Tag Archives: Nature Photography

It’s About Time!

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“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.”

– Jack Kerouac

All week long the weather folks have been promising us that we were in store for a beautiful day today. With temps in the high 60’s, it hasn’t been this nice in a long, long time. After a winter of nor’easters, snow and freezing rain, I firmly believe that we were owed a day like today. Ignore the fact that tomorrow the high is supposed to be 38 and they are saying we might get some sleet, I’ll take a day like today anytime I can.

Starting at just around 6:20 am, the temperature was an incredible 52 degrees and the sky was devoid of any clouds. There is really nothing I can say to describe just how glorious it was! I can’t think of to many other things I would have rather been doing this morning.

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My first critter sighting of the new hiking season. He came within a half of a step of going to froggy heaven.

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My new friend giving me the peace sign after not losing his life.

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My trusty pack and poles resting on one of the rocks where I take breaks.

Happy Hiking!!!

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Early April Sunset

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“The time is now, the place is here. Stay in the present. You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you plan or hope for.”
―Dan Millman

If you have had a chance to look through The Zen Hiker, you’ll know that I love sunsets (who doesn’t?) and naked trees. I think that we can all agree that the reasons to love a sunset are plentiful and obvious. Naked trees, however, might be a harder sell.

So, the pictures below have those two things together. As the sun started to set this evening, my daughter remarked that the colors were much darker than usual. Grabbing my camera,  I went outside to get a picture of the sunset. Here’s what I got.

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The view from my backyard. Naked trees and a sunset!!

After I took this picture, I turned around to change my lens and saw the sunset on the trees behind me. It had an eerily calming effect on me as I prepared to take another picture.

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A very cool view of the trees behind my house.

This third and final picture was taken about 15 minutes after the first one. The only thing that could have made taking these photos any better was if I had been out camping and was able to get the same shots.

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Cee’s Which Way Challenge

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The photographs below are all from one of my all time favorite hiking spots. Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is located in Northern Westchester County, NY and offers many miles of excellent hiking. The photos represent a time period from summer until the beginning of fall.

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Out Of This World

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“Every moment, a voice, out of this world, calls on our soul, to wake up and rise.”

— Rumi

Every time I look at this photograph, I get the same feeling I did when I first hiked the trail. The instructions for this challenge say to, “share a picture that takes us on a journey into the unknown.”  Although I have done a great deal of my hiking in this area, this one was a new for me. As I headed up the road, I couldn’t see anything much farther than where I was walking. As the minutes passed, I began to get a strange sense that something could be lurking just around the next corner or off the side just off of the trail.

Of course I knew that their was (almost) no chance that anything could actually be lurking in the woods, but this picture invites you into the unknown and out of this world.

 

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Out of This World

My Favorite Place

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“When you leave a beautiful place, you carry it with you wherever you go.”

-Alexandra Stoddard

Looking across the Hudson River and directly above the bridge is Anthony’s Nose, a favorite hiking destination for many folks in the Hudson Valley and beyond! The Nose is accessible from several starting points, all which offer varying degrees of difficulty.

Why is this my favorite place? For over 20 years, in good times and bad, the Nose has been a place where I could go for peace, quiet and when available, solitude.

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Favorite Place

Radiant

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“We are beyond words.”

-Rumi

Taken after several days of rain, I was out hiking and when I stopped for water I looked up and saw the most beautiful blue sky with puffy white clouds mixed in. Since all I had seen for days were grey skies, the sense of relief I got when I looked up was remarkable. 

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Radiant

Sunrise (2)-WPC

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“Sunrise looks spectacular in the nature; sunrise looks spectacular in the photos; sunrise looks spectacular in our dreams; sunrise looks spectacular in the paintings, because it really is spectacular!”
―Mehmet Murat Ildan

This sunrise photo is from November 5, 2017

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Rise/Set

Sunset-WPC

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“The sky takes on shades of orange during sunrise and sunset, the colour that gives you hope that the sun will set only to rise again.”
-Ram Charan

The sunset last night in Mahopac, NY.

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Rise/Set

Croton Falls Diverting Dam

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With the copious amounts of rain and snow that we have received recently, our reservoirs are full and they have reached their peak and are now overflowing.

Approximately 10 Miles from my house is the Croton Falls Diverting Dam. Only a few times a year are we given the privilege of seeing the reservoirs water cascade over into the spillway.

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6 Days, 21 Hours And 15 Minutes

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On Friday March 2nd and Wednesday March 7th, we were hit with two nor easters. The first one dumped 2 inches of rain and then 8 inches of snow. The second was a snow only event and when it was over, 19.5 inches of snow blanketed our area. To add insult to injury, high winds during both storms caused extensive damage to the Hudson Valley Of New York.

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The woods behind my house at the start of Wednesday’s storm.

This is where the fun begins. At 5pm that Friday, we lost power. Now when we lose power, that means everything. No heat, hot water, nothing. Of course we notified the power company and waited. Saturday came and went and we waited some more. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday passed and we waited. As each day creeped on, it got colder and colder in the house.

Daily calls to the power company did no good. Don’t worry they said, we’re doing everything we can to get you back online they said. Thursday then became an effort just to stay warm. Our county was in a state of emergency and all non emergency vehicles were not allowed on the roads.

Fast forward to Friday. With the house hovering at around 40 degrees, tempers were now starting to wear thin. After an incredibly long week, it was time. Time for life to get back to normal. So, after 6 days, 21 hours and 15 minutes, our power was restored and as if nothing ever happened, our lives continued.

With that said, it’s times like these that make me realize how lucky we are to live in the country that we do. We had to do without things that we take for granted-heat, hot water, just plain running water for a week and although it wasn’t the worst, it was uncomfortable.

This is my tale of woe.