Tag: icicle

Fresh Icicle with Fern

Fronds with Icicle

Fern Generations

MichaelStephenWills10 Comments

Spent and green fern frond with moss and icicles formed during an early April frost.

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  • Fresh Icicle with Fern
    Fresh Icicle with Fern

Fern generations are here with the spent fronds from earlier years, pale green survivors of this season.

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 macro slideshow.
  • Fresh Icicle with Fern
    Fresh Icicle with Fern
  • Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
    Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
  • Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
    Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
  • Acorn Still Life
  • Hydrangea Ensenada ClubAleman Chile February 15, 2016
    Hydrangea Ensenada ClubAleman Chile February 15, 2016

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Beneath the Cliff Stairs II

Periwinkle

Source of life-saving drug

MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

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
    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
    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 I
    Beneath the Cliff Stairs I
  • Beneath the Cliff Stairs II
    Beneath the Cliff Stairs II
  • Vernal Pool with Vinca Vine
    Vernal Pool with Vinca Vine

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Vernal Pool with Vinca Vine

Ephemeral

Amphibian haven, breeding place

MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

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
    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.

Here the pool forms on a flat beneath the walls of Enfield Gorge. Here is another photograph featuring the ephemeral winter theme, “The Cave.”

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.

Sources: Wikipedia, “Vernal Pool” and Merriam Webster online.

Click for a slideshow of a few photographs published recently.
  • Gully I
    Gully I
  • Gully II
    Gully II
  • Vernal Pool with Vinca Vine
    Vernal Pool with Vinca Vine

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Lucifer Falls, early spring evening

Sense of Scale

Humans dwarfed by the eons

MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

Lack of reference leads to a confused impression of this torrent of water. An adult human, standing on the lower rock ledges, will be dwarfed by the surroundings.

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  • Lower Lucifer Falls, early spring evening
    Lower Lucifer Falls, early spring evening

Lucifer Falls at moderate spring flood. The Gorge Trail is closed for the winter due to the danger of falling rock. The water volume can sweep an unwary hiker quickly over the brink.

The potential for fatalities is increased by black ice on the smooth slate walkways along the torrent. Can you spot the barrier blocking access to the path? I am at a secure perch at the falls overlook on the Rim Trail, opened at this season.

  • Lucifer Falls, early spring evening
    Lucifer Falls, early spring evening

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
  • Rim Trail Ascent
    Rim Trail Ascent
  • Rim Trail icicles
    Rim Trail icicles
  • Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
    Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
  • Gully I
    Gully I
  • Gully II
    Gully II

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Gully II

Gully vs. Ravine

I love the early spring light filtering through the hemlocks.

MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Rim trail traverses gullies. These creases in the gorge walls were formed by small streams flowing to Enfield Creek.

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  • Gully I
    Gully I

Some passages require a wade, others have elaborate walkways with bridges. I initially wanted to call these ravines. Upon researching the term discovered while ravines are formed by erosion, the scale here is much smaller. I could rename Enfield Gorge, to Enfield Ravine.

  • Gully II
    Gully II

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
  • Rim Trail Ascent
    Rim Trail Ascent
  • Rim Trail icicles
    Rim Trail icicles
  • Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
    Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
  • Gully I
    Gully I
  • Gully II
    Gully II

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.

Icicles!!

Key words: steep, icy

MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

Water drips steadily from seeps, places water follows hidden cracks to emerge from the darkness. In warm seasons these may be a patch of moisture enabling the growth of ferns, only becoming evident when air is cold enough to freeze slowly running water.

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  • Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
    Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.

These macros capture the Moss, Fern and Lichen. These thrive in this environment.

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 spring
    Falls by the Old Mill, early spring
  • Place where Fish Kill was harnessed to power the Old Mill
    Place where Fish Kill was harnessed to power the Old Mill
  • Falls by the Old Mill, early spring
    Fish Kill Waterfall at the Old Mill.
  • Sedimentary Walls
    Sedimentary Walls
  • Icicles hang over Fish Kill
    Icicles hang over Fish Kill
  • Rim Trail Ascent
    Rim Trail Ascent
  • Rim Trail icicles
    Rim Trail icicles
  • Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
    Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
  • Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern.
    This macro captures the Moss, Fern and Lichen. These thrive in this environment.

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

all Creek View Winter downstream

Frozen Dam

Views from the bridge on Christmas Eve 2019

MichaelStephenWills11 Comments

Here is a companion post for last Sunday’s photographs of Beebee Lake. This was taken where the lake outflow continues as Fall Creek. Enjoy!!

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Fall Creek View Winter upstream

The Arctic?

Views from the bridge on Christmas Eve 2019

MichaelStephenWills7 Comments

No, on the afternoon of Christmas Eve I took the 1.2 mile walk around Beebee Lake, wearing Yacktracs for the icy paths, after a series of very cold days.

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  • View of Beebee Lake
    View from Beebee bridge on Christmas Eve 2019

The lake surface resembled the images of a Saturn moon.

  • Icicles from Beebee Lake Bridge on Christmas Eve 2019

It is a picturesque structure, the bridge, spanning the mouth of a water filled gorge of Fall Creek.

  • all Creek View Winter downstream
    View of a frozen Fall Creek and the lake taken while standing on Beebee Lake Bridge on Christmas Eve 2019

Here is another photograph of the interesting lake surface. All photos of this post are from my IPhone.j

  • Fall Creek View Winter upstream
    View of a frozen Fall Creek and the lake taken while standing on Beebee Lake Bridge on Christmas Eve 2019

Fall Creek is frozen wall to wall of the gorge.

Slideshow of photographs in this series

  • View of Beebee Lake
    View from Beebee bridge on Christmas Eve 2019
  • Icicles from Beebee Lake Bridge on Christmas Eve 2019
  • all Creek View Winter downstream
    View of a frozen Fall Creek and the lake taken while standing on Beebee Lake Bridge on Christmas Eve 2019
  • Fall Creek View Winter upstream
    View of a frozen Fall Creek and the lake taken while standing on Beebee Lake Bridge on Christmas Eve 2019

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Bells for Christmas

What do “threes” mean to you?

MichaelStephenWills18 Comments

These icicles were formed along Fall Creek during the coldest months of February in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.

The transient nature of these forms is suggested by the thinness of the pedicle joining each bell to the ice lobe of the ledge. Note the golden crystals in the ice lobe.

This photograph is a visualization of the symbolic power of the numeral three, reflected on itself.  Question: what do “threes” mean to you?

Captured with the Sony DSLR-A700, DT 16-105mm F3.5-5.6 lens, hoya circular polarizing filter, mounted on the Manfrotto tripod with ball head.

Click this link for my “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” photography gallery.

Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills