On the way to “Devil’s Kitchen”
This trail, built into the slate/sandstone gorge wall, follows the descent of Lucifer Falls. Here we view the brink and the path alongside. Follow this trail to Devil’s Kitchen, up and around the corner.
Three Summer Hikes
“Out in the meadow, I picked a wild sunflower, and as I looked into its golden heart, such a wave of homesickness came over me that I almost wept. I wanted Mother, with her gentle voice and quiet firmness; I longed to hear Father’s jolly songs and to see his twinkling blue eyes; I was lonesome for the sister with whom I used to play in the meadow picking daisies and wild sunflowers.”
from “Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist, Writings from the Ozarks” edited by Stephen W. Hines”
A quiet moment……
and a shifting of crops to (human) wheat from (cow) corn
Wednesday, June 15th, we were on a turn to heat and humidity with this day of light breeze, temperature in the 70s making hiking around Tremen Park a joy.
These snapshots, taken on the fly with an IPhone 7, are the high points.
The first is a dandelion look alike with yellow flowers, petals shaped like teeth, though on a long hard stem and multiple flowers on a stalk. Known as meadow hawkweed, yellow hawkweed, field hawkweed, king devil, yellow paintbrush, devil’s paintbrush, yellow devil, yellow fox-and-cubs, and yellow king-devil with two scientific names: Pilosella caespitosa and Hieracium caespitosum.
Click for slideshow.
Sere grasses
The Finger Lakes are formed by a series of inclined planes spread across central New York State.
Here we look northwest across the land between Cayuga and Seneca lakes, all forests and farm land. Seneca Lake is not visible,15 miles distant, and the Finger Lakes National Forest in between.
The only town is Hector, New York, population 4,854 in the 2,000 census. The foreground are sere grasses, a field of beef cattle and pond.
compare portrait vs. landscape orientation.
Unharvested apples on the ground and branches of this apple orchard off Black Oak Road on the slopes of Connecticut Hill, Newfield in the Finger Lakes of New York.
apples cling into winter
Unharvested apples on the ground and branches of this apple orchard off Black Oak Road on the slopes of Connecticut Hill, Newfield in the Finger Lakes of New York.
Autumn Ridge
Black Oak Road approaches Connecticut Hill from the north. At this point a long view to west opens up that include Cayuta Lake and the distant highlands of Seneca Lake.
A Long View
Here we have a vista of Bostwick Road descent off West hill into the Enfield valley and, then, in the distance, up Harvey Hill. Late autumn foliage graces the scene.
compare portrait vs. landscape orientation.
On our roundabout return from Finger Lakes National Forest we turned off Rt 79 at Mecklenburg onto county route 6 that becomes McIntyre Road in this stretch between two right angle curves. We turned off at the western curve with this fine autumn overlook toward Buck Hill.
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.
Best Morning View
Mornings are best for the west side of Finger Lakes National Forest ridge facing west over Seneca Lake. Set deep between hills, lake water is not visible, the distant land is the west side of the lake.
An abandoned church converted to Community Center is the distant steeple, marking the hamlet of Logan. I played a bit with the vista, moving forward and across, forgoing temptation to bring the autumn foliage front and center as this was private pasture, was 50 feet in as it was.
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 