Albany In The Distance

It was a fine December day with very little snow on the ground and I was driving to Wal-Mart to do my weekly shopping. But when I saw the Albany skyline deep down in the Hudson River Valley below, I just had to stop and snap a few photos:

I cropped this photo so that you could see some detail. That boxy building on the left is the State Museum and towers are the Empire State Plaza, of which The Egg is a part. To the far right is a black tower and there's a white spot just to the right of it. That's Nipper, the RCA dog:

War Memorial Tower Atop Mount Greylock

My next order of business was to visit the War Memorial Tower. A plaque informed me that it was built between 1931 and 1933 and dedicated before a crowd of 1200 people assembled on the summit (it must have been quite crowded up there). It was intended to stand as a beacon for peace, with its light beaming for miles from the atop the highest point in Massachusetts. I've seen the tower from atop Berlin Mountain in New York state, but only during the daytime. I've never seen it lit up at night:

I entered the base of the tower and was impressed by the beautiful rotunda with its elaborately painted ceiling:

The walls bore dedications to fallen war heroes:

One more look at the lovely ceiling before I began climbing the spiral staircase:

The stairs began in a narrow tube:

Which then opened up to a steel spiral stairway filled with people climbing up and down:

It was a shorter climb than the Pilgrim Memorial in Provincetown, though there were more people:

When I reached the very top, I could look out through the windows at the surrounding countryside. Plaques informed me what I was seeing. This is looking west toward the Hudson River Valley, The Taconic Mountains, the city of Albany and Berlin Mountain, all in New York:

Looking north toward the Adirondacks of New York, the towns of Williamstown and North Adams (Massachusetts) and the Green Mountains of Vermont:

Looking south toward the town of Cheshire, the Berkshire Mountains, Onota Lake, the city of Pittsfield (all in Massachusetts) and the Catskill Mountains of New York: By the way, that's Bascom Lodge below us, my next stop about which I'll post tomorrow:

This is looking east toward Mount Monadnock, Mount Wachusett, the town of Adams and the Hoosic River Valley:

And then I descended the spiral stairway. It was not as empty as it appears here. There were people climbing up and going down. The adults were courteous but the children expected everyone else to get out of their way:

Albany Off In The Distance

I just happened to have my camera with me one recent Saturday when I was shopping at Wal-Mart. This particular store sits up on a hill overlooking the Hudson Valley and the city of Albany. So of course I stopped to snap a few pictures. This is downtown Albany as seen from the town of East Greenbush in Rensselaer County. The Hudson River is there also, but too low to be seen:

An enlarged view which shows I-90 traffic passing by:

Just pointing my camera a bit to the north gave this view of the village of Menands across the river north of Albany. That big white building partially obscured by a small tree is the former Montgomery Ward building, now (I think) New York State offices. The lower, brown building on the far right is the Wal-Mart where I shopped:

A nearby hotel's parking lot provided views to the south of Albany and the Helderberg and Catskill Mountains in the not-too-far distance:

And one final snapshot before I headed for home:

Hiking Along The Hannacroix - Part 4

Our Sunday hike along the Hannacroix Creek had been pleasant, but there had been very few signs of spring greening. We'd come to the end of the trail and were on our way back when I began seeing that Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, had poked its purple hoods up through the forest floor. One of our earliest spring plants, Skunk Cabbage produces its own heat as it emerges, sometimes melting the snow around it. It's a fascinating plant and a most welcome sign of spring's arrival:

The dogs and I were returning to the Hannacroix Creek where the hike had begun:

We passed an old rotten log full of the shells of last year's puffballs:

And on past the remnants of more old stone foundations. This one appeared to have been someone's house. It had been situated on a pleasant hill just above a creek and right next to the road. My imagination could conjure up visions of hard working farm families, probably Dutch, in the era of Washington Irving and his stories of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle:

Just as we arrived at the waterfalls, the dogs began barking and ran ahead. I felt guilty for not having them on a leash, figuring they were again harassing the two girls whose lunch they'd helped themselves to. But I found the girls sunning themselves on the jutting rocks, oblivious to me and to my dogs who had discovered another hiker with two Boston Terriers. A man with two young boys, an adult dog and a puppy were enjoying Hannacroix Creek:

The dogs all got along well and the boys thought Seamus was the biggest, goofiest dog they'd ever seen:

Seamus accompanied the boys on a creek exploring adventure before we said goodbye. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the second boy hiding under the tangled tree branches:

I chose another trail to return us to the parking area, this one with a nifty bridge over a ravine:

The dogs are by now old hands at crossing bridges, so they weren't intimidated. We returned to our parked car and headed for home:

Hiking Along Hannacroix Creek - Part 3

I was hiking in the Hannacroix Creek Preserve just south of Albany with my four youngest dogs. We'd had a grand time so far with the exception that the two Papillons had found someone's lunch and helped themselves to half a sandwich (see yesterday's post). After the waterfalls, the trail turns up into the woods and we passed by several more stone foundations and stone walls. Once upon a time this area was settled and thriving:

The trail crossed a small brook and kept climbing upwards into the gentle hills:

And then I saw bright yellow flowers which I had already learned (from other peoples' blogs) were Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara. It is an alien species but an interesting one. The pretty little flowers bloom before the leaves emerge. Alien or not, I was mighty glad to see them:

We climbed higher and higher into the hills, passing more old stone walls and foundations:

The puppies were still full of fun and energy. This hike had not diminished their penchant for playful nonsense:

The trail ended and I was tempted to climb up higher into those hills, but instead chose the easy route, backtracking along the trail to where we'd begun:

It became apparent to me that this trail was once a road which delivered materials to and from the paper mill. Judging by the stone walls, there must have been cattle and horses grazing in the surrounding fields which now are woods, at least in the more level places:

We were having a relaxed and pleasant walk through the woods on an early spring day:

The self-timer on my new camera leaves every picture it takes all washed out. I managed to salvage none but this one, and even then only with a lot of editing:

Hiking Along Hannacroix Creek - Part 2

I was hiking along Hannacroix Creek just south of Albany with my four youngest dogs. The day was fairly warm but spring was so delayed this year that I despaired of seeing any greenery. But there among the fallen oak leaves I began spotting Trout Lilies emerging. Trout Lily, Erythronium americanum, which is also sometimes called Fawn Lily, Adder's Tongue or Dog's Tooth Violet. Their tiny yellow blossoms are one of the surest and most beloved signs of spring. I can hardly wait to see more of them:

But the dogs cared nothing for emerging wildflowers. Smelling the aromas of animals which had passed by ahead of us was their big thing. And movement. They love the sense of progressing through the woods with legs pumping and all their senses awake and alive. Come to think of it, so do I:

The trail followed Hannacroix Creek for quite a while, but since the dogs had already had their opportunity to splash in it, we stayed up where it was dry and the walking was smooth and easy:

Just up ahead I spotted the remnants of an old stone foundation built right on the riverbank:

It was the remains of an old paper mill:

And on we hiked, with the dogs adventuring up into the forested hills:

Seamus was all smiles as he paused with Daphne, his little Papillon buddy:

And then we arrived at the beautiful falls. There is a narrow rocky ridge which leads out to this overview and the dogs ran on ahead while I snapped this picture. But I sensed that they were up to no good so quickly pocketed my camera and hurried on up ahead to see what they were doing. I found a small pile of shoes and jackets and lunches - and yes, Daphne and Clover had managed to break into a lunch and eat half a sandwich. I saw two young barefoot ladies down on the rocks below and tried to call to them to explain and apologize. But the roar of the falls prevented them from hearing me:

So I returned to the trail and continued on my way, feeling quite guilty for the transgressions of my two puppies and for not telling the girls about it. I could have climbed down the rocks to where they were but considered that would have been an even bigger disruption of their idyllic outing than what had already transpired. So we just kept on hiking:

The forested hills were lovely but I saw no more signs of emerging vegetation. I'll continue the story tomorrow:

Hiking Along Hannacroix Creek - Part 1

Sunday morning dawned clear and sunny, yet I was working myself up to a foul mood. But I knew a remedy for that, so I put the four younger dogs in the car and headed down to Hannacroix Creek Preserve, just about a half hour south of Albany. The dogs hit the trail running:

They were excited, perhaps overly so, but there was no one else around so I allowed them to have their leash-less freedom and hoped they'd soon settle down:

The main trail begins by climbing uphill and then angles down towards Hannacroix Creek. We were on our way:

The trail bends to the left when it arrives at the creek and we began walking parallel to the water:

Seamus was all smiles:

And little Clover spurred him to action. "Look, Seamus, water! Don't you want to go wading?":

So Seamus ran right down to the water and plunged right in. Fergus does everything Seamus does, so he followed him right into that cold, cold water:

Clover and Daphne, the two young Papillons, tip-toed in also:

But it was way too cold for everyone except Seamus. "Hey, guys, where are you all going?":

The two dainty little Papillons liked the water but tried very hard to get nothing more than their feet wet. So far, this hike was going well enough even if the dogs were a little bit rambunctious. My spirits were on the way up. I'll post more tomorrow: