Change

2011 Pictures of the Year

January.

Walking Along the Trail

After a fresh snow fall it was a winter wonderland in the Albany Pine Barriens, a forever wild ecosystem on the outskirts of the city. It felt like one was walking through a marshmallow forest.

Truck By the Woodpile

A cold winters day at my parents house in late January, after a long cold spell that never seemed to want to end.

February.

Sheen of Sun on Ice

A icy sheen shown on the snow at Partridge Run, as I went for an afternoon walk with the dogs up there in the middle of the month.

Descending Bennett Hill

Snowshoeing back down Bennett Hill in late February.

March.

Irish Hill and Beyond

A recently logged section of Cole Hill provided breath-taking views of Irish Hill and the Fox Kill Valley down in Berne.

Thatcher Park Cliff

What a clear spring day up at Horseshoe Clove at Thacher Park. Warmer, nicer days can’t be far way.

April.

Shallow Pond

April 9th was the first day I got out camping in 2011. Spent the day exploring Rogers Environmental Center, camped at Moscow Hill Horse Assembly Area.

Looking Across the River

It may start to warm up earlier in lower elevations, but winter is still very much a force in late April in the Adirondacks. The East Sacanadaga River on this morning looks icy and cold.

May.

 Albany

There’s Albany! From my kayak. I kayaked up to Downtown Troy from the Corning Preserve.

Towards Sand Pond Mountain

Spring finally comes to Adirondacks by late May. Paddling around Cheney Pond, looking towards Sand Mountain in the distance, on the other side of Hoffman Notch.

June.

Campsite in Morning

Kayak camping on Stockmans Island in the middle of the Hudson River. What an adventure, one I picked on a night when they had fireworks up at the Coxscake Town Park.

Foam from White Watch on Oswegatchie

Oswegatchie River up in Watson’s Triangle in Adirondacks. There are few places as remote as this that you can drive on largely unmarked and rarely traversed back country roads. Watson’s Triangle is a place far of the beaten path.

July.

Cloudy Day

A dramatically cloudy day, looking down towards Tupper Lake from Mount Arab.

Falling Water

Cooling off at the Potholers on an oppressively humid summer’s day.

August.

Wider But Shallow Section of Beaver Creek

Exploring Beaver Creek at the Brookfield Railroad State Forest in Brookfield, NY.

Beaver Creek North

Watching the fog burn off Beaver Creek at Brookfield Railroad State Forest on a summer morning..

September.

View of Lake from Campsite

A beautiful late summer morning at North Lake in Adirondacks. North Lake is such a jewel, especially as you head farther north on the largely undeveloped portion of the lake.

Looking Back to Wakely Dam

Fall was well underway, and even past peak at Moose River Plains by September 20th.

October.

South-West from the Top

Second week of October, I went up to the North Country for some leaf peeping, hiking, and kayaking. The colors may be faded in Central Adirondacks, but still were good in lower elevation parts of the Northern Adirondacks.

Snake Mountain 5

And later in October, I drove up to Snake Mountain in Vermont, overlooking the Champlain Valley and the Adirondacks. Colors lasted the longest

Leaves on Snow

And by October 30th, we had snow, actually several inches, as seen up at Lake Taghkanic State Park.

November.

Powerlines Leaving the Hydro Dam

In November I visited Monreau Lake State Park for the first time, and checked out the Palmerstown Ridge above the Hudson River and Spier Falls. These power lines transfer power from Spier Falls Hydro Dam over to Corinth.

Durham Area

I also hiked up Windham High Peak. I hadn’t been there in many years, and it was interesting to look down at Preston Hollow and Medusa, far, far below.

December.

Rays Over Wilcox Lake Wild Forest

On Christmas Day, I hiked up Hadley Mountain. While cloudy and cold, it was very beautiful.

Ice Covered Pond

While the pond at Thacher Park was frozen, there still is very little snow locally.

Sunshine Makes Me High

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. Sunshine on the water looks so lovely, sunshine almost always makes me high.

– John Denver, Sunshine on My Shoulders

You know, there is nothing like the first rays of sunshine in the morning. Whether it’s waking up to the sunrays breaking throug the glass of the truck cap, sitting down at a lake or on a hilltop watching the sun rise, or even just looking at the bus window at the rising the sun, it gives me an increadible high.

Sunshine

Sunshine means a new day has broken. A new chance to explore, to discover, to figure out who I am as an individual. A new chance to do good and change the world. Everything starts over again, as we go from the cycle of morning to night in the life of the day.

Night time can be dark and frightening at times. Yet, then with the rising of the sun, the light shines brightly over the world once again.

Time Disappears

It seems like as one gets older that the time goes by quicker and quicker. Days and months that once seemed like they could last forever, quickly recede into the past, and the world continues to change in ways that only a few years ago seem unimaginable.

Reflecting Clouds

The past summer disappeared in a blink of the eye. While it originally seemed like it would last forever, it is now gone. It’s already started to get colder out. When I was younger, time never seemed to disappear so quickly. The youthful innocence of yesterday has disappeared.

Farm

I don’t really know how to react to all these changes in my life. I just take them in one day at a time.