Contemplation II repost
Climb down the cliff stair, 223 of them, to this quiet place.
Tag: New York
Contemplation I repost
Climb down the cliff stair, 223 of them, to this quiet place.
Click Me for this 2019 autumn wonder post.
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Hammond Hill Walk V
Facing the sun
I close this walk at the turnaround point, the high meadow, with a fireworks display of daisies.
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Hammond Hill Walk IV
“We Had A Great Ski — Tob”
New since I was last here, this bench, made from local “blue” limestone dedicated to the memory of cross country skiing.
Here are sounds you may experience while sitting here on a summer afternoon.
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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Hammond Hill Walk III
High Meadow
After birdsong, open spaces are an unexpected wonders of these walks. Nowhere listed on the map, and on private lands adjoining the forest, this meadow comes upon the hiker’s consciousness gradually as the trail approaches.
I have seen those gigantic seed heads here and there and never taken the time to research and identification. Do you recognize it?
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To be continued…..
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Hammond Hill Walk II
Diamond Strands
Hammond Hills walks are a solo affair for me. Pam joined in days past, summer and winter, and fell out of love with the lack of flowing water and bugs. The pleasures of the place, for me, are the miles and miles of varied trails, the sounds among silences, unexpected vistas from hilltops.
The trails themselves are unlovely, beaten down by mountain bike tires or grooved by skis. On the hills I am always on alert, listening for the sounds of bodies hurtling down. The bureaucrats called this “mixed use.” It could be worse, motors are excluded. Today there were two bikers.
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A sprinkling of wild rose.
The song of the Hermit Thrush, a sound of diamond strands, always stops me. Here are two 30 seconds clips.
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Click me for better experience viewing the following video. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page. Note the replay icon (an arrow circling counter-clockwise.
To be continued…..
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Hammond Hill Walk I
Buttercup Meadow
Hammond Hill New York State Forest is visible as an alluring height from many places of Tompkins and Cortland Counties. It is not on the list of tourist destinations, very popular for locals to mountain bike, and cross country ski at an advanced level for the steepness of some trails that wend over this high hill.
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The beauty of this wildflower meadow took me by surprise. The pink flower is a Bouncing Bet, AKA Soapwart. Scientific name Saponaria officinalis. The genera name is from the latin root for soap, “sapo.” The juice of the plant mixed with water can whip up a lather. Thus, also its common name, Soapwart.
The meadow is almost entirely buttercup. Click me for a post about a member of the buttercup family that is the first to flower.
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To be continued…..
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Loopy VII
Welcome Distraction
This Finger Lakes Trail / Treman Park / Cayuga Trails Loop concludes with these incredible trees and flowers
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The diversity of Fleabane throughout North America is simply enormous.
Fleabane Daisy
We end at the beginning. Here is more information about these flowers, in the captions.
Buttercup Going to Seed 
Seeding Phlox
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Loopy VI
Welcome Distraction
The Red Trail makes a turn up a slope of 10,000 year old glacial till. Here a side trail leads to a woodland waterfall.
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Fish Kill
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Loopy V
There and Back Again
Still photography does not do justice to the Phlox meadow of yesterday’s posting. Here is another presentation including the sights and sounds. Smello-vision does not yet exist.
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