17 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
16.5 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The storms that blew through this afternoon brought a wonderful wave of cool, relatively dry air with them - what a great evening for being outdoors! Given that my legs are definitely feeling the effects of both Greylock and Minnewaska, I opted for an easy ride on the bike path... overall that felt pretty good.
One of the eagles was perched in the dead tree on the river as I rode out toward Lock 7... bright blue sky in the background, lots of sun - I couldn't ask for a better shot, except maybe to be a little bit closer.
Catbirds were singing like crazy as I rode, and I even managed to spot a couple of them before they ducked deeper into the bushes. There was a heron in the bay just past Lock 7 - while I was snapping pictures I think he shifted position the wrong way and got blown off his perch (or maybe he spotted a likely meal and lunged for it) because suddenly he was flapping around and then re-settling himself... afterwards he looked around with either a "how did that happen" or a "nobody saw that, right?" look.
Heading east out of the park I was surprised to see an American Woodcock in the grass right next to the path... he was remarkably calm as I took pictures until I got a little too close, then he flew off into the woods. I wonder if he's the one I'd heard over that way earlier in the year?
When I finally got back to the park for good, I stopped to check out the river and ended up starting a duck with a whole brood of ducklings at the end of the boat launch. While I stood there watching them, two groups of geese came gliding in out of the dusk - adults with sizeable groups of goslings in tow. I guess that's a popular spot for waterfowl to spend the night.
JMH
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The storms that blew through this afternoon brought a wonderful wave of cool, relatively dry air with them - what a great evening for being outdoors! Given that my legs are definitely feeling the effects of both Greylock and Minnewaska, I opted for an easy ride on the bike path... overall that felt pretty good.
One of the eagles was perched in the dead tree on the river as I rode out toward Lock 7... bright blue sky in the background, lots of sun - I couldn't ask for a better shot, except maybe to be a little bit closer.
Catbirds were singing like crazy as I rode, and I even managed to spot a couple of them before they ducked deeper into the bushes. There was a heron in the bay just past Lock 7 - while I was snapping pictures I think he shifted position the wrong way and got blown off his perch (or maybe he spotted a likely meal and lunged for it) because suddenly he was flapping around and then re-settling himself... afterwards he looked around with either a "how did that happen" or a "nobody saw that, right?" look.
Heading east out of the park I was surprised to see an American Woodcock in the grass right next to the path... he was remarkably calm as I took pictures until I got a little too close, then he flew off into the woods. I wonder if he's the one I'd heard over that way earlier in the year?
When I finally got back to the park for good, I stopped to check out the river and ended up starting a duck with a whole brood of ducklings at the end of the boat launch. While I stood there watching them, two groups of geese came gliding in out of the dusk - adults with sizeable groups of goslings in tow. I guess that's a popular spot for waterfowl to spend the night.
JMH
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Plans Change...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I was going to spend a couple days out in Rochester and run the wonderful Forge the Gorgeous trail race Thursday night... except for a variety of reasons I'm staying local this week. That's a bummer because I won't get to see my sweetheart until the middle of next week, but it should give me a little more time to decompress after the mad rush to the end of the school year. I'll just have to make a special effort to get to Fillmore Glen sometime later in the summer. Maybe I can even convince Ann to go with me...
So instead I'll be heading south tomorrow to hopefully check out some cool nature areas during the day and then run the Summer Solstice Trail Race at Lake Minnewaska State Park Preserve in the evening. Anyone who's read my self-centered ramblings for a while now will know the Minnewaska is one of my absolutely favorite places to go, so I'm looking forward to that... and also hoping for a run this year that doesn't leave me injured. Last year I somehow tore up my left knee running this race... now there's an unpleasant memory. So one of my goals for this year is to have a good time and let that bad memory fade into the background, behind all the good ones I have from Minnewaska.
JMH
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I was going to spend a couple days out in Rochester and run the wonderful Forge the Gorgeous trail race Thursday night... except for a variety of reasons I'm staying local this week. That's a bummer because I won't get to see my sweetheart until the middle of next week, but it should give me a little more time to decompress after the mad rush to the end of the school year. I'll just have to make a special effort to get to Fillmore Glen sometime later in the summer. Maybe I can even convince Ann to go with me...
So instead I'll be heading south tomorrow to hopefully check out some cool nature areas during the day and then run the Summer Solstice Trail Race at Lake Minnewaska State Park Preserve in the evening. Anyone who's read my self-centered ramblings for a while now will know the Minnewaska is one of my absolutely favorite places to go, so I'm looking forward to that... and also hoping for a run this year that doesn't leave me injured. Last year I somehow tore up my left knee running this race... now there's an unpleasant memory. So one of my goals for this year is to have a good time and let that bad memory fade into the background, behind all the good ones I have from Minnewaska.
JMH
Monday, June 21, 2010
1.2 Mile Walk at Ann Lee Pond
Monday, June 21, 2010
OK, if I don't want to smell like bug spray I need to find some other way to keep from getting chewed up by the $#%@&**@$!! mosquitoes. If only I could train a squad of dragonflies to follow me around and eat them...
Since it was buggy I stayed out of the woods... walked through the fields to the western end of the crazy bridge and then spent a while out on the bridge, both because I was enjoying it and because the bugs didn't seem to be out over the water. It's amzing how the pond has gotten choked with water lillies and duckweed since I was there last. Didn't spot much in the water, but I didn't expect to (it was getting toward dusk, not much reason for the turtles and fish to be out and about.) I did spot a group of wood ducks about halfway between the bridge and the far shore of the pond... at least I think they were wood ducks, it was hard to be sure even with my camera on full zoom.
The wildflowers were blooming in the fields... lots of daisies and black-eyed susans. I've got to get back there during the day sometime to get some photos with better lighting - what can I say, fields of wildflowers make me happy.
Walking along the edge of the pond I startled a sizeable group of geese and goslings (three adults, and I think seven youngsters?) into the pond. One group of goslings was starting to have their adult colors coming in... the warm spring really got them off to an early start this year. They clearly found it work to push through the duckweed, so the not-so-little squirts all ended up in a line behind an adult... fun to watch. I walked all the way down to the small bridge near the entrance to the woods, and startled a deer that was in the swamp beyond the bridge. I don't think she knew what to make of me when I laid down on the bridge to get the clearest shots I could (under the overhanging foliage.)
One of these days I'm going to have to go over there when I have enough time to wander down to the Shaker Historic Site... while it's not as elaborate as the Hancock Shaker Village over in MA, I'm still interested in taking a look at the old buildings.
JMH
Monday, June 21, 2010
OK, if I don't want to smell like bug spray I need to find some other way to keep from getting chewed up by the $#%@&**@$!! mosquitoes. If only I could train a squad of dragonflies to follow me around and eat them...
Since it was buggy I stayed out of the woods... walked through the fields to the western end of the crazy bridge and then spent a while out on the bridge, both because I was enjoying it and because the bugs didn't seem to be out over the water. It's amzing how the pond has gotten choked with water lillies and duckweed since I was there last. Didn't spot much in the water, but I didn't expect to (it was getting toward dusk, not much reason for the turtles and fish to be out and about.) I did spot a group of wood ducks about halfway between the bridge and the far shore of the pond... at least I think they were wood ducks, it was hard to be sure even with my camera on full zoom.
The wildflowers were blooming in the fields... lots of daisies and black-eyed susans. I've got to get back there during the day sometime to get some photos with better lighting - what can I say, fields of wildflowers make me happy.
Walking along the edge of the pond I startled a sizeable group of geese and goslings (three adults, and I think seven youngsters?) into the pond. One group of goslings was starting to have their adult colors coming in... the warm spring really got them off to an early start this year. They clearly found it work to push through the duckweed, so the not-so-little squirts all ended up in a line behind an adult... fun to watch. I walked all the way down to the small bridge near the entrance to the woods, and startled a deer that was in the swamp beyond the bridge. I don't think she knew what to make of me when I laid down on the bridge to get the clearest shots I could (under the overhanging foliage.)
One of these days I'm going to have to go over there when I have enough time to wander down to the Shaker Historic Site... while it's not as elaborate as the Hancock Shaker Village over in MA, I'm still interested in taking a look at the old buildings.
JMH
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Monday, June 07, 2010
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Friday, June 04, 2010
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
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