Northernmost, glaciated section of the Allegheny Plateau
For my last autumn posting this last day of November 2022 this colorful hall of trees is on the long descent of Lacey Road from Cortland to Tioga Counties where it passes close the meeting point of three counties near the Robinson Hollow State Forest, the third being Tompkins County.
We are travelling south on a northernmost, glaciated section of the Allegheny Plateau. In the 19th Century a lawyer named Calvin J. Robinson was a prominent citizen of nearby Richford.
sunlight, dappled shade
South/Southwest view from the long hill into Harford, stopping to admire the effect of sunlight, dappled shade and bright yellow, orange, red against the distant ridge sheltering Robinson Hollow. Near Harford, Cortland County, New York.
Drumlin, from the Irish word droimnín (“littlest ridge”)
Carpenter Hill from Virgil Road, Route 392, looking across cornstalk stubble and McClintock Road, a faded yellow barn with “Vinda Acres” written on the doors.
The hill is clearly a drumlin. A drumlin, from the Irish word droimnín (“littlest ridge”), first recorded in 1833, is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or ground moraine.
Distant ridges on the right include Hammond Hill. The road to Virgil above the town of Dryden, Tompkins County, New York.
Remembered this All Saints Day
The United States Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp number SP 33, inaugurated May 1, 1934, Marathon New York, worked four years (1934-1938) to improve Fillmore Glen State Park.
We can see the work to maintain the CCC work continues today by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Look closely to see the cable flowing from the south gorge rim (to right) by which the limestone, out of sight along the gallery, was lowered for this project. There are building supplies at Bridge Five and Six, both left in these photographs.
Fillmore Glen, Cayuga County, Moravia. In the Finger Lakes Region of New York State
No Fracking Here!!
A faint organic whiff of Paleozoic Era generations follows hikers enjoying the Gorge Trail, an odor luring contemporary treasure seekers thankfully spurned by the December 2014 New York State fracking ban. Thanks to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s leadership, the ban protects public health, drinking water, the environment, local economies based on agriculture, tourism and small businesses. The ban on fracking sets the New York State apart for its climate leadership by leaving fossil fuels in the ground while the state simultaneously leads the nation in expanding renewable energy.
Fillmore Glen, Cayuga County, Moravia. In the Finger Lakes Region of New York State
A 400 Day Year
We walk the Gorge Trail surrounded by the remains of two mountain ranges (the Taconic and Acadian) as high or higher than the Himalayas. Humbled by the fullness of time the mountains persist, now as this layered, fractured, water and frost battered rock. When the first grains flowed here the Earth’s day was 22 hours, a year 400 days, the Moon’s relative closeness moved tides higher. Four billion years ago, the first formed Moon was only 3.8 Earth radii, 15,000 miles, away. Today, a half billion years after the Cambrian, the distance averages 30 Earth radii (250,000 miles) and increasing at the almighty’s pace through the daily round of tides.
Fillmore Glen, Cayuga County, Moravia. In the Finger Lakes Region of New York State
silhouette
This branch of spent, lancate leaves with hanging seeds grows wild on the slopes above Treman Gorge in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.
Assistance with identification of this tree is requested. Please leave your suggestions as comments to this post. Thank You, everyone.
A Wall with Moss Padding
A Finger Lakes Trail footbridge crosses Fish Kill on the edge of Treman State Park.
These are images of the sky reflected on Fish Kill from that footbridge on August 24, 2022.
Robert H. Treman State Park, Enfield, Tompkins County, Finger Lakes Region, New York State
Climb down the cliff stair, 223 of them, to this quiet place.
A sole individual views Lucifer Falls from the Gorge Trail footbridge.
Climb down the cliff stair, 223 of them, to this quiet place.
A place for quiet contemplation within the Treman Gorge, only accessible via a 15 minute hike. Robert H. Treman New York State Park on a late October afternoon.
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 
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