Enjoy the nice warm weather over the next few days, because before you know it, fall will be well underway.
The calender is a remarkable thing. It seems like things will never come to an end, until they come to an end. You climb and climb, and the hill always seems the steepest, until you reach the top, and then you realize your at the top, and rest of the way, you’ll be coasting down hill.
It seemed like it would be forever until summer finally broke, but then it finally did. Then summer seemed endless, for such a precious short time, before succumbing to Labor Day, and then eventually the cooler weather of fall. Before you know, the leaves will fall, and winter will creep on. November will come and go, and Christmas will fade into 2014.
The endless cold season will return until April, then in May spring will break, and by June it will be summer — even in the Adirondacks. And we will just continue to go around once again.
It will, in the words of Phil Ochs just be just part of the race around the stars.
I have to think it’s a good thing that daylight savings time has finally begun. The fact is that getting up at 7:00 AM in pitch darkness is no fun. The sunset at 5:45 PM isn’t much fun either, and the 4:45 PM sunset will mean the commute home is dark, but so be it. It’s part of the grand cycle known as the seasons.
The net result is long evenings, which haren’t a totally bad thing either. I like having a little more darkness when camping, as it gives more time for a campfire, and cooking dinner at night. Sure the day is rushed, but the evening is more relaxed. I guess I could or should go to bed earlier, but that never happens either – even in the cold of the back country this time of year.
Set your clock back, and let’s get our November on. Christmas and the end of the year is around soon..
At least that’s the goal. I am still working out some technical issues, that I need to get fixed before I upload new content, but once that’s done, I sure have a lot of photos to upload into the coming months (!) I also have some new maps that have not been updated in a while due to the same reason — I am still developing the media plug-in.
Things are always over time and over budget with this new blog. But so be it.
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.
A cold winters day at my parents house in late January, after a long cold spell that never seemed to want to end.
February.
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.
Snowshoeing back down Bennett Hill in late February.
March.
A recently logged section of Cole Hill provided breath-taking views of Irish Hill and the Fox Kill Valley down in Berne.
What a clear spring day up at Horseshoe Clove at Thacher Park. Warmer, nicer days can’t be far way.
April.
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.
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.
There’s Albany! From my kayak. I kayaked up to Downtown Troy from the Corning Preserve.
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.
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.
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.
A dramatically cloudy day, looking down towards Tupper Lake from Mount Arab.
Cooling off at the Potholers on an oppressively humid summer’s day.
August.
Exploring Beaver Creek at the Brookfield Railroad State Forest in Brookfield, NY.
Watching the fog burn off Beaver Creek at Brookfield Railroad State Forest on a summer morning..
September.
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.
Fall was well underway, and even past peak at Moose River Plains by September 20th.
October.
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.
And later in October, I drove up to Snake Mountain in Vermont, overlooking the Champlain Valley and the Adirondacks. Colors lasted the longest
And by October 30th, we had snow, actually several inches, as seen up at Lake Taghkanic State Park.
November.
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.
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.
On Christmas Day, I hiked up Hadley Mountain. While cloudy and cold, it was very beautiful.
While the pond at Thacher Park was frozen, there still is very little snow locally.
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 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.
