On this spring equinox morning a huge sun, filtered by morning clouds, hangs over East Hill and Cornell University. Taken from our home on West Hill, looking across the valley and Ithaca, New York.
The temperature is a balmy 18 degrees F.
Can you pick out these Cornell landmarks?
— Jenny McGraw Tower
— Lib Slope still covered in snow from last week’s storm.
— the looming fortress shape of Bradford Hall.
Can You Find the Eye of the Needle?
Peter’s mesa is at the center of Superstition Wilderness treasure legends. I was a member of an expedition to the top of the Mesa March 2008. This is a sunset view, looking south, southwest. Light raking across the desolation and an approaching storm behind Miner’s Needle create a fascinating spectacle. Ancient volcanism, apparent throughout the Superstition Wilderness, is here seen in the texture, form and type of rock as well as the mineral deposits. Miner’s Needle, like Weaver’s Needle (no seen in this view), are eroded volcanic summits. Look closely for the “eye” of Miner’s Needle, backlit by the storm cloud itself lit by the setting sun. To this day, hopeful prospectors search for gold nuggets around the Needle. There is one form of volcanism present today as an eerie rumble or hiss, similar to an enormous distant jet engine. We heard now and then during our two days on the mesa, louder and closer than a overhead plane could produce. The view includes many notable Sonoran desert plants. Many young Saguaro cactus are in the form of green poles and, on the rim of the ravine running left to right below the closer ridge, an excellent specimen with multiple arms. Catching the dramatic light, on the ridge is a tall single flower of an Agave, known as the “Century Plant” it flowers once in a long life and dies.
Peters Mesa is named after “Old Pete” Gottfried Petrasch, father of Hermann and Rhiney Petrasch. Old Pete worked for Jim Bark for awhile in the 1890s doing odd jobs. Irregular employment gave Pete and Sons time to s searched for the Lost Dutchman Mine in the years following the death of the source of the legend, the “Dutchman” Jacob Waltz. The Petrasches were one of the first groups to search for the mine, and gold in general. They covered almost the entire Superstition range in their combined searches.
On our first day on the Mesa we came across the remains of one of these camp, on the top of Squaw Canyon. This was only deplorable junk a presumably disappointed bunch of searchers were too lazy to cart out. That March, we were lucky to find the remants of winter rains in the form of a meager trickle at the bottom of a shallow draw off Peter’s Mesa trail up from La Barge canyon. We had a good time of it until the trip was cut short by a storm front and torrential rains. We were back in Apache Junction before they hit.
This panorama is from our last evening on the Mesa. As the sun set I put the Kodak DSLR with a 50 MM lens on a Manfrotto tripod and hiked a mile higher onto the mesa for a view of Miner’s Needle. I quit only after the last light was extinguished by the approaching front. My reward for persistence was this dramatic light ennobling a craggy desolation. This is a composite of several images, combined using Photoshop. I have since invested in a Canon 24 mm wide angle lens.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day 2021 “No Snakes”
Number six of six from the Kerry County side on the descent Healy Pass, R574. Here we move away from, say goodbye (hopefully, for now) to these marvelous views, our first sight of County Kerry.
Two more strange, conical hills come into view, repeating those in the distance. These have a long story.
Beara Peninsula, Coolcreen townland, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland.
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Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Charlemagne
Continued….yesterday included a view along a fairway of Saint Ann’s Hill on which Marantha House B&B is sited. Not far away was a pasture where Charlemagne, a rescued former show horse lives. Our first evening, the one just before this morning, I brought an apple out to Charlemagne. The next morning I returned with another apple to share. Charlemagne rewarded me with a brilliant approach I captured below with my Sony Alpha DSLR with variable lens.
Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Coolcreen Townland
Number three of six from the Kerry County side on the descent Healy Pass, R574. I enhanced view three to level the horizon. A side by side comparison is provided, below.
It is possible to just make out several lake houses. Click me for more information about who live here during the early twentieth century.
Click me to learn more about the name of the lake.
Beara Peninsula, Coolcreen townland, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland.
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Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
on the jug path
Under a crystal blue September sky, my wife and I climbed into the gorge of Bear Swamp Creek to the foot of this waterfall past the site of a distillery where, years ago, locals used to frequent using a “jug path.”
The creek is strictly protected as part of the water source for Syracuse, flowing from the Skaneateles Highlands past historical villages such as “New Hope.” Before merging with Skaneateles Lake, the creek traverses this 90 foot fall, call Carpenter Falls.
You need to climb the steep slopes of the gorge for this unobstructed view.
It is even possible to climb to the ledge behind the water. Standing on the ledge, the stream passes 50 feet overhead. It is a lovely view down the gorge in all seasons.
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This site is protected by the Finger Lakes Land Trust.
Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
horizontal
Number five of six from the Kerry County side on the descent Healy Pass, R574. Less sky and more land in this horizontal aspect.
Lavender hedgerows drawn the eye to that conical distant hill. In the lower left the new rhododendron leaves are flower-like.
Beara Peninsula, Coolcreen townland, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland.
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Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day
Number four of six from the Kerry County side on the descent Healy Pass, R574. Here I turn the camera on the Manfrotto studio tripod with hydrostatic ball head to the original view, a little less lit with a better leveling of the horizon.
A first glance, the rhododendrons in bloom are beautiful along the hedgerows and the foreground. Click me for our first encounter with this flowering plant. Later, during out stay at Ashford Castle, County Mayo, during kayaking on Lough Corrib, I remembered this scene and described it to my guide. He filled me in the rhododendron is a notorious invasive species. Click me for an interesting article with all the details.
Here is story of visitors LOST in a rhododendron forest.
Beara Peninsula, Coolcreen townland, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland.
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Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Coolcreen Townland
Number three of six from the Kerry County side on the descent Healy Pass, R574. I turned the camera a few more degrees into the gathering darkness, under the cloud, for an almost complete view of Glanmore Lake.
It is possible to just make out several lake houses. Click me for more information about who live here during the early twentieth century.
Click me to learn more about the name of the lake.
Beara Peninsula, Coolcreen townland, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland.
You can easily view a higher resolution versions by clicking on the photograph to open a browser tab.
Click photograph for a larger version.
Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Coolcreen Townland
Number two of six from the Kerry County side on the descent Healy Pass, R574. The dynamic range is a photographic challenge: the scene darkens as a cloud covers the westering sun, I turn the camera toward Glanmore Lake. The large, distant water is a bay on the North Atlantic named for the city at the foot, Kenmare.
Beara Peninsula, Coolcreen townland, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland.
You can easily view a higher resolution versions by clicking on the photograph to open a browser tab.
Click photograph for a larger version.
Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 