travel – Page 55 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Gorge Exploration

Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, New York

September 30, 2022September 30, 2022 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

Late August last I captured these photographs and videos on the fly using an Iphone7 while Pam and I walked Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, New York. Click me for “The Space Station and the Waterfall,” another glen exploration.

Ephemeral Waterfall

Metal Intrusion

Spring thaw washed away the gorge wall, this functional metal bridge will outlast all but the most catastrophic gorge wall disruptions.

Graceful Waterfall Overview

Flora

White Baneberry, aka “Dolls Eyes,” a fascinating plant, entirely poisonous.

All parts of all Baneberry varieties (red and white) are highly poisonous, the bane of Baneberry. The berries are deadly. Ingestion of as few as two berries by children will cause death from cardiac arrest. Six for an adult.

Landscape Features

Overview, Spillway and Pond

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Marked Saguaro

Signpost to Gold?

September 27, 2022October 3, 2022 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

Lost gold mine legends tell of Saguaros bearing secret markings leading to the hidden location of rich gold mines. This specimen, perched on an ancient volcanic boulder, lives in LaBarge Canyon along the Dutchman trail.

Click Me for the next Superstition Wildness post, “Riparian.”

Sky Reflections

A Wall with Moss Padding

September 26, 2022September 20, 2022 MichaelStephenWills7 Comments

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

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Ominous Splendor

Why are the hills red?

September 25, 2022October 3, 2022 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

This view from Dutchman Trail was taken on the red line trail (below) between Black Top Mesa (out of view, on left) and Bluff Springs Mountain (right), on the approach to White Rock Spring and LaBarge canyon (the large canyon at the north end (left) of the red line.

Terrapin Trail to White Rock Spring on Dutchman Trail

Looking Northwest, in the distance is Malapais Mountain behind Red Hills. Volcanic rock and Cholla cactus in foreground followed by Prickly Pear and Saguaro cactus. “Malapais” means “bad country,” an apt description for this terrain where the skull of Adolf Ruth was discovered near the Red Hills. Three fourth of a mile away, the rest of him was discovered on the slope of Black Top Mesa by a search party, January 8, 1932. Ruth walked this same trail, passing this very spot.

Click Me for the next Superstition Wilderness post, “Marked Saguaro.”

Contemplation II

Climb down the cliff stair, 223 of them, to this quiet place.

September 24, 2022October 18, 2023 MichaelStephenWills7 Comments

A sole individual views Lucifer Falls from the Gorge Trail footbridge.

Click photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Click for a slideshow of this sequence of Lucifer Falls view from the overlook.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Contemplation I

Climb down the cliff stair, 223 of them, to this quiet place.

September 23, 2022September 17, 2022 MichaelStephenWills15 Comments

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.

Click photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Click for a slideshow of this sequence of Lucifer Falls view from the overlook.

From the Overlook

Autumn hills

September 22, 2022September 22, 2022 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Standing on Enfield Gorge rim above Lucifer Falls on a clear October afternoon, the slopes of the far gorge cloaked in shades of green, yellow and red.

Below, the Gorge Trail runs below a sedimentary rock cliff.

Click photographs for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Click for a slideshow of this sequence of Lucifer Falls view from the overlook.

Desert Color

Wildflowers on Dutchman Trail

September 21, 2022October 3, 2022 MichaelStephenWills

Those cliffs above the Dutchman Trail (in red from the push pin “Dutchman Terrapin Trail Junction”) climb 670 feet in 0.2 mile. Fifteen minutes after starting I stopped to photograph a group of wildflowers.

The bright yellow flowers on right are a member of the pea (Fabaceae) family named Wright’s Deervetch (Acmispon wrightii) I am able to pick it out from many similar flowers due to the characteristic narrow leaves with small hairs. These start out yellow, turning to red with age eventually forming brown seed pods. Mexican Poppy (Eschscholtzia californica) to the right.