One hundred and fifty feet in a series of steep climbs is the effort expended to reach the relatively level portion of South Rim Trail where the tall Red Pines briefly reign. Here the trees thrive on the northeast facing slope. They grow in this way in one other location, in the upper park, on an eponymous trail.
Encounters with groups of people descending always demanded I step off the trail to allow social distancing. Everyone work a flimsy face covering, although Governor Coumo’s order covers situations where social distancing is not possible. As of you, we do not have the loose masks; but only the N95 or a full respirator (both acquired very early on, our respirators were purchased for spreading lawn chemicals and spray painting).
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Red Pine
Red Pine (Pinus resinosa), also know as Norway Pine, shed pollen prolifically. Some Aprils my boots are covered with it, a dusting of yellow. Not today.
Wintergreen with Red Berry
A species easy to spot among the green, an example of a shrub of the genus Gaultheria, though a very small specimen. The common name is wintergreen and I have never found larger specimens in Treman park. It is growing among the mosses on the wall of Enfield Glen South Rim.
Macro, Red Berry and Leaves of Wintergreen with unidentified moss
The tough wintergreen leaves endue the cold seasons, the name is synonymous with evergreen.
Both shots are handheld, the macro is from a 100 mm “macro” fixed focus lens. ISO 2500, the f-stop to be wide open at 2.8 to gather the sparse light and present the subjects, blurring the immediate background. The overview shot is also a high ISO, 2000, the f-stop 5.8 on a variable focus lens set to 60 mm.
Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
This series of posts opens with the ascent to where the wildflowers grow.
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Lower Falls
After just a taste of the climb to come, hikers are treated to an view of the Lower Falls of Enfield Creek. I call them the Wedding Cake. Summertime, a dam is erected, the water is deep enough to dive into the very cold creek water, lower than 70 degrees.
Here is a recapitulation of my latest posts in the form of a slideshow.
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Robert H. Treman New York State Park.
Lower Lucifer Falls, early spring eveningLucifer Falls, early spring eveningPam on the Cliff StaircasePam examines the mossSo Like a Christmas TreeCliff StairLucifer Falls with Hemlock CurtainIcicle WonderlandSudden Frost April, Cliff StairsIcicles, Cliff StairSedimentary WallsIcicles hang over Fish KillRim Trail AscentRim Trail iciclesRim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.Gully IGully IIVernal Pool with Vinca VineBeneath the Cliff Stairs IIBeneath the Cliff Stairs IRim Trail AscentFern, Moss, young trees, April SnowFresh Icicle with FernFern Frond with Early April SnowLate April Snow dusted with light
Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
It is the Gorge Trail that’s closed for the cold months, November through April. The Rim Trail remains open for those who dare icy, steep paths Unlike Gorge Trail, Rim Trail climbs above the dangerous cliffs from which rocks are wedged free by ice to fall on the trail. On an early spring day, after a sudden frost, we walked the Rim Trail to capture the moment.
Here is the steep start, climbing up from the Upper Park where a footbridge crosses Fish Kill. Kill is the old Dutch word for creek. Fish Kill mergers with Enfield Creek a few hundred feet downstream.
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Rim Trail Ascent
This north facing slope stays frozen into May. Here layers of the sedimentary rock shale, laid down in a shallow warm sea over 350 million years ago, are slowly pried apart. Hemlock tree roots wedge between rock layers, slowly growing. The action of ice, water expands in volume at the point of freezing, aids the process.
In places the rock face appears to be a hastily made dry stone wall, the rock layers are so disrupted by plant and frost.
Rim Trail icicles
These shots were hand held. I used a Sony Alpha 700 dslr with a variable “zoom” lens, great for framing compositions.
Robert H. Treman New York State Park.
Click for a slideshow of this Waterfall of the Old Mill sequence
Falls by the Old Mill, early springThe falls run free of ice. On an early spring day, after a sudden frost, we walked the Rim Trail to capture the moment.The falls run free of ice. On an early spring day, after a sudden frost, we walked the Rim Trail to capture the moment.New icicles formed overnight from seeps through the sedimentary walls around the Waterfall by the Old Mill. On an early spring day, after a sudden frost, we walked the Rim Trail to capture the moment.Rim Trail icicles
Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Here the Rim Trail climbs out of the flats beneath the Cliff Stairs, away from Enfield Creek, onto the upper slopes of the gorge.
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Rim Trail Ascent
Early spring snow highlights the path, threading between hemlocks. The American realistic painter Andrew Wyeth comes to mind with I see the mottled texture of this light snow. He captured some of this in landscape paintings such as “Snow Flurries.”
Here is more of this effect……
Fern, Moss, young trees, April Snow
These shots were hand held. I used a Sony Alpha 700 dslr with a variable “zoom” lens, great for framing compositions.
Robert H. Treman New York State Park.
Click for a slideshow of this Fertile Flats sequence.
Beneath the Cliff Stairs IBeneath the Cliff Stairs IIRim Trail AscentVernal Pool with Vinca VineFern, Moss, young trees, April Snow
Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
A broad, fertile flat between gorge walls supports a dense growth of invasive creeping myrtle. Springtime there is a sprinkling of small blue flowers, this may be the source of another name, periwinkle, or lesser periwinkle.
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Beneath the Cliff Stairs I
Periwinkle is an evergreen and in early times vinca vine (another name we call it, from the scientific name Vinca Minor) was planted in graveyards and cemeteries. The isolated growth of vinca vine in this section of the gorge maybe from such a planting on a lost grave.
Beneath the Cliff Stairs II
Today, the park practices leaving fallen trees in place, here they are covered in years of moss, a memory of headstones. Lesser Perriwinkle is significant for the living as the source of vincamine, from the leaves. A synthetic form of this compound is a potent vasodilator, a therapeutic treatment for stroke and other brain disorders.
These shots were hand held. I used a Sony Alpha 700 dslr with a variable “zoom” lens, great for framing compositions.
Robert H. Treman New York State Park.
Source: Wikipedia, “Vinca Minor.”
Click for a slideshow of this Fertile Flats sequence.
Beneath the Cliff Stairs IBeneath the Cliff Stairs IIVernal Pool with Vinca Vine
Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Melting snow, spring rains, gather in hollows of the forest floor to form ephemeral pools important for the development of amphibian life.
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Vernal Pool with Vinca Vine
Also named vernal pools, from the Latin word for spring or the time of the equinox. The pools are ephemeral in the sense of being temporary, disappearing in the warmer, dryer late spring and summer months, a characteristic important for amphibian live in being devoid of predatory fish.
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 