Charlie Stein's Photoblog

Yosemite National Park, California – July 8, 2010

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Charlie

Thursday: This is the interior of the restaurant. I like the architecture. The National Park Service tries hard to design buildings that blend into the parks. I shot this at ISO 400, lens wide open (f/3.5), no flash, hand-held at 1/6 second! I don’t know how I held the camera as steady as I did, but it’s not bad.

Curry Village Pavillion

Julie and I checked out of our cabins and loaded our cars. By coincidence, she was also driving a Jetta, borrowed from a relative in Southern California. She was heading back there to drop off the car and visit more people, before flying back to her hometown. Driving toward the southern exit, by which we’d entered the park, we stopped at the Wawona Hotel to grab a park shuttle to the Mariposa Grove. Yosemite has three groves of giant sequoias, with Mariposa being the largest grove. It is very close to the southern entrance of the park, but there is very limited parking there, and it is highly recommended that people park at Wawona and ride the shuttle.

We soon entered a land of big trees. Still recovering from the 14.2-mile hike to Half Dome and back, we elected to buy tickets for a tram ride through the grove, rather than to hike through.

Mariposa Grove

This is the Fallen Monarch tree. I am used to trees decaying within a few years after falling, but this tree has been on the ground a very long time. Wikipedia has a photo from about a century ago of a cavalry troop standing on this tree.

The tram ride continues:

Mariposa Grove

This is the Faithful Couple–two sequoias that grew close together, with their trunks eventually merging into one:

Faithful Couple

This is the Clothespin Tree. The Mariposa Grove, along with Yosemite Valley, were the first parts of the park that were protected by the government. In the early decades of the government’s stewardship, efforts were made to prevent forest fires. However, scientists later discovered that fires are essential to allowing the sequoias to grow and reproduce, and so controlled fires are now allowed. The sequoias are so big and sturdy that fire doesn’t usually destroy them, though a few trees have very serious scars as a result. This tree has a hole burned completely through it, in the shape of a clothespin.

Clothespin Tree

A closer view:

Clothespin Tree

This is the Mariposa Tree:

Mariposa Tree

Here is the Fallen Tunnel Tree. It fell over during 1969:

Fallen Tunnel Tree

Loggers cut down some sequoias, but the giant trees tend to shatter upon impact, as may be seen in the next photograph. This led many loggers to focus on other trees.

Shattered sequoia tree

This is the Telescope Tree. Fire has burned a hole into which one can enter and look up and see the sky.

Telescope Tree

A fallen and broken tree:

Fallen sequoia tree

I don’t think these close-growing trees have been named. At least I didn’t see a sign.

Close-growing sequoia trees

More big trees beside a trail:

Mariposa Grove

Julie poses in front of one of the giant sequoias:

Julie poses in front of giant sequoia

As you’ve seen, I’ve been using my stitching software to piece together complete or near-complete shots of these trees, though that has introduced some interesting perspective distortion.

Julie poses in front of giant sequoia

Julie and I pose in a cut through the California Tree. Fire had left a big hole, and in 1895 tour guides enlarged the hole, allowing a stage coach to drive through:

Posing in front of California Tree

The Grizzly Giant, the second largest tree in the grove, and the 25th largest living sequoia (measured by volume):

Grizzly Giant

Giant sequoia theme at Fresno airport

The tram ride over, Julie and I rode the shuttle back to our cars at Wawona, and bid farewell. I drove back to Fresno, arriving several hours before my flight. The Fresno airport cutely incorporates a giant sequoia theme into its terminal:

I rode a turboprop from Fresno to San Francisco, and then rode a redeye flight to Cleveland from around 11:00 p.m. (Pacific time) to 6:30 a.m. (Eastern time). From there, I flew back to New York.

Posted in Vacations | Tagged California, Yosemite | Leave a comment

Yosemite National Park, California – July 7, 2010

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Charlie

Wednesday: The trailhead to Half Dome starts near the Happy Isles bus stop, which is about a mile from Curry Village. We had debated walking there, but because we already planned at least a 14.2-mile hike, and because I worried about finding the Happy Isles bus stop, we decided to ride the shuttle there. The shuttle came around 7:30 a.m., and we were at Happy Isles around five minutes later, quickly crossing a bridge and finding the trailhead at 7:39 a.m.

7:40 a.m.: The Mist Trail closely follows the Merced River and is frequently in sight of it. The trail runs south for the first 0.5 mile, then turns east for the next 2.1 miles.

Merced River along Mist Trail

8:02 a.m.: We crossed over a footbridge over the Merced. If you like lens flare, you’ll love this shot:

Merced River along Mist Trail

It’s amazing that the Merced can be so slow and placid in some stretches, and so wild in others.

Merced River along Mist Trail

8:17 a.m.: This is Vernal Fall, about 317′ high. The right side of the photo may give you an idea of the mist that comes off the waterfall, and it is this mist that gives the trail its name. Because the morning started off cool, I was still wearing a long-sleeved polyester shirt over my short-sleeved poly shirt, and it became a bit damp from the mist. The legs of my cotton-polyester pants were soaked from hiking up the trail through the mist, but they dried quickly. After passing through the mist, we had to negotiate a steep section of the Mist Trail, leading up to the top of Vernal Fall.

Vernal Fall

8:41 a.m.: We have made it to the top of Vernal Fall, seen here at the point of the fall:

Top of Vernal Fall

Here’s a panorama showing a wider view of the top of Vernal Fall.

Top of Vernal Fall

And an even-wider panorama:

Scenic view from top of Vernal Fall

The railing at the edge is reinforced. The Park Service does what it can to protect people. Just upstream from the fall is an enticing area called the Emerald Pool, banked with smooth granite called the Silver Apron. A prominent sign warns visitors not to enter these areas, but it seems that almost every year a visitor will disregard the sign, enter into the Emerald Pool, and be caught in the current and swept to his death over Vernal Fall.

Reinforced railing at top of Vernal Fall

A rainbow in the valley below Vernal Fall:

Rainbow below Vernal Fall

White water:

Merced River from top of Vernal Fall

8:56 a.m.: We continued hiking, almost always climbing in elevation.

Merced River along Mist Trail

9:17 a.m.: Nevada Fall then came into view, with its 594′ drop. Whereas the Mist Trail led to and passed the top of the Vernal Fall, this was the closest we came to the Nevada Fall. Another trail, the John Muir Trail, leads to the top of Nevada Fall.

Nevada Fall

After negotiating another steep climb, the Mist Trail hit more level ground and then ended at an intersection with the John Muir Trail. We could have backtracked on the John Muir Trail to reach the top of Nevada Fall, but our objective was Half Dome. At this point we had gained about 1500′ in elevation since we began the hike at Happy Isles.

We continued on the John Muir Trail, heading northeast. For 0.6 mile, the trail followed the Merced River.

10:09 a.m.: We stopped at one point to admire the river:

Merced River along John Muir Trail

The John Muir Trail then deviated from the Merced River, continuing 0.5 miles northeast, still relatively flat. However, the trail then turned north for about 1.3 miles, climbing from about 6000′ to 7000′ over several short switchbacks.

10:54 a.m.: We were now hiking through forested land. The great thing about carrying a camera is that it gives one an excuse to stop to catch his breath.

John Muir Trail

11:15 a.m.: Another short break.

John Muir Trail

12:07 p.m.: Around 7000′ in elevation, the John Muir Trail turned sharply east, but we continued instead on the 2-mile Half Dome trail. After not having seen Half Dome for a while, it now came into view, at the top left. I believe that I could make out the cable and climbers at the top 400′ of Half Dome:

Half Dome Trail

12:15 p.m.: After hiking for a few more minutes, we came to an even more appealing lookout. Half Dome is almost hidden at top left, behind two dead tree trunks. (Move the slide bar to the right to see more of the photo. Or click for a larger version, especially if you have a widescreen monitor!)

This detail may be the Clark Range.

Clark Range

12:26 p.m.: We continue our hike, drawing ever closer to Half Dome.

Half Dome

At this point, the hikers on Half Dome stopped looking like little specks, and were recognizable as people wearing a kaleidoscope of colors.

Half Dome

We began climbing the base of Half Dome. I always admire and appreciate the efforts of trail builders, who had moved rocks and/or cut steps into the base, allowing thousands of people to enjoy Half Dome.

12:57 p.m.: As we approached the last 400′ of Half Dome, I remembered to photograph the surroundings:

View from shoulder of Half Dome

12:59 p.m.: Julie gets a good look at the cables.

Julie reacts to climbers on cables at Half Dome

1:03 p.m.: A closer look at the cables leading to the top of Half Dome. The final pitch or 400′ or so is at a 30 to 45 degree slope, with few footholds on the slippery granite. Thus, cables were installed decades ago, in fact closely following a route established a century ago to the top. The cables run through poles that are set into the rock every ten feet or so, with a wooden plank at the base of the poles. It is strongly advised to wear gloves to ascend the cables, to protect one’s hands. Two people in front of us started to ascend and after a few feet decided they needed gloves. Luckily, there is a small pile of abandoned gloves at the base of the cables. While littering is generally discouraged, this is an exception, as the gloves prove helpful for those who come without them. I had debated what kind of gloves to buy. Leather gloves would provide good protection, but I wondered if they would provide a satisfactory grip. I ended up buying cloth gardening gloves that had a rubber coating on the palms. They provided very good grip, though on the way down the rubber became ripped in one place. So they were perfectly suitable, but only good for one climb of Half Dome.

It is strongly advised to remain within the two cables, which run in parallel about 3′ apart. Hikers can comfortably grip both cables as they ascend or descend. If they meet someone coming the other way, they can let go of one of the cables and allow the other to pass. The climb does take some upper body strength, and I suggest the best technique is to rest on the wooden planks at the base of each pair of poles, and wait until the person above you clears the next plank. Then quickly ascend to the next wooden plank and rest there until the person above you clears the next one, etc.

Climbers on cables at Half Dome

2:30 p.m.: I’m not sure how long it took to climb the cables, but there was a line of people above us, moving slowly, and everyone was patient and not trying to rush anyone else. When we reached the top of the cables, we rested for a few minutes. Julie went ahead of me, scrambling the last 50′ or so (which is not that steep and doesn’t require cables), and I joined her after resting a while longer. Here’s Julie at the top, saying, “Was this supposed to be hard?” It had taken us about 6-1/2 hours to hike about 7.1 miles, climbing 4800′ in elevation.

Julie on visor of Half Dome

A stitched panorama, covering almost 360 degrees of the view at the top:

Panorama on top of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California

Here I am at the top:

Posing on visor of Half Dome

There were at least a pair of marmots at the top. One of the other hikers was feeding them peanuts. They hibernate during the long winter months, when no one hikes to the top of Half Dome with peanuts for them.

Marmot

In this shot, one can see the Yosemite Valley below, maybe including a bit of Curry Village.

Yosemite Valley, from top of Half Dome

2:53 p.m.: It looked as though a thunderstorm was developing a few miles away, so we decided it was prudent to leave, as lightning has killed people at the top of Half Dome. On the way up, we saw descending hikers who appeared confused as to the best way to descend. Some were facing down, while others were descending backwards. I was worried that descending might be as strenuous as climbing, but it turned out to be quite easy to go downhill. We were both comfortable facing forward, and found that gravity was our friend in making for an easy descent.

Descending from top of Half Dome

5:47 p.m.: We returned on the same path we had come, only taking one short detour from the John Muir Trail to visit the facilities at Little Yosemite Valley, a campsite where some hikers spend the night on the way to Half Dome, instead of doing it all in one day as we did. It was nice to see the Merced River again.

Merced River along John Muir Trail

Nevada Fall

6:01 p.m.: I took another photograph of Nevada Fall on the descent:

We returned to the trailhead at Happy Isles around 7:30 p.m., just under 12 hours since we had began the 14.2-mile hike. The blister that had started to develop on Mt. Dana did not prove to be a problem on the Half Dome hike. My legs felt a little weak, but I didn’t suffer from any serious pain that day or the next. My conditioning over the past few months had worked.

Next: Giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove.

Posted in Hikes, Vacations | Tagged California, waterfall, Yosemite | Leave a comment

Yosemite National Park, California – July 6, 2010

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Charlie

Tuesday: I had met Julie briefly the evening before, near Curry Village’s grocery store, and we agreed to meet the next morning for breakfast. There is a hearty all-you-can-eat buffet available at a restaurant in Curry Village, and I enjoyed cereal and milk, sliced peaches and pears, orange juice and coffee. Of course, the restaurant also had pancakes, eggs, and meats from various and sundry animals.

The park service does provide a free shuttle within Yosemite Valley. It’s too bad that they don’t also have free shuttles to more distant locations, such as Glacier Point, Mt. Dana, or the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, all of which I visited by driving to them. After breakfast we rode the shuttle to the El Capitan stop. Here’s El Capitan: with its granite walls rising 3,000′, it is a favorite of rock climbers. I didn’t see anyone climbing, but they would just be tiny specks on the wall. I do not like this photo very much because of the perspective distortion. I should have been farther away (and/or higher) or at least taken a couple of shots to make a panorama.

El Capitan

Here is a nicer shot, of the Merced River, which is south of El Capitan:

Merced River

These are Cathedral Spires, across the Merced from El Capitan. I also wish I’d made a panorama of this shot:

Cathedral Spires

We returned to Curry Village, and registered for a rafting trip. I had to return to my cabin to change into more suitable clothing and to switch cameras. For rafting, I took my compact digital camera, a Panasonic DMC-FX35. We had to carry the raft about 100′ from the concession facility to the bank of the Merced. The raft wasn’t all that heavy, but obviously it was very bulky, and on the sides it had four handles (right front, right rear, left front, left rear). That would be great if there were four people to carry a raft, but as there were only two of us, those handles didn’t help, because if we each held onto the front handles on either side, the rear of the raft would drag on the ground (which presumably would eventually wear a hole in the material), and if one of us carried by a front handle and the other by a rear handle, the raft would tilt either and drag a front or rear corner on the ground. So we tried carrying the raft on our heads, which was not all that comfortable. We also tried carrying by a metal D-ring at the front and rear, but that was hard on the hands. Somehow, we finally got the raft to the river.

Rafting on the Merced River

As you can see in this next shot, there were areas along the route that were very shallow. I guess that’s why they have rafts instead of kayaks, which would probably run aground. The Merced passes under three or four bridges along the route, and rafting is not allowed when the river is too high. So the season in late May through September. On the other hand, because most of the snow (or all of it?) melts by August, the river can be low in August and September, meaning that people may have to carry their raft through some especially low areas. So it sounds as though late May through July is the best time to go.

Merced River

Julie is enjoying the scenery, with Half Dome behind her:

Julie on the Merced River with Half Dome behind her

A bridge comes into view:

Bridge over the Merced River

Above the bridge, one can see Yosemite Falls, the highest waterfall in North America, with a 2425′ drop:

Bridge over the Merced River, Yosemite National Park, California

Another bridge:

Stone Bridge over the Merced River

A closer view of Yosemite Falls:

Rafting on the Merced River in sight of Yosemite Falls

A nice panorama shot:

Rafting on the Merced River

There are plenty of mule deer at Yosemite, and they are not very shy:

Mule Deer beside Merced River

Mule deer

After our rafting trip and lunch, we decided to drive up to Glacier Point. (We did not want to do anything too strenuous this day, as we were saving our energy to hike up to Half Dome on Wednesday.) This is a view from an overlook on Glacier Point Road.

Scenic view from overlook on Glacier Point Road

After about an hour’s drive, we arrived at Washburn Point, near the end of Glacier Point Road. Half Dome, our objective for the next day, appears roughly at the center of the shot. From Washburn Point, one has almost the perfect vantage point to understand why the rock formation is called “Half Dome,” as the wall on the left appears almost vertical, as though someone sliced a dome in half. The peak of Half Dome is at 8842′. The upper waterfall is Nevada Fall, with a 594′ drop. The dome to its left is Liberty Cap, with a peak at 7076′, and the shorter formation to its left is Mount Broderick, with a peak at
6706′. The lower waterfall is Vernal Fall, with a 317′ drop.

Half Dome from Washburn Point

Here’s another view just focusing on Half Dome, Mount Broderick, Liberty Cap, Nevada Fall and Vernal Fall:

Half Dome, Mount Broderick, Liberty Cap, Nevada Fall and Vernal Fall

This is a view of the Clark Range, which separates the drainage basins of the Illilouette Creek from the uppermost portions of the Merced River:

Clark Range

We then drove just a few short minutes to the end of Glacier Point Road, to Glacier Point itself, at 7214′ in elevation. This is a photo of a California ground squirrel, commonly seen in Yosemite. They live in burrows in the ground, instead of in trees. They appear as if they have a white collar.

California ground squirrel

This is a stitched panorama. I failed to take a shot of the rock in the lower right corner, so there is a blank (black) area in the lower right corner. Starting at the right of the photo, we can again see Half Dome. (We’ve moved to the left of our previous viewpoint from Washburn Point, so we can see more of the near-vertical wall of Half Dome than we could see from Washburn Point.) In the lower center of the photo, one can see Yosemite Valley and Curry Village. (There’s a tiny bit of aqua that is Curry Village’s swimming pool.) That is, we have driven an hour to reach a point that is very close to Curry Village, only 3200′ higher. At the left of the panorama, you can see Yosemite Falls:

Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, Yosemite Valley and Curry Village

I’ll assume that someone accidentally dropped some human food, rather than doing so intentionally. The Park Service says that human food isn’t healthy for animals, but they don’t know any better. (Some human food isn’t that healthy for humans, either.)

California ground squirrel eating cheese puff

Next: Half Dome!

Posted in Vacations | Tagged California, deer, waterfall, Yosemite | Leave a comment

Yosemite National Park, California – July 4-5, 2010

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Charlie

Sunday: I flew from LaGuardia to Cleveland, then on to Denver, then to Fresno, California. (I found a bargain airfare of around $350 roundtrip.) The planes grew progressively smaller with each flight: I started on a Boeing 737 that held about 126 passengers, then it was a Bombardier CRJ-700 that held 66 passengers, then an even smaller Bombardier CRJ-200 that only held 50 passengers.

I only took a carry-on bag on this trip, as I didn’t need my tent and sleeping bag. The last two planes were so small that standard carry-ons didn’t fit inside, so instead baggage handlers took the carry-on luggage from passengers at the loading area and put them in the plane’s cargo area, then crew in the next city returned the luggage as the passengers were deplaning.

In Fresno, I rented a car from Avis, and they gave me a choice of cars in the class I had requested. I don’t know if they always do that, or if it’s just at this location, but I think generally the rental agencies just tell you what car you’ll be stuck with, and it’s usually different than what you had expected and hoped to get based upon their website. I selected a Volkswagen Jetta. It was also better-equipped than the usual stripped rental car I am used to, as it had a sunroof and a satellite radio.

I stopped at the WalMart and Whole Foods in Fresno to buy groceries and supplies. The WalMart was out of gallon water bottles, but Whole Foods had them. I also bought sunscreen, then drove north to Yosemite. My destination within the park was Yosemite Valley, about 90 miles from the airport. The road outside the park is fine, though it has several steep climbs with pull-off areas so that slower traffic can get out of the way of faster vehicles. Inside the park, the speed limit was much lower and the road was under repair, with the asphalt having been removed from several areas in preparation for later repaving.

Shortly after I entered Yosemite Valley, a coyote crossed the road right in front of my car, but my camera was not within reach. I finally arrived at my destination, Curry Village, which is one of several lodging choices within Yosemite Valley. The parking lot was very big and very crowded, so I had to park far away. I then grabbed my luggage and my groceries and headed to the reception desk. (The National Park Service makes a big deal about not leaving food in vehicles or in one’s tent or tent cabin, as bears have been known to break in to get at the food.) I was assigned a tent cabin that was also far from the reception area (and not so close to my car, either), and got settled for the night.

A tent cabin has a wooden floor, a wooden frame, and canvas walls and roof. Inside, it has two or more beds, an overhead electric light (but no receptacles), metal storage shelves and a garbage can. Mine had a full-size bed and three twin beds. They provided bedding. Outside each tent cabin is a metal locker for storing food and toiletries (“anything with a scent”). The theory is that if the bears don’t smell food in the cabin, they won’t come inside, and unless they develop opposable thumbs, they can’t get into the storage lockers. There were communal bathroom and shower facilities within Curry Village. Yosemite seemed very commercial, having concession operators for almost everything. I’m surprised they didn’t charge for showers at Curry Village, as Bryce Canyon does. These tent cabins cost $120/night, so someone is making a killing.

Tent cabins

Tent cabin interior

Here we have a tent cabin under construction:

Tent cabin frame

Yosemite Valley affords nice views of the surrounding granite walls and at least two waterfalls. There were nice views even from Curry Village itself. The photo below shows the 7,546′ tall North Dome (top center), Washington Column (at right), and the Royal Arches (the exfoliation arches in the granite wall at lower left and center):

North Dome, Washington Column, and Royal Arches

In addition to sunscreen, it’s helpful to have insect repellent to keep the mosquitoes away.

Giant Western Crane Fly

Actually, a helpful poster at GardenWeb.com identified it as a harmless Giant Western Crane Fly, Holorusia rubiginosa, the largest fly west of the Rockies.

Monday: I woke around 6:00 and loaded my backpack with water and lunch. As the pack sat on top of the bear locker, it pressed down on the bite valve for the water bladder, causing a few ounces to leak out, making the hip belt of the pack wet. I’ve had such leaks a couple of times, from stepping on the bite valve or pressing my arm against it while tying a shoe, etc. So I’m trying to get in the habit of using the shut-off valve when I’m not actually drinking from the bite valve.

My objective on this day was Mt. Dana, in the northeast corner of the park, about a two-hour drive from Yosemite Valley. As I began my drive, and while still in Yosemite Valley, I stopped to photograph Bridalveil Fall, a 617′ waterfall. This is one of two waterfalls (the other being Yosemite Falls) that may be easily seen from the valley.

Bridalveil Fall

I bought a new camera about a week before this trip, a Panasonic Lumix GF1. This is a “Micro Four-Thirds” system camera, which allows for interchangeable lens. It has a 4:3 image aspect ratio, as opposed to the 3:2 ratio that was popularized by 35mm film cameras. The image sensor is somewhat smaller than the APS-C sensors used in most digital single-lens reflex cameras, but it’s still around 9 times the size of sensors used in compact digital cameras, allowing for three times the image quality. The “Micro” part means that unlike the full-sized “Four-Thirds” cameras, these cameras lack an internal mirror and optical viewfinder. Thus, they are not single-lens reflex cameras. The Micro Four-Thirds cameras are made by both Panasonic and Olympus. I actually bought the lens separate from the body, because I preferred the Olympus M.Zuiko 14-42mm F/3.5-5.6 zoom lens to the Panasonic lens, primarily because the Olympus lens collapses when not in use, making it more compact. The cameras have a crop factor (focal length multiplier) of 2, meaning that the 14-42mm lens is equivalent to a 28-84mm lens on a 35mm film camera. So it’s a wide-angle to slight-telephoto lens.

Except for when I went rafting, all the photos on this trip were taken with the GF1. As you will see, I have included a number of panoramic shots. I produced these by stitching two or more photographs, using Microsoft’s Image Composite Editor, a free (!) program. I did not have a tripod, so as I was panning the camera by hand to take multiple shots, some shots were lower or higher than others. This left some blank areas in the stitched photos. In many cases, I simply cropped out the blank areas. However, in other cases I used Gimp to clone a missing piece of sky or ground at the border or edge of a photo, when cropping would have caused too great a loss elsewhere in the photo. I also used Gimp to correct a curved foreground that had been introduced by the stitching of the above panorama.

Returning to my rental car, I continued driving through the park. The road wound its way through the park, gaining in altitude. Yosemite Valley is at 4,000′ elevation. My next stop along the way was Siesta Lake, just beside the road, at about 8,000.’

Siesta Lake

Here are three shots at Siesta Lake in which I try out the depth of field with the camera/lens combination. In this first shot, I select the maximum aperture, F/3.5 (at 14mm). This is a narrow depth of field, and I focused on the foreground pine needles. The background trees beyond the lake are therefore not focused well.

Siesta Lake

In this shot, I kept the same aperture, but changed the focus to the background trees, and so the foreground needles are not in focus.

Siesta Lake

In this last shot, I selected the maximum aperture, F/22, for a broad depth of field. I don’t remember whether I focused at the foreground or background, but both are relatively focused.

Siesta Lake

Continuing on my drive to the northeast corner of the park, my next stop was at Olmstead Point, with nice views:

My next stop was at Tenaya Lake:

The trailhead for Mt. Dana begins at the park’s northeast entrance/exit. I did not see a sign to the trail, so I asked at the ranger station at the exit, and the ranger said that the trail began at the back of a parking lot, and pointed toward a small lot that was marked for official vehicles only. Per her direction, I drove out of the park and parked along the road, where there were a few other cars. I walked around the back of the parking lot but didn’t see a trail, and wondered if she had really meant to wave toward the official vehicle parking lot or had meant a different parking lot, so I wandered around half an hour or longer looking in different areas. I finally asked another tourist, who led me to the trailhead, which did start several yards behind the parking lot. It was not marked at all, though. Apparently the Park Service doesn’t mark every trail.

While wandering around Dana Meadows, I took this photograph, which is one of my favorites from Yosemite.

Dana Meadows

This is a stitched panorama showing one of the ponds at Dana Meadows, at the foot of Mt. Dana:

The pond is very shallow and very clear; I am sure it is just runoff from the melting snow.

Pond at Dana Meadows

Another shot of Dana Meadows, as I began climbing Mt. Dana.

Mt. Dana

Mt. Dana is the second highest mountain in Yosemite National Park. The base of the mountain is around 10,000′, with the peak at 13,061′. (Mount Lyell, at 13,120′, is the highest mountain in Yosemite, but it is far from the roads and harder to climb.) Jeffrey P. Schaffer, Yosemite: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone, recommended Mt. Dana as offering great views and being a moderate hike, with the 5-mile round-trip taking only 3 to 5 hours. A friend from law school was meeting me in Yosemite, and we planned to hike to the top of Half Dome on Wednesday, which all agree is a strenuous hike. So I thought that a moderate hike would be good for spending the day before my friend arrived.

Here is some of the interesting plant life. [Carol23 at GardenWeb.com has identified this as cynoglossum. It’s probably Western Hounds-tongue, cynoglossum occidentale, or perhaps Pacific Hounds-tongue, cynoglossum grande.]

Cynoglossum

Here’s Dana Meadows and the Kuna Crest from the trail up Mt. Dana:

Dana Meadows and Kuna Crest

A little higher up, with an even wider panorama.

At first the trail was regular soil, but about halfway up it became rocky.

Mt. Dana

As I hiked above the tree line, I took a shot looking below. You can see that the trees end and the ground turns rocky. I noticed something sitting on that rock in the center of the photograph. I took the shot at maximum zoom, but that 42mm focal length (equivalent to 84mm on a 35mm film camera) is not even a 2x telephoto. I thought that when I viewed the photo at full-size on a computer that I’d be able to see what it was, and thought that it was probably a squirrel or something common like that.

Unknown animal

My camera makes images that are 4000 x 3000 pixels, which I have reduced in size to fit a monitor. In the next shot, I have cropped the image to just the center, and not reduced it in size (other than the thumbnail, obviously). But unfortunately, I still can’t tell what it is.

Unknown animal

I was now trudging over rocks and it wasn’t comfortable. Not only that, but I ran into snow banks and had to decide whether to skirt them or walk through them. Schaffer had said that when the trail ended, people generally just walked due east uphill, so I was trying to do that. I wasn’t having that much fun, though.

Mt. Dana

Another panorama looking downhill toward Dana Meadows, with the Kuna Crest to the left:

This shot shows the rocks that I was contending with, and shows the peak of Mt. Dana:

Peak of Mt. Dana

This is a panorama that not only shows the peak of Mt. Dana, on the left, but to the right shows the Kuna Crest and then Dana Meadows.

Another panorama:

While I had the peak in sight, I also had developed a slight headache and was feeling a little light-headed. I had hiked to 13,000′ in elevation previously, years ago in Colorado, but I had acclimated to the altitude beforehand, camping at 8,000′ for one night, then hiking up to 10,000′ and camping there, and then hiking up to 13,000′ on subsequent days. I suspected that the low oxygen at the high altitudes was bothering me because I had not acclimated to it, so I decided to descend, and soon began to feel better. It was disappointing not reaching the peak of Mt. Dana, but at least I had gotten some exercise and taken some nice photos.

Here’s another interesting plant that I saw on the way downhill. This looks like something my vegetarian friends would serve for lunch, but another poster at GardenWeb identified it as a poisonous plant, the California Corn Lily, Veratrum californicum.

California corn lily

I finally made it back to my car, having spent 6 hours on what was supposed to be a 3-5 hour hike, and not having even made it to the peak. I probably reached about 12,000′. On the way downhill I began developing a blister on one toe. My boots are pretty good on level ground or going uphill, but going downhill on a steep grade, it seems that my feet slide forward a bit in the boots and rub against them. I’m not sure what to do about that: if I need different socks, different boots, etc.

I worried, “How can I hike 15 miles to the top of Half Dome in two days if I couldn’t even complete a 5-mile ‘moderate’ hike to the peak of Mt. Dana?” I also worried about whether the blister would cause trouble. But on the other hand, I knew that my problem with Mt. Dana was due to the altitude, and that the peak of Half Dome is “only” at 8,836′, where I would not experience a lack of oxygen. So I tried to reassure myself that Wednesday’s hike would go well.

I began driving back to Curry Village. My friend, Julie, phoned and said that she had arrived in the park and was checking into her cabin, so I told her that I would meet her at the Village in about an hour and a half. I only stopped along the way for a few minutes to shoot photos at Tuolumne Meadows, which I have stitched together into this panorama.

Next: Rafting on the Merced River.

Posted in Hikes, Vacations | Tagged California, waterfall, Yosemite | Leave a comment

Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Westchester County, NY

Posted on June 27, 2010 by Charlie

Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is the largest park in Westchester County. Native Americans built a fenced-in enclosure into which they drove deer; this provided the “pound” in the name of the park. The park supposedly has 41.9 miles of trails, though I wonder if that includes the ones that aren’t on the map. (More about that later.) The park charges $8 admission for a car, but no one was there to collect the fee, so I got in for free.

I drove to the middle of the park, to the parking circle at the end of Michigan Road, to access the trails at the southern half. I had grand plans, but due to one trail running for far longer than is shown on their map, and due to the temperature being in the 90s, I only covered about half the trails that I wanted to hike. I still estimate that I got in around 8 miles, between 9:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

This is an open/wetland area adjacent to the parking lot and just before the trailhead:

Wetland

This is the trailhead for the red and green trails. The kiosk did not have any maps (other than the one hanging up behind glass), so I was glad that I had brought my own that I printed off from the Internet.

Trailhead

At first I thought that the trails were all going to be well-marked:

Trailhead

There were several wet areas in the park:

Wet area

The principal trails are clearly woods roads and are not badly eroded, either. That is, it’s entirely possible that some are still traveled by county vehicles if required, such as for maintenance. On the other hand, there are smaller trails that are not former roads, such as this path:

Footpath

The footpath I am on is called the Leatherman Loop. There is a 10K run here every year. The Leatherman was a homeless guy who wore clothing that he patched together out of leather. He apparently walked ten miles a day, covering a 365-mile circle every five weeks, accepting meals from farmers and sleeping in caves in New York and Connecticut.

Leatherman’s Loop

This is an overlook on the Leatherman’s Loop, I believe looking west, toward the Cross River, which is a tributary of the Croton.

Scenic view from Leatherman Loop

Cross River

I walked by a huge rock wall, and thought that one way of showing that it was taller than a human was to photograph myself in front of it:

Self-portrait

Rock wall

This is the Leatherman’s cave in this park:

Leatherman’s Cave

It is not very big inside:

Leatherman’s Cave

I left the Leatherman’s loop and returned to the red and green trail. The trail ran over a stream (they installed a culvert so that the water runs under the trail/woods road).

Stream

I took a detour off the red loop, taking a trail that led under power lines to a lookout called Spy Ridge. Along the way, I believe I saw a white-tailed deer running away from me. It was really just a flash of red and white. I reached Spy Ridge; I believe looking south:

Spy Ridge

There was a big bird also enjoying the view, which I believe was a black vulture:

Black vulture

I backtracked from the Spy Ridge, and continued on the minor trail until I came to the Bear Rock Petroglyph:

Bear Rock Petroglyph

I then continued on, and then took a short side trail to Dancing Rock. I thought the name was describing the rock, such as “balancing rock,” and was wondering how a rock could dance. I found a huge flat spot, and realized that it was perhaps a place where people had danced, or at least a place suitable for dancing. I later read a description that said there’s a kiosk there, but I sure didn’t see any kiosk. The kiosk supposedly says that farmers did hold dances there. So I was able to correctly discern the meaning from the name.

Dancing Rock

Here’s a side view showing that the rock is pretty thick.

Dancing Rock

I continued on the minor trail, which then joined the red trail. I then made the mistake of taking a minor side trail leading to “Castle Rock.” I thought perhaps this would be another overlook or some impressive sight. I later passed a sign nailed to a tree that read “Castle Rock,” but I didn’t see anything of interest nearby. I later learned that Castle Rock is a large rock formation. Either I didn’t see it or I wasn’t impressed. I kept going on the trail, which was not well-traveled, at least not in some places, and was not blazed all that well. But I was able to continue on by looking for crushed leaves and the occasional white blaze. The map that I had showed that the trail should have ended after about 1/2 mile, at Castle Rock, whereas it kept going and going and going. [I later learned that the trail had been extended before the map was updated.]

Castle Rock Trail

At one point, there was a fenced-in enclosure. It bothered me that they used a tree for one corner of it. This can’t be too healthy for a tree. I don’t know what they are fencing in. It reminded me of a fence at Mianus River Gorge where they wanted to see how the plants would grow if deer couldn’t get to them. I don’t understand the point of that, as deer are native to the area—it’s not as though deer are an invasive species.

Exclosure

In addition to the trails being blazed by the park, there were a few trails that were marked BRLA. I had no idea what that was, but later learned that these are trails used by the Bedford Riding Lanes Association, and may be used by either equestrians or hikers. I don’t see any maps on their website, though.

About 0.7 miles past the Castle Rock sign, I reached a nice boardwalk beside Stone Hill River. There was a nice bench there, and I had a late lunch. Looking upstream:

Stone Hill River?

Looking downstream:

Stone Hill River?

I like the contrast of the texture and colors of this rusted metal piece sitting on the rock, with the greenery in the background.

Texture of rusted iron, rock, grass

There were a number of stone walls in the park. More than 30 farms once existed here, and they were eventually consolidated into this giant park by Westchester County. I hope to return someday, in cooler weather, to explore more of this park.

Stone wall

After the hike, I wanted to visit the Trailside Nature Museum, but it was closed.

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

Blue Mountain Reservation, Westchester County, New York

Posted on June 20, 2010 by Charlie

I joined a group heading for Blue Mountain Reservation for what was supposed to be a 5 mile hike. Unfortunately, the leader took a right when he was supposed to take a left, and when I attempted to point it out to him he waved me off. Half an hour later he admitted that I was right, but as we were now almost back at the entrance, he decided that was enough of a hike for the day. So our 5 miles became more like 2 miles. I was not happy about that.

As a consequence of traveling with a group and only having a very short hike, I did not take many photos.

This poor tree is trying to grow, but someone nailed a metal sign to it many years ago, impeding its growth rings.

I’ll let my herpetologist friends identify this snake for me:

This is the view from near the peak of Blue Mountain, which at 680 feet should not even be called a mountain, as the American standard for naming is that only an elevation over 1000 feet qualifies for “mountain” status. The view is of the Hudson River, with Dunderberg and Bear Mountains beyond.

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

Mt. Greylock State Reservation, Massachusetts

Posted on June 13, 2010 by Charlie

“[W]hether we will or no, Majesty is all around us here in Berkshire, sitting as in a grand Congress of Vienna of majestical hill-tops, and eternally challenging our homage.” – Herman Melville, from the dedication of Pierre

Leaving home at 6:00 a.m., my objective was Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts, located in the northwest corner of the state. I drove north across the Whitestone Bridge, then took the Hutchinson River Parkway, then I-684 (which cuts across a tiny corner of Connecticut before reentering New York). I then continued on Route 22, which took me through a number of small communities. One was Dover, New York, where I noticed a number of vacant buildings east of the highway. Research shows this was the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center.

At one place on my drive, I noticed a big rabbit by the side of the road, and just as I was admiring it, a male cardinal flashed by in front of my car’s window. So for a fraction of a second, I saw two animals that I rarely see. It’s too bad that I couldn’t have a picture of that, but there are many moments that are simply too ephemeral to be captured by a camera.

8:00 a.m.: I only stopped once on my drive, still along Route 22, to admire a green field and the mountains beyond, which beckoned to me:

Farmland beside Route 22

I finally left Route 22 and headed east, crossing into Massachusetts. I arrived at the Mount Greylock State Reservation around 9:15 a.m. The trail begins at the end of Hopper Road in Williamstown:

Hopper Road trailhead

While a gate bars vehicular traffic, it seems that Hopper Road continues for a fraction of a mile as a former 1830s carriage road. Fields have been cleared to the north and south of the road, but somehow a narrow border of trees remain on each side of the road to provide shade and separation from the fields:

Hopper Road Trail

Here are fallen logs covered in moss, along the southern border of the trail. Just beyond, you can see the cleared field to the south of the trail.

Hopper Road Trail

I want the Money Brook Trail, to the left. To the right is the Haley Farm Trail, which will be my return path, as my route will take me in a giant clockwise loop.

Intersection of Hopper Road Trail and Haley Farm Trail

Looking to the right, a path of trampled grass marks the Haley Farm Trail. I make a note of it for the end of the day.

Haley Farm Trailhead

Another crossroads. Again, I want the Money Brook Trail, to the left. The Hopper Trail takes the right fork.

Intersection of Money Brook Trail and Hopper Trail

This is a detail of nearby trees, and you can see that the trees in the background are quite concealed by fog. The chance of rain had been projected as 40%, and I decided to take a chance. I did not encounter rain, but it had rained a lot, and conditions were muddy at times. Also, the fog never burned off, and sadly I was not able to enjoy any views from the mountaintop or outlooks.

Foggy day at Money Brook Trail

9:35 a.m.: There is a reason they call this the Money Brook Trail: there’s actually a brook here. The trail roughly parallels the brook for a few miles. At first it runs southeast, then makes a 90 degree angle and runs to the northeast.

Money Brook

9:43 a.m.: The Money Brook Trail begins an ascent:

Ascending on the Money Brook Trail

10:01 a.m.: Perched on a nice wooden bridge that straddles the brook, I put my camera down and take a longer exposure:

Money Brook

11:07 a.m.: The Money Brook Trail continued higher, and I finally was able to take a short detour to the base of Money Brook Falls:

Money Brook Falls

11:42 a.m.: The Money Brook Trail continued on a roughly northeast direction, reaching a primitive campground called Wilbur’s Clearing. No one was camping when I arrived. Here is a shelter for those who want to enjoy a meal out of the rain.

Shelter at Wilbur’s Clearing

11:50 a.m.: The trail continues on puncheon through some especially wet areas:

Puncheon

11:54 a.m.: After 3.75 miles, the Money Brook Trail finally reached an end, intersecting the famed Appalachian Trail. I don’t remember if I’ve ever hiked any part of the AT before. Hopefully I’ll remember that I did so on this occasion. I decided to take a 0.3 mile detour to the northwest, to a lookout.

Intersection of Money Brook Trail & Appalachian Trail

12:05 p.m.: Arriving at the lookout, I feel pretty stupid, as I realize that it’s so foggy that there’s nothing to see. If it had been a clear day, I would have had a vista of Williamstown.

Foggy vista

Flower

I reversed course, following the AT south. (It actually ran east for a while, before turning due south.)

Appalachian Trail

1:12 p.m.: I reach the peak of Mt. Williams, at 2,951 feet.

Peak of Mt. Williams

2:31 p.m.: As I have said, it was muddy in places. I met a few hikers, though they were always close to where the trails intersected roads. Thus, I don’t know if any of the ones I saw were walking a long distance on trails, or if they had just entered from the road and were walking along the trails for a short distance.

Muddy trail

Of course, slugs thrive in wet conditions:

Slug

Flowers

3:10 p.m.: After 3.75 miles on the AT (plus another 0.6 miles to that “vista of Williamstown”), I finally arrived at the peak of Mt. Greylock, at 3,491 feet elevation. The mountain has been an inspiration to many poets and writers, and some of their thoughts were engraved in rocks at the summit. Herman Melville had a view of Mt. Greylock from his farm, Arrowhead, and he said that Mt. Greylock appeared to him as a breaching whale, inspiring him to pen Moby Dick.

Stone engraved with quotation from John Ruskin

Stone engraved with quotation from John Bascom

This shot of the 93-foot high Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower shows how foggy it was.

Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower

Directional signs

I met a couple who had biked to the summit (on the roads, not on trails). The man commented that at least there weren’t any crowds this day. I have no idea how many people there would be on a sunny day, but the mountaintop was practically deserted.

Foggy observation point

U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey magnetic station

Stone engraved with quotation from Henry David Thoreau

Elevation sign

The Veterans Memorial was open, and I went inside. I was shocked to see the poor condition, with water leaking inside, letters having fallen off the inscriptions, etc.

Interior, Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower

I climbed to the top of the tower, just for the exercise and to say that I’d done it. I knew by now that there would be no view other than impenetrable fog.

Whiteout

Back outside:

Appalachian Trail marker, Mt. Greylock, MA

This was pretty cool: a relief map of the mountain and surrounding area, drawn at a scale of 1 foot = 1 mile.

Relief map, Mt. Greylock, MA

Stone engraved with quotation from Henry David Thoreau

I left the summit and resumed walking southwest on the AT for another 0.6 miles. Then I took the Hopper Trail (a different part of it than I had seen at the beginning of my hike).

4:51 p.m.: After 1.2 miles of the Hopper Trail, I came to Sperry Road. This is a nicely graded road, though a gate “discourages” vehicular traffic. I followed this road 1.4 miles northwest, and it was pretty easy walking, though I was getting tired at this point. There are a number of primitive campsites along this road.

Sperry Road

A nice little stream visible from the road:

Stream off Sperry Road

5:18 p.m.: At the end of Sperry Road, I reached the Stony Ledge Vista. Of course, there was nothing to see.

Foggy day at Stony Ledge Vista

There were some pretty flowers there, though.

Wildflowers at Stony Ledge Vista

I followed the Stony Ledge Trail for 0.1 miles, then veered off onto the Haley Farm Trail, which I had noted at the beginning of my hike. Interestingly, the Haley Farm Trail does not appear on the USGS Survey Maps. I wonder if it’s a newer trail. It started out heading north, then west, then north again, meandering 2.2 miles.

5:30 p.m.: Very colorful lichen:

Lichen

5:48 p.m.: I know this is a crummy photo, but it’s an American Porcupine. They are apparently nearsighted, and I wonder if this one wasn’t also hard of hearing. I wasn’t getting good shots of him and tried a flash, and that got his attention and he slowly waddled off, even though I tried reassuring him that I wouldn’t hurt him. While there was still more than two hours of daylight, it was getting pretty dark. I guess the overcast skies and the foliage overhead blocked out most of the sunshine. I knew that I must have been getting close to the end of the trail (and I also had a flashlight with me), so I wasn’t too worried.

Blurry photo of American Porcupine

6:17 p.m.: The Haley Farm Trail runs out of forest.

Haley Farm Trail

As I crossed the field that I had photographed at 9:15 a.m., I took one last shot of the foggy horizon.

Haley Farm

This 13.6-mile hike took me 9 hours. I then had a long drive home, arriving around 10:00 p.m.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged Appalachian Trail, Massachusetts | Leave a comment

Pine Barrens, New Jersey

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Charlie

David Brotsky has been leading trips around the world for over a decade. I have been on a few of his one-day events and signed up for this two-day event over Memorial Day weekend. Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged New Jersey | 2 Comments

Mianus River Gorge, Westchester County, New York

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Charlie

Another source for learning of hiking locations is the Nature Conservancy. Its website is not that easy to navigate, but if you keep drilling through it you might find a list of places worth visiting.

Because of a late start, I only had time for a short hike this day, and I decided to visit the Mianus River Gorge, which has a page on the Nature Conservancy’s website and which also has its own website. In 1964, the Gorge was designated a Registered Natural History Landmark. It is only about ten miles from the Mount Holly Preserve, which I visited a month earlier. Unfortunately, the Mianus River Gorge facility closes at 5:00 p.m., which is a shame since it doesn’t get dark for another three hours.

A kiosk near the entrance presents a number of posters with information about the Gorge. The Larger versions are large image files, so that if you want, you can zoom in and read the text.

Introduction

“Early Years”

History

Old-growth forest

Threats to the forest

Protecting the watershed

The trail(s) start out and as may be seen, are very-well defined. At the beginning, the trails are bordered by logs, which help to define the trail and keep people from veering off and trampling the adjacent vegetation. However, later on they stopped using the logs. Still, it is easy enough to follow the trail based on the ground being trampled.

Trailhead

Trail

Once again, I encounter stone walls. Their brochure says that the stone walls date back to the early 19^th Century.

It’s quite hard to see in this photo, but there is a wire mesh fence a few feet in front of my position. To the right, it’s easier to see a wooden gate for that fence. This is a deer “exclosure,” an area that they have fenced off to keep deer out, for research projects.

Stone wall

Where is a botanist when you need one? This looks like a wetlands plant. I realized about halfway through the hike that I had my camera set for indoor lighting, and reset it for an outdoor cloudy day. I’ve increased the reds and decreased the blues of those photos, but they are still far from perfect.

Wetlands plants

You know the saying, “It’s hard to see the forest because of the trees?” Well, there’s a river back there, but it’s hard to see it through the trees. I haven’t figured out how this works, but when I’m on a trail, my brain filters out the trees in the foreground and I can see things behind it very clearly. But if I then take a picture and look at the picture, I can only see the trees. I don’t know if that’s a function of stereoscopic vision or if it’s because I have a much wider field of view than the camera does, so that my brain has more information to work with. So I frequently feel that I’m looking at something beautiful but it’s difficult or impossible for me to get a decent shot of it.

Mianus River

Here you see that the trail continues without logs bordering it.

Trail

A fallen tree has roots with an interesting shape.

Spidery tree roots

Trail

It would be hard to get lost here. The trails are roughly linear, following the river south toward Connecticut. There is a green trail (“River Trail”) that is 0.3 miles each way (0.6 miles round trip). There is a blue trail (“Old Farmland Trail”) that is 1.05 miles each way (2.1 miles round trip). Finally, there is a red trail (“Old Growth Forest Trail”) that is 2.2 miles each way (4.4 miles round trip). There are no loop trails, but one can take the red trail to the end, then backtrack and at one point switch to the blue trail to return to the parking lot. That yields a 4 mile round trip, so it cuts a bit off the round trip one would have just sticking to the red trail. The red and blue trails cross at a number of points and share the same path at a few points, so they really only diverge at two or three locations. I took the red trail/blue trail combination, so I had about a 4-mile hike. It only took me about two hours.

Unlike other places I’ve hiked, the trails aren’t “blazed” by having trees painted with a splash of color or being affixed with a colored disk. Rather, they just have signs every once in a while. But this preserve is relatively popular and the trails are well-trod, so it’s easy to keep on the trail even without the blazing.

Trail sign

This is a better view of the Mianus River, which “provides a source of drinking water for over 100,000 people in Greenwich and Stamford Connecticut, and Port Chester, Rye and Rye Brook, New York.” This is Rockwall Breach, the narrowest point across the Gorge, cut by melting glacial waters 15,000-20,000 years ago.

Mianus River

Another stone wall.

Stone wall

There’s a short detour from the red trail that leads to the Hobby Hill Quarry. Local farmers mined mica, quartz and feldspar here. There are a few nice quart rocks and boulders, and the mica is fascinating stuff, which has a few rocks being very reflective.

Mica

This is the quarry area. The sign reads, “No collecting of minerals. Leave for others to see.” Again, it’s a shame that my camera can’t record what my eyes saw, which was a lot of glittering light being reflected by the mica.

Quarry

Returning to the red trail, here’s another stone wall, being one of the more substantial ones that I’ve seen.

Stone wall

This is a shot from the Gorge Overlook, one of the steepest points in the preserve. Again, it’s hard to see anything because of the trees. We’re supposedly looking at “an ancient hemlock-hardwood forest dating back to pre-colonial America.”

Overlook

Here’s an intersection of a number of walls.

Stone walls

Here are a couple of shots (the second using the zoom feature) where one has a better view of the Mianus River in the distance, as it is widening.

Mianus River Gorge

Mianus River

The trails cross two tributaries that flow down to the Mianus River. The first one, Saffords Cascade, was apparently so dry that I missed it. This is the second, leading to Havemeyer Falls.

Tributary to Havemeyer Falls

Havemeyer Falls

I’ve now walked downhill to Havemeyer Falls. The falling water did not make a great visual impression, but it sounded nice. I guess one has to come at a different time of year to enjoy more of a waterfall. The preserve is only open from April 1 to November 30, though.

Havemeyer Falls

A creepy-crawly thing:

Millipede

I’ve reached the end of the 2.2-mile red trail. It dead-ends where the Mianus River has widened into the S.J. Bargh Reservoir, on private property owned by the Connecticut-American Water Co.

S.J. Bargh Reservoir

Walking back, I encountered this brightly colored bug.

Beetle

There’s a chipmunk in the center of this shot. I didn’t see any deer or other critters.

Chipmunk

I thought this was a nice contrast between the dead brown leaves in the foreground and the bright green ground color in the background.

Scene with contrast

Another wall.

Stone wall

A wall, large boulders, and a fallen tree with interesting roots.

Stone wall and boulders

This was about a 4-mile to 5-mile hike, and as I said, it only took me two hours. I saw a number of hikers. I was wearing boots, and long pants and a long shirt to keep bugs away, and was carrying a backpack with water, whereas I think they were wearing shorts and
sneakers and not carrying any packs. I don’t know which of us was smarter; maybe them.

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

South Beacon Mountain and Scofield Ridge, Dutchess County, New York

Posted on May 9, 2010 by Charlie

The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference website listed an 8 mile strenuous hike, suggested by Daniel Chazin, in Dutchess County, New York. The hike is routed over a number of trails and properties, as I will detail below.

I set my alarm for 4:15 a.m., but after turning off the alarm, I next woke at 5:00. I left home around 5:50, headed north to Beacon, New York, and arrived at my destination right at 7:00 a.m.

The parking area is a large gravel lot in Mount Beacon Park. This 234 acre park is owned by Scenic Hudson, an organization dedicated to land preservation. My car was the first in the park’s large gravel parking lot, though by the time I returned from my hike at 1:00 p.m., there were about a dozen cars. A kiosk presents informational posters, explaining the historical significance of Mount Beacon Park. During the American Revolution, our soldiers stood guard on this mountain, using signal fires to report sightings of British troops.

On Memorial Day, 1902, the Otis Elevator Company opened a tourist attraction at Beacon Mountain: an incline railway that would take passengers 1,540 feet up the mountain, affording them with incredible views. There was also a hotel and dance hall up there, the Beaconcrest Hotel and Casino. Here are the posters, if you want to read more:

Welcome poster

Note that the poster only covers Mount Beacon Park and the 1 mile of trail within in. There are many miles of trails beyond the small park, as I will describe.

History poster

7:04 a.m.: Behind the kiosk with the posters, a wooden fence and gravel road signaled the start of my hike. A woman and her dog were just leaving as I started hiking.

Gateway from parking lot

The gravel road was level, and within minutes I arrived at a second kiosk and the foundation of the old stationhouse, where the passengers of a century ago would board the incline railcars for the trip up the mountain.

Stationhouse location

Here’s the poster at the second kiosk:

“Gateway to Mount Beacon Park”

7:10 a.m.: Just beyond the kiosk is a stairway that climbs about 120′ of a particularly steep ascent. The three red markers on the tree to the right signify the start of the red-blazed “Casino Trail.”

Start of Casino Trail

As you can see, there is a footpath to the right of the stairs, for people who might think that stairs are cheating. However, I thought that climbing the stairs was a pretty good workout in itself, as it was about the same as climbing twelve flights of stairs. The unsightly power poles are following the path of the ancient incline railway; I believe the poles are to provide power to radio transmitters on the mountain.

Stairs and footpath

7:17 a.m.: At the top of the stairs, a trail continued up the mountain, then hit a switchback and kept going higher:

Casino Trail

7:21 a.m.: It’s hard for a picture to depict how steep a trail is, but perhaps this gives some idea. It was quite a cardio workout.

Steep portion of trail

7:35 a.m.: There are a number of “woods roads” on the mountain, and in places the trails use these roads, while in other places the trails are footpaths that were never designed for a vehicle.

The woods roads were built by mining and forestry interests, and were probably abandoned decades ago. In places significant erosion made them impassable to most vehicles, such as these large rocks that could damage the oil pan on vehicles that are low to the ground.

Erosion on woods road has washed dirt downhill, left large rocks behind

7:43 a.m.: You can see on the right side of this photo that the “woods road” has seen so much erosion that the adjacent topsoil is several feet higher than the roadbed.

The roadbed has lost several inches of dirt compared to the surrounding soil

7:49 a.m.: Imagine trying to drive over this spot. Probably at one time there was soil surrounding these big rocks.

Big rocks would make for a punishing ride

7:54 a.m.: I finally reached the top of the incline railway. The shell of the power house is still there, and you can also get a sneak preview of the view of the town of Beacon and the Hudson River:

Shell of power house

I found a flat rock and engaged my camera’s auto timer, and jumped into the photo:

Self-portrait in front of power house

A view inside the powerhouse:

Remains of power house

The bridge over the Hudson is the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge.

Newburgh-Beacon Bridge is in the background

Here’s a postcard from 1907 showing the hotel and powerhouse. Only the foundation remained of the hotel and dance hall, so I didn’t take any photos of those:

1907 postcard shows hotel and power house

I spent about twenty minutes at this spot, enjoying the view:

Beacon, the Hudson, and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge

A stitched panorama:

Beacon, the Hudson, and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge

I continued my hike on the red trail. I met a man jogging down the mountain. He was the last person I would see for over four hours.

8:22 a.m.: Can you identify this car? It had an inline six-cylinder engine. Whatever it was, it didn’t make it off the mountain.

Wrecked car

8:49 a.m.: The red trail now left Mount Beacon Park and entered Hudson Highlands State Park. I temporarily departed from the red trail to take a detour on the white-blazed Breakneck Ridge Trail. One rock was covered with an impressive amount of flora:

Rock with moss

Moss

8:53 a.m.: I approached the peak of South Beacon Mountain, which afforded nice views. Note that now there are big sheets of solid rock, instead of a few rocks sticking out from dirt and gravel.

View from South Beacon Mountain

8:54 a.m.: The fire tower on top of South Beacon Mountain comes into view.

Fire tower

8:56 a.m.: The fire tower has seen better days. It was a very windy day, and I was almost afraid the wind would blow down the steel tower, so I didn’t want to stand too close or linger too long. I was wearing a number of layers, including a couple of lightweight polyester mesh shirts, a midweight fleece jacket with a hood, and a nylon windbreaker.

Fire tower

8:58 a.m.: There were nice views from the base of the tower:

View from South Beacon Mountain

9:08 a.m.: I backtracked to the red trail and continued on. Something tells me this feather didn’t belong to a sparrow:

Large feather

9:15 a.m.: The red trail came to an end, and I turned left onto the yellow-blazed Wilkinson Memorial Trail, following a footpath, rather than an old road. At some point, the yellow trail left the state park and continued through private property. Apparently the owners don’t mind, as long as hikers stay on the trails.

Wilkinson Memorial Trail

9:24 a.m.: This trail led me up various minor summits, which each afforded nice views:

Scenic view

9:38 a.m.: Another summit, another view, this one of Beacon Reservoir, with the Hudson in the background:

Beacon Reservoir

9:57 a.m.: The crushed leaves among the grass show the path:

Wilkinson Memorial Trail

9:59 a.m.: There was a bit of rock scrambling on this hike. Definitely no vehicles on this path:

Scramble

10:24 a.m.: I saw rock walls all over my last hike, and finally encountered one on this hike. I left the yellow trail and followed a blue trail. This trail left the private property and entered Fishkill Ridge, 1,900 acres of property (with 11.5 miles of trails) owned by Scenic Hudson.

Intersection of yellow and blue trails

10:31 a.m.: What’s left of a rotary tiller?

Wrecked rotary tiller

10:35 a.m.: The short blue trail ended at Dozer Junction, about the halfway point of my 8-mile hike. [I believe this is a Caterpillar D2 tractor, which was manufactured from 1938-57.]

Dozer Junction

Abandoned Caterpillar D2

Four cylinder engine:

Engine

This looks like a good place for lunch:

Sitting on dozer

The pedals still work, and the transmission lever moved around, though it wouldn’t go into gear.

Dozer pedals

11:18 a.m.: I turned left onto the white-blazed Fishkill Ridge Trail, climbing Lamb’s Hill, which afforded more nice views:

View from Lamb’s Hill

11:25 a.m.: This was a tall, wet rock face.

Wet rock face

11:35 a.m.: Descending.

Newburgh-Beacon Bridge

Scenic view

The white trail crossed a stream and a gravel road. I saw a black dog trotting by on the road. If he saw me, he ignored me.

11:56 a.m.: I entered an area where many trees had fallen, perhaps in the strong winds we’d experienced lately.

Fallen tree

The trail descends

12:08 p.m.: The white trail followed a dry brook, then again found the stream and ran alongside it. There were a few tiny waterfalls of a few feet, but I didn’t get any good photographs there. At this point, the trail had left the Fishkill Ridge property and was cutting through private property. This rock looked interesting: I wondered if someone had started chipping on it to make a spear point:

Spear point?

I left the white trail and entered a yellow trail, which re-entered the Mount Beacon Park, ending at the red Casino Trail, not too far above the stairway. I met a family of five climbing the stairs, not having seen anyone since meeting the jogger hours earlier. I returned to my car right around 1:00 p.m.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged Beacon, Dutchess County, Hudson Highlands, New York, waterfall | Leave a comment

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