Last Vestiges of Winter

It is late March in Northern New Jersey, and dirty piles of leftover snow have just about melted away.  Along back trails of the Ramapo Mountains, streams are flowing again creating interesting shapes and patterns in their melting ice. Sandy, our faithful hiking companion back then, was exhausted after this particular late March day ….in 2006.

Thanks for Viewing. Comments are always welcome, and zooooooom in for a closer look!  M 🙂

Grand Canyon to Tetons

A slightly different take on two great national parks.

Above: Kaibab Trail, South Rim Grand Canyon – 8/7/95

Thanks for viewing, and comments are always welcome. Zoooom in for a closer look. M 🙂

Above: Early morning fog (referring to the photographer, me!) and Jackson Hole – 8/11/90

Fly-Over Salute to First Line Heroes

Most of the country, and particularily cities like New York, continue in a state of shut-down due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Today, a most welcome and meaningful show of support was heralded simultaneously by the Navy’s Blue Angels, and Air Force’s Thunderbirds, seen below flying from just south of the George Washington Bridge, to The Freedom Tower in lower Manhattan.
I joined about 30, mostly masked onlookers atop a basalt outcropping near Goffle Road, Hawthorn, NJ, to witness the event some 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) distant from Manhattan. Close-ups are seen through ground haze, and a 600mm  lens.


Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome, and zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂

The Piermont Pier

 

           About four weeks ago, in one of our last ventures before the Corvid-19 Pandemic, we visited the little town of Piermont, New York …on the Hudson River, and explored its 182 year old rock and earthen pier, which by 1851 served as a loading and unloading track bed for Erie Railroad trains picking up steamboat passengers from Lower Manhattan, twenty-five miles to the South.  On the then longest rail line in the world, vacationers would travel 450 miles (724 km) to Dunkirk, NY and the shores of  Lake Erie.   Some hundred years later, long after the excursions were outmoded, tens of thousands of WW II troops would depart from this same mile long pier to ferries, and transfer onto troop ships in NY Harbor. Sadly, thousands would literally leave their last footsteps on U.S. soil right here. A monument nearby is solemnly named “Last Stop, USA.”

The Piermont Pier is located about two miles (3.2 km)south of the new Mario Cuomo Bridge, jutting out a little less than one mile (1.61 km) into the Hudson River.

The old steamship/ferry slip from years ago is seen above,  …to the left.

Above: Today, the pier is a commercial, residential, and hiking park.

Remnants of the steamship/ferry docks can still be seen in this 2/23/20 view looking south. New York City would be just beyond Tallman Mountain to the right.

Above: A bollard, used for securing heavy lines, is seen here near the end of the pier, looking south.

Above: The trestle part of the new bridge, carrying the New York State Thruway, is about two miles (3.2 km) to the North; and Hook Mountain, overlooking the Hudson, is seen beyond.

Above: The striking new Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge; and two miles (3.2 km) further, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse off Tarrytown, NY seen to the left of center span.

Taken some years ago while boating on the Hudson, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse, also know as Tarrytown Lighthouse or Kingsland Point Lighthouse, was “installed” in 1883.

Thanks for viewing. Zoom in for a closer look.

And a special note: BE WELL, …and please use best judgement practices as we “navigate” through these un-precedented difficult times.    M

I’d like to thank the Piermont Historical Society for their added information concerning this topic, and Wikipedia. I am a proud contributer/donator to both sources.

 

 

 

Yosemite Falls – Silhouette

Offering a break from winter blues, below is a late summer image of the top of one of the world’s most photographed waterfalls – during the dry season.

August, 16, 1972
Cascading 2,425 feet (739m) into Yosemite Valley, California, water flow reaches maximum volumn during late spring snow melts.

EXA SLR 35mm film camera, 200mm Vivitar, f 3.5 lens

          Thanks for viewing, and comments are always welcome. M 🙂

Bear Mountain – Forty Miles From “One World Trade Center”

This past week I drove up to Harriman State Park, NY, on the Hudson River. From the top of Bear Mountain, New York City, 30 to 40 miles to the south, is visible on clear days.

The top image is from just below the Bear Mountain Tower, and shows the vista to the south.  The next image is from the same capture, enlarged and enhanced. In it, NYC’s skyline is clearly seen, with the George Washington Bridge at far left, …and “One World Trade Center” at far right. The iconic and once dominent Empire State Building is seen right of “Central Park Tower” the newest and now tallest building in the city …EXCEPT for the tower on One World Trade Center. (click the link below to see my previous post showing the very top of that tower.)

A view from the eastern side of the mountain,  Bear Mountain Bridge crosses the Hudson River 

Thanks for viewing, zoom in for a closer look and comments are always welcome. M 🙂