiful summit views in ALL the Adirondacks, and although I never found the distant views to be amazing, I've always loved the general challenge of the rugged trails and steep cliffs that make Crane Mountain.

Crane is not only a great hiking mountain, but it's home to a hot bed of new Adirondack rock and ice climbing route activity. In the last 10 years Crane has seen dozens of new rock routes and tens of ice routes, some of the ice is 3-4 pitches in length.

In the trail register many people complain of the sparsely marked trails, and the first time hiker might have to be careful, more so after dark. The mountain sees at least a few dozen hikers and climbers a weekend, creating a well worn though still rugged foot trail. Though with a little care, a map, and just basic route finding skills you should be able to figure it out. Although I know the mountain well now, it was just as poorly marked the first time I hiked it!

Unfortunately, hiking isn't all glorious sunsets, moonrises, and pleasant walking via the glow of the moon. About 1/3 of the way down the very steep outlet trail, I took a pretty decent fall on one of the many sections with deep dry leaf cover over roots and slabby ragged boulder piles. This time of the year dry leaves have become waxy, and the combination of dry waxy leaves and steep descents make it like walking downhill on ball bearings. I took a jump down from one boulder into a crevasse between two boulders and the next thing I knew I was on the ground several feet below my target with my elbow and arm bleeding. The arm will heal, but I lost Black Diamond Flicklock pole when my feet came out from under me and the pole snapped in defense of my fall. One of the reasons the Flicklocks are great poles, and hadn't yet made it to the graveyard of poles in my garage, is unlike most poles with expander nuts, the expanderless Flicklocks hardly ever (perhaps never) collapse. The downside is they are made from thin gauge aluminum and are the only poles I have ever owned that I have bent...over and over and over again! They are easy enough to rebend, but at $90 a pair, I wish they were just a bit more sturdy!

Alas, it was a small price to pay for an almost summer like mid autumn day in the Adirondacks.

Summer 2010...

A little slice of summer 2010 in photos.

Hit the full screen box in the corner for a larger slide show. Most images are uploaded at 1080P. If they are pixelated, and you are using a higher resolution screen, chances are nothing is wrong with your monitor or the images, they are just lower resolution than your monitor at full screen size!

An Afternoon On The Plotters Kill

Just a few images from a very nice -and apparently very popular- little local hike that we'd never done. Of course, just because it's local (18 miles) doesn't mean it's easily accessible. I was in the central Adirondack's a few weekends ago in just a little more time. This isn't uncommon in an area where travel is limited by winding rivers/canals and limited, oft congested crossing points.

Plotters Kill (Flat Creek) is a rugged gorge in Rotterdam Junction, just a few miles from the Rotterdam Square Mall. The waterfalls are mostly seasonal, and already Rynex Creek was almost completely dry, but the Plotters Kill was still flowing nicely.

Still, it's a nice place to explore after work during the summer, or a nice local place to do a little top rope ice climbing during the winter. Although, with the larger Upper Falls being only 60 feet, by the time the base freezes you probably only have about a 45 foot climb. Not insignificant for a local climb minutes from Schenectady, but for a little more driving you can be doing multipitch ice in the Catskills or Adirondacks.

Hadley Should Be Called "Not Too Hardley"

Hadley is listed as an "easy" family hike in many guide books, sure Hadley is a mere 2 miles, but it's steep. Vertically steep? No, actually not a single section of the trail can be categorized as a scramble., You never have to use your hands but it is constantly steep with an average 7% grade over the 2 miles.

Is it hard? Not at all, the footing is excellent for the most part on the ascent, but the descent can be a bit slippery in bad weather. Hadley is one of those deceptively more difficult peaks being  a 2600 foot peak that gains 1500 feet en route to the summit. Of course that can be said about many of the hikes in the northeast where trail heads can start out as low as sea level and climb as high as 6000ft.

Caney and I headed up to Hadley via route 9 by way of Wilton off the Northway, which much to my dismay is only 34 miles. Yes folks, Hadley is closer than Glens Falls, which means I was driving excessively far to get there. Probably 10 more miles going through Glens Falls. Going to short route sometimes takes longer, but aside from the annoying speed zones, it was actually a fast drive.

We got on the trail at 7pm sharp and hauled up the summit in some rain showers, I was hoping the weather would be much like it had been all week a mix of nasty storms and clearing blue skies. Great rainbow weather, and great weather potential for a great sunset. We did the 2 miles and 1500ft in 50 minutes.

Under the summer tree canopy unless the rain is constant and hard you really don't tend to get very wet. When we reached the summit at 7:50pm it had mostly stopped raining, and was just very lightly drizzling. I pulled my camera gear out of my LowePro Primus AW, which several months after buying it remains the best photo bag I have ever owned.

I set up my panoramic head, leveled everything and set my K10D to f/9 at 1/4th second, ISO 100, using a cable release and 2 second MLU. The resulting image is about 65MP at full size, from eight 10MP images.



We retreated off the summit after watching the beautiful lightening show in the distance, that eventually was overhead striking the fire tower (luckily we were already off the summit). The hike down took slightly longer than the trip up, and was a lot more wet.

Despite the weather it was a beautiful day in the mountains.

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Have Camera, Will Time Travel

Traveling through the Charlotte Airport on our way to Memphis in 2007, I noticed the lighting and architecture of the airport. Unlike the spartan concrete prison block look of Memphis (or many other airports in the US), Charlotte had some interesting design and lighting.

I've always had no problems pulling my camera out at airports, after all, you often spend hours waiting with nothing to do. My camera is frequently my only sanity when forced to deal with extreme boredom, or as an escape from the reality of certain situations where I'd gladly load a round, spin the revolver and see what happens with a shot to the head. These days with laptops and wifi, time passes a bit more quickly while traveling, but airports are in many ways an interesting photograph waiting to happen, and a camera is still the best escape from reality.

My wife asked me why I titled this "Time Travel?" I liked the futuristic feel of it at the time, and also later in the finished photo. Yet, the black and white with the old biplane makes it sort of timeless. It makes me wonder whether I were going back in time, or maybe forward in time. Second, I shot it in 2007 and it is coming to life as a finished product in 2009. I suppose this photo was like going back to the future.

There were a few photos I really liked the concept of at the airport, but at ISO 1600 in color, with the contrasty mixed lighting sources, nothing really worked off the bat. While I envisioned the final ISO 1600 photos being black and white to make use of the pleasing digital noise structure of Pentax cameras at high ISO, I also liked what I took in color.

This conflict led to me processing and reprocessing the images in color, and then in black and white. I never could get my favorite of the bunch to work, eventually I grew tired of working on the airport shots, so they languished in digital purgatory for 18 months till I could revisit them with a fresh look. In the end, "Time Travel" wasn't even the photo I had originally picked as the best of several different scenes, but looking at the various scenes from a fresh perspective I finally got what I was looking for.

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Merck Farm and Forest, Right To Farm

(from 1st visit of May 2009)

With the spring just taking hold at the lower elevations, and still a few weeks away up high, I've been chomping at the bit to get a little color in my life and in my photos. In a month the greens won't seem so impressive, and I'll be anxiously awaiting the late summer flowers, and then the fall foliage, but when looking out at a skeleton forest of gray and brown for the last month the green cannot come fast enough.

Heading east on Rt 146 at 4:55am the sky looked like it might become dramatic as the sun rose over the Hudson River. Of course getting up to the alarm clock at 4:30am I was certainly hoping for better light then what was before me. Because it was so warm and so breezy, the water is actually cooler than the air, and there was no dramatic morning fog and mist coming off the rivers and ponds. Now I had no lighting, and I had no early morning mist. As I drove east towards the Vermont border I wondered if I should even bother driving the 50 miles or just hit something a bit closer to home.

Something told me to keep going, and when I find that something, I am going to give it a little lecture for the bad advice. No, it wasn't a bad day, actually the weather was interesting for a hike, but depressing when you are toting 10lbs of photo gear with the intention of using it.

Believe it or not this drive northeast through Greenwhich and then Salem was a first for me. I've never been farther east than Schuylerville in Washington/Saratoga county, and it was actually quite pretty. Vermont might be known for quaintness, but New York can be quaint as well. This portion of Washington County undulating dairy country, criss crossed by the Battenkill River.

When I arrived at the Merck Forest parking area I was greeted by a swarm of black flies. Of course, I didn't have bug dope. Usually it's not needed this early in the year since the flies tend to not be aggressive this early, and fortunately while the flies were swarming, they weren't all that hungry.

6:30am is even early for the farmers on a Sunday, and I had the place to myself for more than an hour. I headed up to the live stock fields, and hung out with the ewes and lambs for a while, although I never could get a clear shot of the young lambs nursing which was truly the most interesting thing going on..

After breakfast with the sheep, I headed down Old Town Road  to Clarks Clearing. With the trees not leafed out yet, the forest floor along the woods roads was covered with tiny wildflowers. I spent a little while taking some flower flower closeups of the dime sized flowers, and then continued on to  Clarks Clearing. At the clearing it was starting to feel a lot like rain was imminent, but I was 2/3 of the way to Mt Antone, the 2600ft peak over the farm. I began to climb Mount Antone but ended up in the clouds. Instead of pushing my luck, on a day when I was certain not got get anything photographically interesting, I turned around.

The return trip I took the McCormick Trail, and then the Wildlife Loop, with the intention of shortcutting back to the car via the Forestry or Discovery trails. I somehow got lost on the Wildlife Trail, and ended up bushwhacking to make up some time. Of course, that didn't go as planned either. I did hit another trail as I had planned the problem was the private property markers had me confused. I expected to be on the Forestry trail, above the parking area, but I was on the Discovery trail below the parking area. The problem was I started out the bushwhack lost, and the key the staying not lost is to not get lost in the first place. (this is going to continue to sound like a Yogi-ism) The bottom line is you can know where you are going, if you don't know where you started from. Got that!

Back at the car I realized that while the Merck lands aren't exactly the pristine wilds, or the deep backcountry, this is a great place for families to come and backpack with young kids. I saw several scout troops, and a few families with very young kids who had backpacked and overnight camped. One family had an all terrain stroller to push the youngest kid. Camping here is not exactly cheap ($25 a night for tent sites) and more for the cabins, but it is on par with a state campground in cost, and the semi backcountry experience is probably well worth the added cost for a family with young kids.

All in all I hiked about 8 miles before 10am, and never actually got rained on. The Merck Forest, with it's 25 miles of trails only a 45 mile drive from home, will certainly be a place I will spend more time in all seasons.

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Sleep Deprivation In Death Valley

(a continuation of my DEVA series of images and trip reports)

Death Valley is far more than a hole in the ground, and I honestly didn't even see Badwater Basin in my 2 days there, nor was I upset. I did in fact have some concepts for the basin after sunset including star trails, and moon lighting on the salt flats but the wind was less than cooperative, and plans needed to be adapted.

We were just a short drive from the basin on the first day, but Devils Golf Course was much more interesting to me than the flats of the basin. Fear not, I was about -150ft below sea level so I can at least say I was lower than most places on earth ;-).

This shot is an example of forgoing sleep to get the shot. Neither of us got any sleep the night before we flew out and after shooting star trails in the canyon below here till almost midnight, then eating dinner, and getting just a few hours sleep we were back up by 5am. We were done here by 7:30am, and in the real world, one with trees and shade, we could have gone back to our tents and slept for a few hours. Unfortunately, while Death Valley isn't just a hole in the ground, it is sparsely forested, and shade is a rare commodity. So we'd just have to get by on less sleep to come home with a few good shots.

In the end it was worth it. The point this photograph was shot at was devoid of any texture within half an hour of sunrise, yet our pre sunrise arrival yielded what is a phenomenon known as alpenglow that only occurs prior to the sunrise, and is actually not light directly hitting the peaks but rather reflecting onto them.

The colors and textures of Death Valley immediately disappear upon the rise of the sun, and any chance of a meaningful photograph go with it. Within seconds of the sun rising in this shot all the color was gone on the mountains, and I was left with a cold hazy background that even the warmest of warming filters wouldn't have improved.

While the snow might not be there later in the year, I have a feeling this point, Zabriske Point, which towers above Golden Canyon, is actually a better spot later in the spring or summer. The reason of course is the first rays of sun should rise on the foreground as well as hit the Panamint Range in the background. However, the azimuth of the sunrise in March is such that the sun didn't hit this area till it was fairly high in the sky, yielding too much contrast for good photography if you were including the background mountain range across the valley.

So in the end it's a trade off, the contrast of alpenglow on snow, or a more dramatically lit foreground. Which ever you choose, this is another reason to not visit DEVA during the summer months. The days are long, and the chance to photograph is short. You'll most likely get better images in winter and early spring just because of the fewer daylight hours and lower sun angle. Of course the flowers, and snow capped mountains don't hurt either.

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Ithaca Is Gorges: Fall In The Finger Lakes

It occurred to me that despite autumn being my favorite time of the year that I never seem to make the most of it from a photography standpoint. Last year was so dry it seemed like the colors were not very bright or long lasting.

As of Columbus Day weekend 2008 I had absolutely nothing to show for what is so far a colorful autumn.

The high peaks in the Adirondacks are already well past peak as are the upper elevations of Vermont and NH. I had already seen some great images of the snow covered summits with colorful lower elevations and knew going south was better.



Leaf season peak foliage varies by elevation and localized climate (duh, but I just wanted to impress you with my common sense wisdom). Even two areas at the same elevation and latitude can differ if one is close to the water and the other inland, or has some other factor that influences local climate. Just like chasing spring wildflower season can last weeks if you do it right, foliage season can be mapped out to catch peak after peak.

As it turned out the Heidelberg’s and Catskills are currently at peak and generally always around Columbus Day weekend.



So Saturday afternoon we headed to Thacher State Park to hike the Indian Ladder trail. The trail is almost paved in many spots, and no special hiking attire is required to hike the approximately one mile loop. Actually, it is one of the few places you will find (attractive) women hiking in heels and mini skirts!!!

I had hiked the Indian Ladder once before on a dreary spring day and had the place to myself, but I had a feeling this trail was typically packed and devoid of any wilderness character. Sure enough it was, only making photography more difficult. Making things worse, the picturesque waterfalls I had photographed in my spring sojourn were almost totally dry.



However, the near peak colors made up for the crowds and lack of water. I came away with a few nice shots and a nice hike only a short drive from home. I often fall into the same trap as everyone else by thinking I need to go someplace far away to capture great images, the truth is, you have a unique advantage when shooting close to home in creating the very best images, since you can time everything for optimal conditions.

Since Aim did not have off Monday, I needed to decide whether to do a day hike Sunday and Monday or go camping and save fuel, carbon emissions, and maximize shooting in an ideal setting. Aim did not seem too enthused about going to the West Canada lakes wilderness, which was near, or slightly past peak for a day hike, so I decided to go camping Sunday and Monday.

Checking the foliage report showed that the Catskills were at peak, and the Finger Lakes were near peak, with the Great Lakes regions not yet peaked.

Having enjoyed, but spent so little time in the Finger Lakes over the years, I decided to go south and west and enjoy this different part of the state for a few days of off-season camping at Robert Treman State Park.

Treman, unlike the bulk of NYS Parks, and DEC campsites is opened past Columbus Day. Actually, Nov 30th! So it makes a great base camp for camping and foliage photography in what I consider one of New York States gems.



The Finger Lake region is obviously home to 5 of New York's largest lakes, but also it is home to New York’s largest wine region, and highest waterfalls. The area between this region and the Catskills is also some of New York’s most fertile farmland. New York is the #4 producer in the US of corn, and among the top in milk (#3), and apples (#2), cabbage (#3) and third in grape production. This region clearly shows the agricultural roots of NY. Fittingly, it is also home to New York’s (and perhaps the nations) best agricultural and veterinary school, Cornell University.



While if you’ve ever read any of my other trip reports you know my first love for a region of the diverse state of New York is the Adirondacks, but I’d be hard pressed to offer a better region as an example of New York than the Finger Lakes. To me the ruggedness, diversity, and refinement of the region are New York in a nutshell.

Robert H. Treman (there is also an Allan Treman a few miles north) is on the eastern edge of the Finger Lakes region, in the town of Ithaca. It is within 8 miles of 4 other state parks, and almost across the street from another equally beautiful park, Buttermilk Falls State Park.

I was actually surprised at the amount of people camping this weekend. There are 50+ sites at this park, and nearly all of them were filled. The last time we were here in September 2004, it was empty at the campground even though plenty of people were still out hiking on the trais.

The trails of these state parks are unique in themselves, they are aptly suited for those lacking either the fitness or desire to hike less civilized trails.

The trails of many of these Finger Lakes parks could actually be considered a history lesson of sorts, perhaps a great excuse for a teacher who loves to hike to organize a field trip ;-).



During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt started the CCC to put men to work doing something, even if most of the work that was done was essentially busy work. Still paying people to work rather than just giving them a check was better for the morale of a nation built on the puritan work ethic, and of course provided nearly of century of quality stonework that sees thousands of hikers a year.

A lot of the CCC work in the Finger Lakes is in need of serious repair, while other parts look brand new. Keeping in mind of course that this area sees a tremendous amount of water and temperature extremes resulting in many freeze/thaw cycles, that most of this stonework is still in great shape 80 years later.

Many of the Finger Lakes state park trails have a similar and sensible naming system which goes like this: above the gorge is called the “Rim Trail” and in the gorge is called the “Gorge Trail”.



I hiked the 5 mile Rim/Gorge loop at Robert Treman, which goes to the top of Lucifer Falls, a cascade of over 112 feet. When you reach Lucifer Falls, the gorge is over 200ft deep. Along the trail, the gorge is filled with mosses, ferns, and in the warmer weather wildflowers. In the fall, the contrast of the changing leaves with the rich greens of the mosses and ferns can make for a spectacular contrast. The gorge is one waterfall or cascade after another, and honestly, if you dedicated yourself to shooting in the good light, you could spend years capturing the beauty found along this single 3-mile stretch. Although solitude and quiet contemplation you will not find during a weekend.




Monday, I woke up at 2:30am wide awake after hitting the sack at 8:30 the night before. I went back to sleep off and on till 5am when I decided to commit to the early start I had envisioned but expected not to make. It took me about 30 minutes to break down camp in the dark, and load up the Zuk.

The plan was to get to Taughannock Falls State Park, about eight miles away before sunrise, unfortunately while the plan worked, the sun didn’t cooperate. Instead of the brilliant blue skies we were forecast to have, it was a hazy light overcast. This soft diffuse lighting is great for macro shots and shooting water, but not great for foliage. I wanted the soft golden morning glow and Mother Nature didn't cooperate. I almost stayed on the shores of Cayuga Lake, to photograph what looked to be an interesting purple sunrise through the haze. But we’ve all seen enough sunrises, it’s foliage we want.




Once again, you have the Rim Trail and the Gorge Trail. The last time I was at this park Aim and I did the Rim trail to the falls overlook. My goal was this time around was to go to the base of the falls. I don’t remember the distance but I think it is about a mile to the base.

Taughannock Falls is actually New York's, and the eastern US highest waterfall. This of course can often be debated depending on how you rate the fall (there are longer cascades for instance), but Taughannock Falls is a single purely vertical drop that CANNOT be contested. No matter how you measure it, it’s going to work out to an equivalent of 215 vertical feet. How impressive is this? Well, Niagara Falls is a mere 182 feet high. Of course Niagara Falls claim to fame isn’t it’s height, or width but the sheer volume of water the that passes over the falls. Taughannock Falls by comparison is merely a trickle most of the year, and in summer nearly dries up.

The area below the falls would make an excellent swimming hole in summer, aside from the fact that these gorges are inherently unstable. Anyone lacking the intelligence to determine where the piles of rubble at the base of the gorge came from, just needs to stand around for a while and listen for the popping, cracking, and eventually falling of the rocks above. Suffice to say while wandering around off the trail I was a bit uneasy. Having been hit in the (helmeted) head plenty of times while rock climbing, I don't take rock fall lightly.




Disappointed with the morning light, I looked around for some shots that benefited from the soft low contrast light, but eventually just headed out after having the park to myself for a few hours.

Overall a nice beautiful weekend and a change of pace for me.

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Throwing In The Towel...

I actually have a few trip reports that were waiting on photos, but they are stuck on the laptop which is short WiFi right now, and my desire to copy the blog entry's onto a memory card and load them onto my PC is pretty pathetic.

I mean lets face it, anyone that reads this blog is looking for 2 things, trip/camping info, and/or the photos. Anyone actually reading the text is in my opinion only doing so to make themselves feel like a literary genius after 5 minutes of spelling errors, misuse of homonyms, lack of spell checking, and just poor formatting (come on, how many times have I let two words run together???).

Any how, I am now up to mid June for my photos...not counting Beer Fest (Mondiale de le Biere - Montreal), and of course the rest of Heather's graduation photos, so consider this a partial update to the last real blog entry of 2008 which was the Snowy Mountain blog.

So without further delay, without all the little jibber jabber that slows down your scrolling to the maps, photos, and trip info...

May:

Heather's Graduation

Memorial Day (revisited) The Davis Path....

June:

Escaping The Heat: 3 Days In the Northern Presidential's (Caps Ridge, Mt Jefferson, Adams, Madison, King Ravine)

technorati tags:New Hampshire, Presidentials, Dry River Wilderness, hiking, backpacking, climbing, Alpine Zone, K20D, Pentax, flowers, AMC, Mount, Madison, Jefferson, Adams, Washington, Madison Springs Hut, King Ravine, Davis Path, Mount Isolation, Crawford, Androscoggin, sunrise, Gorham

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Climbing Kilburn Slide (And A Battle With A Rabid Tree)

It's been about 6 years since I first visited Kilburn Slide. We did it to sort of kill a day before some technical rock climbing the next day. It was rainy the day we climbed it, and the views were non existent.

Turn the page to 2008 and once again it was a day killer. Aim needed some new boots and the Mountaineer in Keene Valley happened to have the Raichles she was interested in. Her 10 year old Raichles started to crumble and boots became priority #1. So I figured something easy and fun Saturday after losing part of the day to boot fitting.

Of course after having weeks of sunny weather it was supposed to rain all weekend and the forecast just got worse the closer it got. Hahahahahaha, guess what? The weather forecast was WRONG.

So by the time we set up camp it was around noon. We headed towards Whiteface from Jay to the Monument Falls parking area and the whole time it continued to clear to the point the skies were mostly blue. Not believing for a moment this would last I was getting nervous that we wouldn't get up the slide in time to beat the rain.

What a surprise after the doomsday report convinced me that my second time up I'd have the same views as the first. Not even close. The slide has great views of Whiteface from the base. While the slide curves out of site of Whiteface, as you steeply climb you get great views of Lake Placid and many other mountains the further up you go, and it never rained.

Some people reading this might be asking, "what the heck is a slide".

Well in the Adirondacks slides are a fairly common anomaly of natural forces. Adirondack soil is about as poor as exist on earth. It's why the indigenous Indians who lived near what is now the Blue Line (the boundary of the Forest Preserve) only came to this region in the warm weather to hunt. The soil did not farm well, and winters were brutal.

The thin, weak layers of soil, typically over sheer mountain slopes are prone to being washed away in sustained torrential rain storms. These storms come frequently enough during hurricane season, or during Noreasters.

After several days of rain, the soil becomes so saturated that it and everything attached to it just slides down the mountain, leaving what Barbara McMartin termed, "natures gift to hikers." It takes a few years for the slides to get really clean but once they do they are excellent for climbing. Many are gradual slopes in the 30-60 degree range, whiles others have vertical 4th or 5th class headwalls.

The slides can be skied in winter (by experienced backcountry skiers), and in summer most can be climbed by any hiker capable of reaching the base. The more technical slides typically require just basic rock climbing skills and are usually low 5th class.

The beauty of slides, provided the exposure doesn't frighten you, is that they offer views for the entire climb. The downside is they rarely end at a summit, and generally require either a steep descent down the slide, or a bushwhack to the top of the mountain, and a return via a trail.

The climb up Kilburn was great. Way more interesting than last time but like every hike or climb this one wasn't without incident.

Pretty early into the hike to the slide Aim was attacked by a tree. I've never seen anything so viscous in the forest. Not even the porcupine that attacked Caney could match this rabid tree. Large branches, with sharp pointy tips, and whip like reflexes. She battled it but the tree fought dirty. I mean really dirty, I cannot even speak of some of the things it did. Finally the fight turned into a girl fight complete with all the fixins. Hair pulling, scratching, and eye gouging. Man was there eye gouging. Problem is trees don't have eyes so you can guess what happened. Yep, Aim was defeated and the tree stood victoriously over her lifeless teary eyed body, almost saying, "hey girly, you were barking up the wrong tree."

In his mom's honor Caney pee'd right on that tree, with his best stream of concentrated super Wonder Dog pee, and Aim was able to flee.

Well, our two days in the Daks turned to a single day and a sleepless night for Aim. When she woke me up Sunday morning the eye wasn't looking so good. We packed up and had a spirited drive down 73 back to the Northway and home.

Off to the urgent care center where it was confirmed Aim is blind, not from the fight with the tree, just blind! Which explains why she is married to me. After a few test it was also confirmed she had 1 or 2 corneal abrasions. Nothing serious, but serious enough for her to get a day off from work. Hmm, if I got a day off for every abrasion I got I'd got a lot more abrasions.

The good news is Caney is now in second place for consecutive days without need of medical assistance for illness or injury. Me, I'm going on 17 full months, Caney 2 full weeks, and Aim's streak of 5 years is long gone. Today she is at 1 day!!! Let's just say Caney is cherishing every moment , and confident that if he can hold on for just a few more months I will do something stupid!!!

technorati tags:Adirondacks, ADK, hiking, climbing, slides, Kilburn Slide, Lake Placid, Whiteface Mountain, headwall, Suzuki, Lowepro, Pentax, K10D, Border Collie, New York State, New York, Forest Preserve, Wilderness, Sentinel

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