“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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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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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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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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Father and Daughter
These people clambered up for a shot while I was set up to capture the scene at the perfect light. They wasted my precious moments of light. Luckily, I managed captures while the child was out of sight, shared in yesterday’s post. These photos were accepted by Getty as “editorial” content.
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at sunset
Here is a formation seemingly created to capture the human imagination. I spent time attempting to get it right. At one point, the setting sun emerged from the clouds to light the scene.
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Baby-Finn
For Pam’s return trip I recall a favorite episode of Finn McCool’s, the mythical hunter-warrior associated with the Giant’s Causeway. Fearing a match with an opponent sure to defeat him, Finn relied on the wits of his wife, Oona, who dressed him up as a baby. She made griddle cakes, hiding an iron skillet in one or two. The giant, given the iron cakes, suffered broken teeth. Baby-Finn wolfed his cakes down. Overawed, the giant fled back to Scotland, fearing to face the man who’d grow from a baby such as that, tearing up the road (The Giant’s Causeway) behind him, to prevent Finn from following.
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The Far Extent
Pam hiked as far as the Red Cliffs. Click me for more information about these deposits of weathered volcanic rock.
The cliff trail ended at a barrier, with sunlight running out Pam turned around.
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Dangerous Cliffs
We know of the danger of cliffs from our Finger Lakes Gorges. That solid edge can be anything but.
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Walking the Giant’s Causeway
Pam continued past the Causeway, exploring other features on a path along a broad, rocky beach.
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Michael Stephen Wills Photography 