Charlie Stein's Photoblog

Injinji Socks

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Charlie

I have mentioned getting “hot spots” on my toes while hiking, especially when going downhill. Hot spots are the precursors to blisters, so it’s best to avoid them. Part of the problem is that when going downhill, the foot can slide forward into the toe of the shoe, adding additional pressure. Also, socks can get bunched up, causing problems.

A relatively recent innovation by Vibram, which makes soles for other manufacturers, is the Vibram FiveFingers, their own brand of sneakers, which have articulated toes. Many runners enjoy them, claiming they have offer better grip, balance, opportunity for muscle development, etc. I have never had the opportunity to try the shoes. For hiking, I have mentioned that I am reluctant to try using sneakers, and instead wear boots because I think I need protection on the soles from walking over uneven surfaces and protection on the toes in the event I stub my foot into a rock.

The Vibram FiveFingers were meant to be worn barefoot, which many don’t like. A company called Injinji began making toe socks, and many runners and hikers claim that these socks, whether worn with Vibram FiveFingers or worn with conventional shoes, help the wearer to avoid blisters. I decided to try them, wearing them under a pair of conventional socks, as some suggested. Here are the Injinji socks, before I have put on the regular pair of socks over them.

Injinji socks

Unfortunately, I did not find them to be the cure that others have claimed, as I still feel descending hills to be uncomfortable.

I recall that my friend Julie sometimes wears boots while hiking and then other times switches them for hiking sandals, especially on long downhills. While leaving oneself vulnerable to stubbing toes on rocks, perhaps hiking sandals are a good solution to the problem of the foot being crowded forward into a closed toe of a boot.

I will continue to look for a solution.

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Storm King State Park, Orange County, New York

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Charlie

I recruited Yigal and Nachi to go hiking with me, and Nachi recruited three other people. I suggested three or four hikes to Nachi, and he selected Storm King, which I had never visited before.

Storm King State Park sits on the west side of the Hudson River, across from Cold Spring. I have admired Storm King Mountain a number of times from hikes on the east side of the Hudson, and was glad to finally hike it.

Storm King State Park includes Butter Hill, which is actually slightly higher in elevation than Storm King Mountain. There is a loop around Storm King Mountain, and a larger loop in the south of the park, with the two loops being joined by a connecting trail. We hiked the majority of trails in the park.

There are a number of parking areas near the park. We chose the parking lot on U.S. Highway 9W adjacent to the head of the orange trail. The temperature was about 85 degrees, and it was very humid, with overcast skies and a chance of rain. We began hiking a few minutes before 11:00.

11:09 a.m.: The parking lot was at 940′ elevation, and our hike commenced with a 0.2 mile scramble that gained 200′, at which point we reached the ruins of Spy House, formerly a summer home of parks commissioner Dr. Edward Partridge.

Ruins of Spy House

11:25 a.m.: Continuing our climb, after another 0.2 miles we reached a lookout that afforded a view toward the south, with Highway 9W carving a serpentine path through the trees of Storm King State Park and Black Rock Forest. Our cars are visible in the parking area of this photo.

US 9W, as seen from Butter Hill

After another 0.1 miles, the orange trail came to an end. We continued our climb on the yellow trail, and after another 0.1 miles we reached the peak of Butter Hill, complete with a National Geodetic Survey reference mark. At 1381′ elevation, Butter Hill was the highest point we would reach this day.

12:12 p.m.: The yellow trail soon led us to a series of scenic views, including views toward the north, the northeast, the east, and the southeast. The Hudson River curves east after passing Storm King Mountain, so the following view, toward the north, makes it look as though we are standing above the middle of the river.

Hudson River

Following are three of the features in the above panorama: Here is the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge:

Newburgh-Beacon Bridge

Here is the Cornwall Yacht Club. Better views are available here. The breakwater has been referred to as an old barge. I think of a barge as a rectangular vessel that does not rise far out of the water, whereas this looks like a streamlined ship with a tall hull. In any event, I don’t care for the look of old wrecks rotting away, so it’s not my favorite choice for a breakwater.

Cornwall Yacht Club

This is a close-up of Bannerman’s Castle on Pollepel Island.

Bannerman’s Castle, Pollepel Island

After another 0.9 miles, including a break for lunch, the yellow trail intersected the white-blazed by-pass trail. We followed that west 0.4 miles to the blue-blazed Howell trail. After another 0.1 miles west on the blue trail, we reached an intersection with an unmaintained trail, that was nonetheless still easy to follow, with faded white blazes. This was 0.5 mile east of where we had left our cars, and two of Nachi’s recruits left us at this point. (They had warned us in advance that they preferred a shorter hike.)

The four of us remaining soldiered on to the south, following the blue trail in the direction of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. This part of the blue trail was a connector between a loop around Storm King Mountain and a loop in the southern part of the park. Over the course of 0.6 miles, this connecting trail dropped in elevation from around 1050′, down to 540′, before climbing back to 640′. It then intersected another white trail, the Stillman Spring trail, which we followed to the east.

The Stillman Spring trail was 0.75 miles in length, and led us down to Storm King Highway (New York route 218), at 220′ elevation, and not far from the Hudson River. After walking along the road for about 100′, we re-entered the woods to the west. We were once again on the blue trail, being a different part of the same blue trail we had been on earlier. We soon faced a grueling climb uphill. One or two of our party had grumbled earlier in the hike that we were moving too slowly and stopping too often at the many scenic views around Storm King Mountain, and this was a good opportunity for them to enjoy a more strenuous hiking experience.

The sky became increasingly cloudy, and at times we were hit by drops of water. I put my camera in my backpack and put on the rain cover, missing out on taking photos of a few scenic views. One of these was Pitching Point, a scenic view to the northeast that was about 100′ off the blue trail, at 500′ in elevation. The trail soon turned into a scramble as we rapidly gained elevation, with the map showing scenic views at 750′, 900′ and 980′.

3:28 p.m.: At one of those views, I stopped and took a number of shots toward the north and northeast, which stitched together into a very nice panorama. This shows Storm King Mountain on the west side of the Hudson, the Hudson with Pollepel Island and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge in the far distance, and Breakneck Ridge and Mount Taurus on the east side of the Hudson, overshadowed by a menacing sky:

Storm King Mountain & Hudson Highlands

3:44 p.m.: We soon reached a flatter section of the blue trail, ranging between around 1000′ and 1180′:

Storm King State Park

4:16 p.m.: We arrived at another scenic view shown on our map, called North Point. Highway 9W was once again visible, including the parking lot where we had left our vehicles. This is an HDR shot:

View from North Point

This is a normal (non-HDR) shot from North Point:

View from North Point

After 2 miles on this segment of the blue trail, we reached yet another white-blazed trail, this one called the Bobcat trail. We followed this 0.4 miles, which led to the southern parking lot on Highway 9W. This was not where we had left our cars, though–they were at the northern parking lot.

By this time the rain had increased from a few drops to an actual sprinkle. We contemplated putting on raingear, but suspected that with the heat it would be uncomfortable. The rain was actually refreshing, cooling off the temperature and the hikers. Also, I was wearing polyester clothing, which I knew would dry quickly. Thus, we opted to forgo the raingear.

We followed the shoulder of Highway 9W to the north for 0.8 miles, back to the parking lot with our cars, around 5:00 p.m. Thus, we were hiking for 6 hours, though with a few stops to enjoy lunch and scenery. While we saw a few hikers on the northern loop around Storm King Mountain, we did not see anyone else on the southern loop, and I commented that it was nice being able to find such solitude a little more than an hour outside New York City.

I believe that our hike covered 6.7 miles, gaining at least 1300′ (and losing the same amount) over the course of the day.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New York, Orange County | 1 Comment

Manhattanhenge

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Charlie

The term “Manhattanhenge” was popularized in 2002 by Neil deGrasse Tyson of the American Museum of Natural History. It is a twice-a-year occurrence where the setting sun aligns with the east-west streets of Manhattan. As Manhattan was laid-out 29 degrees from a true north-south and east-west grid, this does not take place at the summer solstice, but around May 28 and July 12.

I had never before experienced the event, but after missing my chance in May, I marked my calendar for July.

Wednesday, July 11: I left work at 7:00 p.m. and walked east on 42nd Street. My first thought was to stand on the Tudor City Place overpass over 42nd Street, but it was already packed. I’ve read that some photographers set up their tripods there at 3:30 p.m.!

Tudor City Place

Having failed to find room at my first option, I walked to 34th Street, east of 1st Avenue, where there is a small parking lot under the FDR. Three young Asians were there, with only camera phones, and I stood beside them. The view was not ideal, being partially blocked by the FDR overpass under which we stood, and partially blocked by traffic signage that spanned 34th Street. However, I put my 45-200mm telephoto lens to good use, and was able to zoom past the aforementioned obstructions.

While I was waiting, a film crew with foreign accents came and set up tripods. I did not have a tripod, relying on hand-holding my camera. The film crew didn’t set up a tripod in front of me, but did set up a tripod in front of the Asians. Later, a car had to leave the parking lot, and the Asians moved out of its way and then ended up standing in front of me. Happily, because I was using a telephoto and aiming up a bit, they did not block my photographic efforts.

These were my shots at sundown:

Manhattanhenge

I was uncertain whether July 11 or July 12 was supposed to be better. I read that July 11 would have the full orb of the sun on the horizon (i.e., the bottom of the sun would kiss the horizon), whereas July 12 was supposed to only be the half-orb of the sun on the horizon (i.e., the horizon would bisect the sun). However, when the sun came into view on Wednesday, half of it was already below the horizon. Maybe there is a hill or some other obstruction at the west end of 34th Street, and if I had been on one of the other cross streets, I would have seen the full sun on the horizon.

Thursday, July 12: Again leaving work around 7:00 p.m., I decided to try a different location, and rode the 7 train one stop east, into Long Island City, Queens. There I walked a few blocks west, to Gantry Plaza State Park, on the East River. The neighborhood and the park were nice; I had never been to either before. I walked around for a few minutes before finding a few photographers standing on the promenade, at a spot that afforded a view west through 42nd Street.

The Tudor City Place overpass is visible toward the bottom center of the image. To the right, one can see the famous spire of the Chrysler Building, which is on Lexington Avenue, and to the right of that is the United Nations Secretariat Building, which is east of 1st Avenue.

Manhattan, from Long Island City

The sun dropped below the buildings, and we waited patiently, to see if it would appear at the base of 42nd Street. From our vantage point, the sun would be framed by the overpass of Tudor City Place. Unfortunately, we noted the presence of clouds on the horizon that made the sun’s reappearance doubtful.

Will the sun appear?

Indeed, sunset came and went, and there was no sign of the sun. The assembled photographers and others, such as this hopeful kayaker, had nothing to see.

And then disappointment set in . . .

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged New York | Leave a comment

Peekamoose Mountain & Table Mountain, Ulster County, NY

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Charlie

This Jewish Outdoors Club hike in the Catskills was limited to 15 people, but 7 canceled, leaving 8 of us. I gave a lift to Jonathan from my neighborhood, and we detoured into Brooklyn to pick up two ladies.

Our designated parking area was on Peekamoose Road, along Rondout Creek in the Sundown Wild Forest. As we turned onto the road we soon passed a few parking areas. In the first, I spotted two people standing by a car, at least one of whom looked familiar. Our GPS showed we still had 1.4 miles to go, but I suspected that they did not have GPS and had stopped too soon. Since we were so close to our destination, and running five minutes late, we decided to keep going rather than stop to see if they were with our party. We arrived at the parking lot at 10:35 a.m. and learned that we were indeed missing two people. There was no cell phone reception, so it was fortuitous that I had spotted them. I drove back the 1.4 miles, confirmed the people were the balance of our group, and asked them to follow me to the correct parking area.

Around 11:00 a.m., we started our climb northeast up the blue trail, being part of the Long Path. It was the only trail we would be on today, and we were “just” following it about 4.8 miles, then turning around and coming back. However, our destination, the peak of Table Mountain, was at 3847′ in elevation, while the parking lot was only at 1300′ elevation. So we had a climb of over 2500′.

11:06 a.m.: The hike began with a very steep incline for about 0.2 miles, at which point we arrived at a kiosk asking people to sign in so that the rangers would have an idea how many people were out there. We rested there for a few minutes.

The trail began with a steep incline

The hike description indicated that the first 0.8 miles of the trail followed an old woods road. In places there was tell-tale erosion of a road, though in other places it might have been hard to identify the trail as an old road.

11:52 a.m.: We left the Sundown Wild Forest and continued into the Slide Mountain Wilderness, with the blue trail turning into a footpath.

The trail becomes a footpath

11:56 a.m.: A break in the trees shows that we have gained some elevation. Our leader was moving at a fast pace, which would have been fine with me on level ground, but had me breathing hard as we were ascending sharply the entire time. We took a rest break around this time, as I was not the only one breathing hard.

Our first scenic view, as we gain some elevation!

12:03 p.m.: The hike included some scrambling:

Scrambling

More scrambling

12:34 p.m.: At 2.3 miles from the parking area, and at 2900′ elevation, we arrived at Reconnoiter Rock, a large boulder perched at the edge of a rock ledge. We took yet another break. I had slipped to the back of the pack, just in front of the sweep, and offered to the leader to take over as sweep or fall behind, as I didn’t want to slow down the group. But after this point (having climbed 1600′ in 90 minutes), the trail seemed to level out a bit, and we only had another 900′ to the peaks. Therefore, I was able to hike toward the front of the line after Reconnoiter Rock.

Reconnoiter Rock

12:52 p.m.: A tree grows among the rocks.

Tree roots grow around rocks in a search for nutrients

1:17 p.m.: At 3.05 miles into the hike, at 3500′ elevation, we reached an overlook offering fine views to the south. We took another break here, this time to enjoy the view, rather than to recuperate from the physical effort:

Scenic view from 3500′

I pose in front of Nature’s canvas:

Posing at 3500′

2:05 p.m.: At 3.9 miles into the hike, we reached the summit of Peekamoose Mountain at 3843′ elevation, where a snowshoe hare kept guard:

Snowshoe hare

The map does not show a scenic view from the summit of Peekamoose Mountain, but it appeared that a path had been recently cleared to establish a view:

View from the summit of Peekamoose Mountain

We continued on, as the path turned due north and then west. After another 0.85 miles, we were 4.75 miles into the hike, having reached the summit of Table Mountain, at 3847′. While only 4′ higher than the top of Peekamoose Mountain, there had been about a 150′ to 200′ descent into a col, and then a climb out of it.

2:39 p.m.: The summit of Table Mountain was not a noticeable prominence and was only marked by a rock cairn. However, we continued on about 0.15 miles and came to a small rock ledge offering a scenic view toward the southwest:

The view from Table Mountain

While the ledge was small, most of us squeezed onto it for a late lunch:

Lunchtime on a narrow ledge

A wider panorama before leaving:

Panorama from lunch spot

And an HDR shot, made by combining overexposed and underexposed photos:

HDR panorama from our lunch spot

4:59 p.m.: We pass Reconnoiter Rock again, this time heading downhill. We had debates about the merits of going downhill versus uphill, as they worked different muscle groups. Some experience knee pain hiking downhill. On steep declines I occasionally develop “hot spots” on my big toes and the balls of my feet, and I worry those hot spots will become blisters. I was wearing a brand new pair of boots, but they were neither better nor worse than my old boots in this regard.

Reconnoiter Rock, on our descent

5:14 p.m.: We were following the path back the way we came. Here, one tree had apparently fallen and knocked down a second tree. Trail maintenance had cut a notch in the lower tree, to form a step. However, I think that if I had tried to stand on that step I would have hit my head on the upper tree. Thus, I stepped over the lower tree while ducking.

Fallen trees

Using the step that a trail maintenance crew notched into the tree

5:23 p.m.: This photo shows one of the steep declines:

Some hikers find a steep decline more challenging than a steep ascent

6:17 p.m.: We completed the 9.6 mile hike and returned to the parking lot, having bagged two of the 35 Catskill High Peaks. After tossing our backpacks in the cars, we crossed Peekamoose Road to check out Rondout Creek. The water was cold, but it felt good to dip my feet into it.

Rondout Creek

Getting home was a different story. We stopped for dinner at Woodbourne Pizza, which was fine. But whereas the drive from Brooklyn (where we had picked up the girls) to the Catskills was 2-1/2 hours, it took us 3-1/2 hours of driving to deliver them home, owing to traffic in the New York City area. Not knowing better, I took the George Washington Bridge to the FDR, and then followed that to the Brooklyn Bridge. I remained in the right lane for the Brooklyn Bridge, as the signs directed, which formed a long line 0.5 miles before the bridge entrance, as hundreds of cars flew past to then cross the solid line into the bridge entrance at the last minute. Cops did nothing, ignoring this violation of traffic law, which is apparently the practice of a great majority of New York drivers. I consider it to be rude and stealing time from others, and will not do it. We dropped off the ladies at the home of one of them, at around 11:00 p.m., and Jonathan and I didn’t make it back to Queens until 11:30 p.m.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New York, Ulster County | Leave a comment

Fishkill Ridge, Dutchess County, New York

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Charlie

The Jewish Outdoors Club offered two hikes on this day, and I registered for the strenuous one. I drove and gave a lift to three other men from my neighborhood. As we crossed the Whitestone bridge into the Bronx, Nachi, who had organized the hike, received a call from one of the registered hikers. His ride had canceled at the last minute, claiming illness. Rather than call to try to find someone else to pick up the stranded hiker, we detoured west on the Cross Bronx into Washington Heights to collect him, then crossed the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey, took the Palisades north back into New York, and then took the Bear Mountain bridge back to the east side of the Hudson. We then followed Route 9D into Beacon and residential streets to the trailhead in Fishkill.

We arrived around 9:35 a.m., the second car there. Nachi had told the hikers to arrive at 9:45 a.m. to sign in, and that the hike would begin promptly at 10:00 a.m., but as usually happens, some people were late. At 10:20 a.m., we began to climb the red-blazed Overlook trail, toward the south.We had a total off 11 hikers, which was a nice-sized group.

10:40 a.m.: To the right side of the trail was an area that appeared to have suffered a mudslide.

Mudslide Adjacent to Overlook Trail

11:06 a.m.: As we climbed higher, we began to enjoy nice views of the Hudson. This shot shows the area to the northwest of Beacon.

View to the northwest

At one point on the hike, when I was hiking with two others at the front, Michael said that he thought he heard a rattle. I didn’t hear anything over people talking. We continued on, and Lissa whispered that she had seen a rattlesnake off to the side of the trail, but didn’t want to announce it because one of the hikers was afraid of all snakes.

After about 1.8 miles on the red trail, we had reached the end of the red trail. We had also gained 1000′ in elevation, from the parking lot at 400′ up to 1400′. We turned left (east) onto the white-blazed Fishkill Ridge trail, and after another 0.4 miles reached a scenic view on the peak of Lamb’s Hill, at 1477′.

12:09 p.m.: We took a snack break there, and in addition to the snacks that we brought with us, some of us enjoyed blueberries growing wild. They weren’t at maximum ripeness, but a few were very sweet.

Blueberries

12:30 p.m.: We continued on the white trail for another 0.2 miles and reached the intersection with the blue-blazed trail, just north of Dozer Junction. I have been to that spot twice before, doing the big loop from Mount Beacon/South Beacon Mountain/Wilkinson Memorial Trail/Fishkill Ridge Trail/Casino Trail, in May 2010 and August 2010.

The photo below shows an unblazed woods road that is a continuation of the blue trail. You can see a white blaze there, but it is important to note that there are two blazes, indicating that the white trail (going west, the direction from which we had just come) turns left (west) here, cutting up a hill to the left of the photo. In May 2010, coming from the blue trail at Dozer Junction, I missed the turn to the west and instead continued straight north on the woods road for a few minutes, before realizing it wasn’t blazed and backtracking to find the white trail. We made a similar mistake this time. We intended to continue east on the white trail (which cuts across this road and continues to the right of the photo), but we had stopped on the blue trail for a moment to admire the bulldozer, and then continued north on the woods road for a few minutes, before backtracking to find the white trail going east.

Fishkill Ridge Trail, near Dozer Junction

12:50 p.m.: The white trail turned northeast, and we were approaching the first scenic view shown on the map. Lissa and I were in the front, and I started to say, “So you did see a rattlesnake on the climb?” As soon as I said “rattlesnake” she jumped back, and I thought she had misunderstood my question as a warning that I had seen something. But then I realized that there was a second rattlesnake just in front of us on the trail. It was remarkable timing, to see it just as I was asking her about her sighting of the first one. We backtracked and told the rest of the group that we needed to take a detour around the trail at that spot. Most timber rattlesnakes prefer shaded areas, but pregnant ones enjoy sunning on rocks. This isn’t the best photo, but you can see part of her body, and her head is somewhat visible toward the upper right.

Timber rattlesnake

It was a cloudy day, which made it difficult at times for me to capture shots with my camera. I had set my camera to an ISO speed of 400, so that photos would not be overly grainy. Unfortunately, that resulted in many photos being shot at a slow shutter speed, so that they were blurred, or being shot at a wide open aperture, so that the depth of field was shallow. (At the end of the hike, I struggled in a shaded area to photograph an orange salamander, with a wide open aperture and slow shutter speed. My wide-angle lens is short enough that I can usually hold my hands steady at slow speeds, but the salamander was crawling away and none of my shots were sharp.)

12:53 p.m.: We were afraid that the short detour around the snake would cause us to miss a scenic view that was indicated on the map, but we soon arrived at a spot that provided a good view:

Scenic View from Fishkill Ridge Trail

12:56 p.m.: A few minutes later another view came into sight:

Scenic View from Fishkill Ridge Trail

Around 1:01 p.m., I mentioned to Lissa that perhaps it was time to stop for lunch. She answered that she wasn’t planning to eat lunch. Maybe we should have put a hungry person in the lead of the hike.

1:10 p.m.: In a few places we had to hop over fallen trees, but here the path led through a gap between the tree and its stump:

This fallen tree is no obstacle

1:15 p.m.: About 1.2 miles past Dozer Junction, we reached a beautiful lookout on the top of Bald Hill, and finally stopped for lunch. Whereas the red trail had given us views toward the northwest, we now had a view to the southeast:

View from Bald Hill

2:01 p.m.: We found a rocking chair that someone had either brought up here or else constructed on site, and one of our group tried it out:

Checking out the rocking chair on Bald Hill

2:22 p.m.: A reference mark atop Bald Hill, which has a peak of around 1500′. We found an azimuth marker as well, not far away.

Survey reference mark on Bald Hill

2:35 p.m.: We began descending, dropping from 1500′ down to 1200′ over a 0.4 mile distance. The white trail, which had been moving in the northeastern direction, made a sharp turn and continued moving southwest, forming a loop. The descent continued, and we dropped down to 1000′.

Descending

3:06 p.m.: The descent continued, and we dropped down to 1000′. The map showed that we were following an old woods road, but portions appeared too narrow to be an old road.

Passing by boulders

After 1.2 miles, the white trail came to an end, and we continued to the west on the yellow-blazed Wilkinson Memorial trail. A part of the trail was not blazed very well, leading to a bit of confusion as to whether we were on the yellow trail or on what the map showed as a parallel woods road. After a short 0.1 miles, we again began seeing yellow blazes, and after another 0.2 miles, we left the yellow trail for the blue trail, which led us 0.25 miles back to Dozer Junction and the white trail. We now began to retrace our steps.

3:43 p.m.: Back at Lamb’s Hill, where we had stopped for blueberries earlier, I photographed the scenic view to the southwest, where we could see the Beacon Reservoir, which was about 3/4 miles away from us:

Looking southwest from Lamb’s Hill

Several of the hikers were feeling tired.

Taking a break

4:11 p.m.: Descending on the red trail:

A view from Overlook Trail

4:21 p.m.: The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge:

Newburgh-Beacon Bridge

4:28 p.m.: Another timber rattlesnake. This was probably the same one that Lissa had spotted on the way up. She and two others were in front of me, and pointed it out and skirted it. I held up my hand to stop those behind me, and pointed it out to them, to make sure that people would stick to the trail and not step off in that direction.

Timber rattlesnake

Fishkill Ridge is apparently the place to go to see rattlesnakes, and I later read that hikers on earlier hikes on that ridge have seen them. The timber rattlesnake is timid and does not seek confrontation with humans. It usually will only strike if someone steps on them, and if it is feeling threatened it will usually rattle a great deal before it strikes. They can live 16-22 years. They were once widespread in New York, but people killed many under a bounty that was not lifted until 1971. In 1983, New York State designated the timber rattlesnake as a threatened species. Many people have hiked for years and never seen one, so I now have something to brag about!

We returned to our cars at 5:19 p.m., having enjoyed a 7-hour hike that covered about 8.4 miles. My last-minute passenger from Washington Heights found a ride home with someone else, so I was able to drive directly back to Queens with my original three passengers.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged Dutchess County, Hudson Highlands, New York, snake | 2 Comments

Trout Brook Valley, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Charlie

This conservation area includes Trout Brook Valley (730 acres), Jump Hill (117 acres), and Crow Hill (162 acres), with 20.7 miles of hiking trails, all administered by Aspetuck Land Trust. It was only a few miles from Devil’s Den, where I hiked the previous Sunday. They are separated by the Saugatuck Reservoir.

I almost didn’t go because newspaper articles indicated some controversy, with many local residents walking their dogs there (off-leash) and others complaining that they were terrified to encounter off-leash dogs that were running around without owners in sight. I went anyway, and I’ve learned that Aspetuck Land Trust is conducting a wildlife habitat study to determine sensitive conservation areas, and is asking visitors to keep their dogs leashed until the study is completed in November 2012. I encountered very few people on my hike, though I did meet one couple who had two dogs (off leash). But the dogs didn’t bother me.

Some of the trails are also open to bikers, and I did see one man on a bike at the northern end of the park, and two at the southern end.

As with my hike the week before, at nearby Devil’s Den, there are no mountains, but there are plenty of hills, and some trails are marked strenuous. Those are the trails that I tried. There are a few brooks in the area, but either the trails didn’t run along them, or they were at low water levels, and therefore I didn’t enjoy the sound of running water (as I had at Devil’s Den), and I didn’t get any water shots. Likewise, because of the absence of mountains, there were not any scenic views. As a consequence, I only came back with a few photos that I consider blog-worthy. Still, I consider this a very pretty place, and combined with the fact that it isn’t highly-trafficked, I enjoyed my visit.

I parked at the southern entrance off Bradley Road and began hiking north on the red-blazed Ordway Trail.

11:50 a.m.: One doesn’t have to walk far from the parking lot before reaching an inviting wooded-hill:

Ordnay Trail

The trails are generally well-marked. In a few places, an unmarked side trail led away, but it was almost always clear that it was not the main trail. Still, I became confused in a couple of places. One was on the red trail, where I came to an intersection. One way was not blazed, while the other was blazed green. As I had been on the red trail, and did not expect to turn onto the green trail, I thought perhaps I should follow the unblazed trail. However, a closer look at the map showed a break in the red trail, with the green trail filling the gap. I do not know why they have that layout. They should have that gap blazed with the red in addition to the green. The second area in which I became confused was later in the hike, when in descending a rocky hill, I followed what appeared to be a path to the left for about 0.1 miles. I realized there were no blazes, and back-tracked until I picked up the trail, which had continued straight.

12:34 p.m.: Here the trail runs through lovely green ferns:

Ferns

12:58 p.m.: A tree stump encircled by eroded rocks:

Tree stump surrounded by eroded rock

I then reached the end of the red trail at the northern perimeter of Trout Brook Valley, and started northeast on the white-blazed trail into the Jump Hill Preserve.

1:14 p.m.: The trail climbs the top of a small hill:

Small hill in Jump Hill Preserve

At 1:24 p.m., the white trail intersected with a red-and-black blazed trail, which I followed to the south.

1:38 p.m.: The trail ran beside a small uninviting pond, and a snapping turtle was just sitting in the middle of the trail. I stopped to photograph her and enjoy my lunch. She didn’t move while i was there, providing a good model for my photographic efforts.

Snapping turtle

The acreage had formerly been owned by the local water authority. The water authority had originally sold this land to a developer that planned to create a golf course and luxury homes, but local residents raised millions of dollars and arranged for the Land Trust to buy the property.

1:59 p.m.: Here, on the east side, a break in the trees shows greens of The Connecticut Golf Club. (There are at least two more golf courses nearby, so I think the locals were correct to decide that they needed 20.7 miles of hiking trails instead of yet another golf course).

Golf course

At 2:15 p.m., the red-and-black trail intersected the white-blazed trail that I had previously followed going north. I followed this out of the Jump Hill Preserve and into the Crow Hill Preserve, where after only 0.1 miles I switched to the yellow-blazed Ruth’s Trail.

2:26 p.m.: There was water in the area, even if I didn’t find the brooks to be impressive. Here is a photo from a swampy area:

Swampy area

At 2:39 p.m., the yellow trail ended and I continued south on the orange trail.

2:50 p.m: And another swampy area:

Swampy area

At 2:55 p.m. the orange trail intersected the blue trail, and I followed that south. Then at 3:03 p.m., I switched again to the white trail, which led me back to the parking area. The total hike was about 6.5 miles.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged Connecticut, Fairfield County | 2 Comments

Devil's Den Preserve, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Charlie

This park, donated by the Ordway family and formally called Lucius Pond Ordway Devil’s Den Preserve, received that name because a charcoal maker working in the area had seen what appeared to be a hoof mark made in a boulder, and decided that it was the mark of the Devil.

There are no mountains, but there are many hills, and it is a very pretty place, with much greenery, bare rock, several stone walls, and brooks and streams running throughout. The bulk of the park is in the Town of Weston, with three small parcels (only two having trails) jutting across the border with the Town of Redding. In addition to 20 miles of trails within the park, a few trails connect to property outside the park, including Arthur F. Brinckerhoff Nature Preserve, which has an additional 3 miles of trails, and the Bruzelius Trail, which has another 3.2 miles of trail.

Driving through Weston is nice, as it’s an affluent area. After turning off a main road, my GPS directed me into a series of turns on winding residential streets. While there were older, smaller homes, there were also newer mansions.

At the parking area inside the park, I picked up a brochure with a trail map from the kiosk. The preserve’s website had included a 2012 map, which I had printed out at home, but I found that the trail map in the kiosk included a few features that were missing from the Internet map. The park has an unusual blazing system whereby main trails (woods roads) are blazed red, while footpaths are blazed yellow. So if many paths have the same color, how does one know where he is? Each intersection has a post that is numbered, and the numbers are also shown on the map. Each intersection also includes an arrow showing the shortest route back to the parking area.

The park is popular, and over the course of the day I saw many people there. A few were carrying small packs, but most were not carrying water or anything else, and I did not see anyone else with a map. I suspect they were all locals who knew the park well.

I started out on the red-blazed Pent Trail, but quickly turned onto a footpath, the yellow-blazed Deer Knoll Trail. This reached another junction, and I turned onto the Hiltebeitel Trail.

11:04 a.m.: The map showed a number of vistas in the trail, and I visited them all. As I mentioned, there are no mountains, so there were no spectacular views, and in most cases foliage prevented a clear view from the vistas.

Vista on Hiltebeitel Trail

11:11 a.m.: An interesting assortment of trees, bare rock and greenery:

Bare rock

11:18 a.m.: More bare rock:

More bare rock

11:25 a.m.: Green!

Ferns

Vine

11:36 a.m.: The Hiltebeitel Trail reached a junction and turned into the Sap Brook trail, which ran parallel to Sap Brook for a while. A group of six young women who had been trailing me and making a lot of noise finally passed me. They had a mid-sized cream dog with them, which they called Gator. I guess they didn’t notice the two signs that said that pets were not allowed. At least Gator did not bark at me.

Sap Brook

11:46 a.m.:

Sap Brook

12:16 p.m.: The Sap Brook trail led back to the Pent Trail. I followed that for a very short while and then turned onto another footpath, the Ambler Trail, where I photographed this rock wall:

Rock wall on Ambler Trail

12:27 p.m.: I reached another vista, this one on the Ambler Trail. One can make out a bit of a distant ridge line, through the leaves of nearby trees:

Vista on the Ambler Trail

12:36 p.m.: Leaving the Ambler Trail, one passed through Ambler Gorge, which had Ambler Brook running through it. This is a very poor photo of the gorge, which was a pretty spot.

Ambler Gorge

The Ambler Trail took me back to the red-blazed woods road. The map shows that it is no longer called Pent Trail at the point, but rather Den Trail. I followed this north, and it became the Bedford Trail. I continued on this for quite a while, finally turning onto the Deer Run Trail.

1:23 p.m.: Soon after taking this photograph, I stopped for lunch.

Deer Run Trail

1:53 p.m.: The Deer Run Trail led me to a footpath, the Great Ledge Trail, where I photographed this chipmunk:

Chipmunk

1:55 p.m.: I arrived at the only vista that provided a clear view.

Vista on Great Ledge Trail

1:59 p.m.: Backtracking on the Great Ledge Trail, I spotted the remains of a robin’s egg:

Robin eggshell

The next footpath was the Dayton Trail. This led back to a woods road, called Godfrey Trail.

2:33 p.m.: There were several stone walls in the park:

Stone wall on Godfrey Trail

Of historic interest was this portable sawmill and ancient foundation. This equipment is over 100 years old, so it is remarkable that it is as intact as it is. A sign explained that lumbermen found it easier to bring a portable sawmill into the woods and plank lumber there, rather than haul logs out of the woods for processing elsewhere. This photo shows a huge boiler (with steel plates about 1/4″ thick, explaining why it has not rusted to nothing) and a flywheel attached to a piston.

Portable sawmill

The foundation for a small shed:

Shed foundation

A close-up of the flywheel/piston combination:

Flywheel/piston

3:08 p.m.: Nearing the end of my hike, I encountered Godfrey Pond.

Godfrey Pond

3:23 p.m.: On the Laurel Trail, a fallen tree provides some nice texture (with the HDR treatment):

Fallen tree

Minutes later, I returned to the parking area. I estimated that the total hike was 8.1 miles, which took me almost 5 hours.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged chipmunk, Connecticut, Fairfield County | Leave a comment

Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park, Putnam County, New York

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Charlie

I decided to try the northwest corner of the park, which I had never previously visited. Driving north on U.S. 9, one passes county road 301, and then after a quarter mile one reaches the Hubbard Lodge park entrance, on the right. Turning into the entrance, the road splits, and another sign directs drivers to the left for the lodge and parking. The lodge is a small building on the right side of the road, about 0.2 miles from the entrance. Parking is available in the shoulders of the road.

11:19 a.m.: I didn’t see a sign indicating where the trails began, so I decided to walk around the lodge, which has benches and picnic tables in front of it. There was also a display of poison ivy (“leaves of three, let it be”):

Poison ivy

The lodge also featured a small garden behind it, dedicated to plants that attract butterflies. I followed a footpath through the woods, which led to the trailhead for the white and blue trails. (Or maybe this already was part of the trails, but I didn’t see any blazing.)

Footpath behind Hubbard Lodge

After about 0.1 mile, the footpath dead-ended at a woods road labeled “School Mountain Road,” which was blazed for the white and blue trails. I turned left on the road to follow the blazes.

Flowers grew in the shade:

Wild flowers

The trail ran along a branch of Clove Creek, and the sound of water was peaceful. I met an older couple leading a huge dog, I think a St. Bernard, which lunged at me. It was not growling, and I am not afraid of dogs, but I don’t want a huge dog knocking me down, so I jumped back. The lady said that it was just excited, and a puppy! I tried to go by and it again lunged at me, while she was exhorting the man to hold it back. Maybe they should have considered a smaller dog, that they could physically control, or maybe they should consider obedience training. Anyway, I was finally able to sneak by. (And I should be grateful that it was on a leash, as otherwise it might well have tried to bowl me over.)

Two bridges crossed the road, with bridges spanning them. These bridges had solid steel decking, of the type one sees in roadway construction to temporarily cover holes. One of them seemed to have served as a wishing well, as I counted about 50 pennies that had been tossed in.

I passed another couple hiking out of the park.

11:34 a.m.: I finally found a chipmunk that didn’t flee in terror of a human being within 50′ of him. In fact, I was probably about 20′ away. I slowly changed from my wide-angle zoom lens to my telephoto zoom lens, and photographed him at 200mm (400mm equivalent). I was very pleased with the result. I like the shallow depth of field so that the chipmunk and rocks are in focus, but the tree behind him is out of focus, and the branch in front of him is out of focus. I also like the colors of this shot.

Chipmunk

11:38 a.m.: After hiking 0.4 miles, the woods road came to an intersection, with an ancient gateway to the left. Perhaps it had once been the entranceway to a fine house.

Old gateway

The road beyond the gateway was not blazed, and my map showed that a woods road ran 0.6 miles into the woods before dead-ending. I did not explore it, but it could be interesting to check it out. Instead, I continued on the white and blue blazed trails, which immediately crossed the stream on the right side of the road. There was significant erosion of the bank on my side, and steel I-beams and two steel deck plates that had once formed a crossing were now lying in 2′ of water. Another deck plate and two I-beams had been dragged downstream about 50′ to a narrower crossing point, and set up so that one crossed the stream by walking across the two I-beams.

Here the trails diverged, with the blue trail continuing to the right as a footpath, and the white trail continuing to follow “School Mountain Road” to the left. I turned left to continue on the white trail. I would come back on the blue trail. School Mountain Road continued to roughly follow a branch of Clove Creek:

Clove Creek

11:53 a.m.: The two tire tracks show that it hasn’t been that long since the woods road has been used, no doubt by park rangers.

School Mountain Road

12:13 p.m.: After another mile, I came to an intersection with a red-blazed footpath to the left (north) and followed it. This is the East Mountain Loop trail, which promised a scenic view. The parking area had been at 400′ of elevation, and by this time I had climbed up to 600′.

East Mountain Loop Trail

In a number of cases I noticed very expensive pressure-treated lumber placed by the side of the trail, typically 8″x8″x16′. I suspect that the collapsed bridge that I saw occurred during the hurricane-related floods of last season, and the lumber was brought in and cached in a few places to assist in repairs. Here, five of the beams have been used as a bridge. It seemed like overkill, as two of them would have been adequate.

Footbridge on East Mountain Loop Trail

There were many stone walls on this hike. In fact, School Mountain Road had frequently had stone walls on one side, and sometimes on both sides of it. I also noted stone walls on the East Mountain Loop trail, as shown here:

Stone wall

Scenic view from East Mountain

12:53 p.m.: East Mountain peaks out around 1000′, but the scenic view was not great, as it was obscured by trees for the most part:

A huge leaf:

Large leaf

1:22 p.m.: Descending East Mountain, toward the end of the red-blazed loop, the trail again joined a woods road. It passed the foundation of a building, across from which ancient plows were leaned up against a low stone wall. Nearby stood this beauty:

Old plow

After 1.4 miles, the red-blazed trail ended back at the white-blazed School Mountain Road. There was a partially collapsed two-story house at that intersection. I guess the park didn’t have the budget to demolish it, which is unfortunate. On the first part of the hike I had not had much problem with insects, though I did keep walking through the webs of spiders or the threads of inchworms, which bothered me. Now, however, insects began buzzing around my ears, which bothered me much more. In addition to the red and white trails intersecting here, the yellow-blazed trail Perkins trail began here. I followed it, as the map showed that it would return me to the blue trail for my hike back to the car.

I soon stopped for lunch on a big rock, at a spot near running water. A group of four people walked by and said hello. After lunch, I continued hiking. After 0.5 miles, the yellow trail intersected the blue trail, and I turned right onto that. I joined the blue trail at about 1000′ of elevation, and for most of its distance it fluctuated 900′ and 1180′, until its descent at the end.

2:27 p.m.: The trail was usually pretty thick with trees, but I found one or two small clearings:

Small clearing

2:32 p.m.: The blue trail also had a few scenic views. Here is one of them, around 900′:

Scenic view

3:10 p.m.: Another scenic view, at around 1000′ of elevation, at Round Hill:

View from Round Hill

3:12 p.m.: A panorama of the final scenic view, on the other side of Round Hill:

View from Round Hill

The trail then began to descend sharply. I passed one man who was resting, apparently hiking alone. The descent continued to around 600′ or 500′, where I ran into a group of three hikers heading uphill. So even though these trails weren’t very busy, I did run into people from time-to-time. The trail finally descended to 400′ and then continued along a flat area for a while, eventually meeting the creek and running parallel to it, until finally rejoining the white trail at the site of the wrecked bridge. I measure that section of the blue trail at 3 miles. I took off my boots and socks and dipped my feet into the water, which was cold.

I then replaced my boots, crossed the bridge of two I-beams and continued walking back toward the lodge. At one point, I heard a loud rustling in the leaves and saw a deer, but unfortunately was not able to photograph her before she moved on.

4:25 p.m.: I then returned to the lodge and my car. I estimated that the total hike was 6.8 miles, though I read another hiker’s writeup that said it was 7.9 miles. Maybe one of us measured more accurately than the other. Anyway, it was a nice hike that took me 5 hours.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged chipmunk, New York, Putnam County | Leave a comment

Ringwood State Park, Bergen County, New Jersey

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Charlie

I was thinking of returning to Norvin Green State Forest to explore the northern part, but when I drove to the area designated as a parking area on the NY-NJ Trail Conference map, I didn’t find an obvious spot. I have had that problem with the map previously: if it’s not an obvious parking lot, and if there are no other cars there, I won’t feel comfortable parking there.

There was another parking area that I could use to access the trails I wanted, but I had forgotten to take coordinates with me for my GPS, and driving by I didn’t find the road that I needed to take. So I instead went to Ringwood State Park, where I’ve never been before. Owing to a late start, and my missteps in first trying to go to Norvin Green, I was off to a very late start.

12:30 p.m.: I parked in the northern parking lot at Ringwood Manor, which was right next to the Ringwood River, where some families were wading. I crossed two wooden pedestrian bridges across the river.

Ringwood River

After about 100′ the white-blazed trail led me to Sloatsburg Road, which I carefully crossed. A red-blazed trail starts here, and I wanted to take that one to the east, but didn’t see the blazes immediately and instead continued on the white-blazed trail to the south. I met a mountain biker going in the opposite direction, and stepped aside to let him pass. I later saw a sign that the white-blazed trail was only for hikers, whereas the yellow-blazed trail was available to hikers, bicyclists and equestrians. So I guess the mountain biker was on the wrong trail.

About 0.5 miles into the hike, the white-blazed trail came to an intersection that did not appear to be blazed. I continued on, but after 100′ came to Morris Road, which I did not expect from my map. I realized that by continuing straight at the intersection, I had turned onto the yellow-blazed trail.

12:56 p.m.: I backtracked and took the side trail northeast, and saw that white (and yellow) blazes were hidden behind a tree branch.

Blazes

The trails soon diverged again, and I turned east on the white trail.

White trail

This again joined Morris Road, but now at a place where I expected it to be.

1:08 p.m.: About a mile from my car, Morris Road crossed Cupsaw Brook:

Cupsaw Brook

1:27 p.m.: After about 0.1 miles on Morris Road, white blazes again led me into the woods, where I stopped for lunch on top of this boulder, and called my Mom to wish her a happy Mother’s Day:

Boulder

Interesting tree(s):

Tree

1:50 p.m.: After another 0.5 miles, the trail again popped out of the woods at the entrance to the New Jersey State Botanical Garden. The map shows that the white trail was supposed to reenter the woods on a woods road, but I didn’t see any blazes and instead walked south along the access road of the botanical garden.

Eagle sculpture

1:58 p.m.: I had to stand here at least 5 minutes to take shots that didn’t have people in them, as people constantly drove and walked back and forth through this area. For several minutes, a car stopped there and a woman got out, blocking my view while she argued in Russian to the driver and other passengers. Finally, everyone cleared out long enough for me to take overexposed and underexposed photos, which I later turned into this HDR shot:

New Jersey State Botanical Garden

2:15 p.m.: After another 0.8 miles, I finally reached the end of the access road through the botanical gardens and followed another woods road east back to the white trail, which was continuing to the south.

White trail

I soon left the white trail, again following a woods road northeast to its intersection with the red-blazed trail. I followed this to the northeast. This trail circled around “Thunder Mountain Shooting Range,” so I unfortunately got to hear people shooting the entire time I hiked. I also didn’t find any scenic views on this trail; the map showed a couple from Mount Defiance, but either I missed them or I didn’t find it to be too scenic. Oh, it was also around 80 degrees, and I wished it had been cooler.

2:31 p.m.: A fallen tree with some nice texture:

Fallen tree

2:34 p.m.: At least I appreciated being on a footpath instead of a woods road:

Red trail

2:48 p.m.: A ground level shot through the grass:

Tall grass

There were a few spots with bare rock:

Bare rock

2:56 p.m.: I rarely see animals when I hike. The most common are chipmunks and squirrels, and they typically flee out of sight when they hear me/see me. Here I heard something that sounded a little larger than the typical squirrel (though they can make a racket nosing through dead leaves), and I saw a turkey head pop above the hill. They were a pair, and I tried sneaking up on them, but even though they were at least 50′ away, they didn’t want to remain within sight of me. Thus, this poor shot is all that I got. I had my telephoto lens on, but just barely got this shot off at 45mm (90mm equivalent). By the time I thought about zooming up to 200mm, the turkeys were gone.

Turkey

3:44 p.m.: The red trail curved a bit to the northwest, and about 2.4 miles after leaving the botanical gardens, I arrived at Shepherd Lake:

Shepherd Lake

I took a shot across the lake, using the 200mm (400mm equivalent) setting of my telephoto lens. (The larger image that is available by clicking on the thumbnail is a 100% crop of a portion of the image.) I am impressed by the reach and quality of the lens and camera:

Shepherd Lake

A cloud of gnats was flying around a tree:

Gnats

I left the lake, continuing on the red trail, which now turned west.

4:45 p.m.: Interesting rock formations:

Rock formations

4:58 p.m.: About 1.3 miles west of Shepherd Lake, I arrived at a lean-to shelter in the woods, built by the “Hiking, Eating, Arguing and Puzzle-Solving Club of the Cooper.” [The land was once owned by Cooper Union college.] This shelter has seen better days.

Cooper Union shelter

The red blazes led up misnamed Cupsaw Mountain (which peaks at only 739′). I found the blazes to be hard to follow. In some cases, I saw that red blazes that had been spray-painted on trees had been painted over by gray paint, suggesting that the trail had been rerouted. However, I then saw red markers nailed to trees indicating that the red trail still continued over the same route. So this was especially slow going, as I had to stop two or three times and scout around to find my route.

5:08 p.m.: Here a fallen tree over the trail made me duck walk to get under it.

Fallen tree

Another 0.3 miles past the shelter, I finally returned to my car, having hiked around 6.4 miles. It wasn’t a long hike and didn’t have a lot of elevation change. Still, with the warmer weather and the scarcity of scenic views, it seemed a bit tedious at times.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New Jersey | Leave a comment

Norvin Green State Forest, Passaic County, New Jersey

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Charlie

The Jewish Outdoors Club 5th Annual Fun Day was held in Norvin Green State Forest this year. Two hundred people bought tickets, though I don’t know if they all made it there. We met near the Weiss Ecology Center. I had been to the Forest twice the previous year, so this was familiar ground for me.

10:17 a.m.: People begin appearing, with some driving or carpooling and others arriving via a chartered bus:

The crowd gathers

Participants could chose from a number of hikes, including a very strenous hike, a strenuous hike (split into two groups), a moderate hike (split into four groups, I believe), and an easy hike. The idea behind splitting a particular hike into multiple groups was to make it more manageable for hike leaders and sweeps to keep their group together. I took the strenous hike, and our group left first and was supposed to go clockwise on the trails, whereas the second group left a few minutes later and was supposed to go counter clockwise on the trails. However, there was some confusion and both groups ended up going in the same direction, and the strenuous groups and once even one or two of the moderate groups would run into each other.

The very strenuous hike was going to the Otter Hole, which I had visited the year before. There was a social component to this event, and also a scheduled barbecue, so I decided to take the strenuous hike (but not the very strenuous hike) so that I would be sure to return to the starting area in time to enjoy the barbecue. We began our hike around 10:40 a.m., leaving the Weis Ecology Center and hiking south-southwest on the green trail.

11:08 a.m.: We turned south onto the blue trail, began climbing a hill, which began to give us nice views of the surrounding county:

Scenic view

Overexposed sky

I decided to try high dynamic range (HDR) imaging. That is a method of combining two or more images. One problem that is encountered is when one part of the scene, such as the sky, is significantly brighter than another part of the scene, such as the ground. A human eye and brain can enjoy the scene and see it as a vivid blue sky (or a cloudy gray sky, which we faced at the start of the hike) and a ground covered with greenery. However, both film and digital cameras can’t match the eye’s dynamic range. Thus, in some cases a camera will give us a choice between a properly exposed ground and an overexposed sky . . .

. . . or a properly exposed sky and an underexposed ground::

Underexposed ground

[Or the camera may give us a middle image in which the sky is overexposed while the ground is underexposed.]

HDR uses software to combine two or more images, preferably one that is significantly overexposed and one that is significant underexposed, like the two thumbnails shown above. It then combines the properly exposed sky from one and the properly exposed ground from the other, yielding magic:

HDR composite

11:33 a.m.: We detoured from the blue trail onto the red trail, just to climb to Wyanockie High Point, which offered views of Wanaque Reservoir and Manhattan in the distance. Here’s another HDR shot:

Wanaque Reservoir

11:44 a.m.: And my last HDR shot of the day:

Another View from Wyanockie High Point

11:49 a.m.: The group lingered at Wyanockie High Point for a while:

Hikers at Wyanockie High Point

We backtracked on the red trail back to the blue trail, and continued south.

12:16 p.m.: There were other hills to climb:

Hikers ascend blue trail

Come on, it’s not that steep!

You can do it!

12:34 p.m.: “With dice in the front and Brooklyn’s in the back.” Okay, that’s my tribute to the late Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. Here I experiment with depth of field, holding the camera close to the ground and focusing on two nearby rocks with a low aperture stop. (This is probably Carris Hill, where we were supposed to turn onto the yellow trail, but we missed the turn.)

Carris Hill?

12:50 p.m.: Hike leader Nachi wonders if this is dangerous: a tree has fallen and snapped in half. The lower half is lying flat on the ground and is no problem, but the upper half is hung up in the branches of another tree.

Broken tree

1:12 p.m.: We arrived at the Chikaholi Falls on Posts Brook, which is when we realized that we had missed the turn-off to the yellow trail. I’m not sure what happened, as both Nachi and I were looking for the yellow blazes. So we actually hiked longer than we had anticipated.

Here is a poor view of the falls, from the trail. (I had a better shot of the falls the year before, when I crossed the brook so that I was able to see the falls head on, instead of looking at it from the side.)

Chikaholi Falls

1:15 p.m.: We turned east onto the white trail, and begin heading back toward the starting point.

White trail

1:21 p.m.: A view of a gentle part of the brook:

Posts Brook

1:27 p.m.: The white trail turned north, away from the brook. Here is some bare rock:

Bare rock

1:38 p.m.: Someone with good eyes spotted this nice little toad, who posed for a close-up:

Toad

1:52 p.m.: The white trail led us to the red trail, and we turned east on that briefly, fording a stream:

Fording a stream

After a very short distance on the red trail, we turned north-northwest on the yellow trail.

2:16 p.m.: It’s interesting when a tree falls and its roots carry along a few big rocks:

Fallen tree

2:34 p.m.: The yellow trail led back to the blue trail, which then led to the green trail. Here we are almost back at the starting point.

Green trail

I’m too lazy now to try to add up the mileage from my map, but Nachi estimated that the hike was about 6.5 miles, factoring in the fact that we missed the turn at Carris Hill and hiked farther than we had planned.

Around 2:40 p.m., we returned in time to enjoy the barbecue. Unfortunately, the burgers were already gone, but I was told they were overdone and that I wouldn’t have liked them anyway. I did enjoy salad, a hot dog, and chicken, so I didn’t leave hungry.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New Jersey, Norvin Green, Passaic County | Leave a comment

Charlie Stein's Photoblog

Injinji Socks

Storm King State Park, Orange County, New York

Manhattanhenge

Peekamoose Mountain & Table Mountain, Ulster County, NY

Fishkill Ridge, Dutchess County, New York

Trout Brook Valley, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Devil's Den Preserve, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park, Putnam County, New York

Ringwood State Park, Bergen County, New Jersey

Norvin Green State Forest, Passaic County, New Jersey

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