Pequonnock Valley Hike - 12-29

For late December, the weather was insane!  It was close to 50 degrees and very sunny most of the time - there's was no way I could stay inside today so I ventured over to Trumbull WTHOUT MY BIKE! It rained like mad yesterday and I knew the park would be a swamp so I thought it best to hike.

I started out at the Whitney Ave lot and checked out a possible log river crossing just a bit downstream from Coyote Crossing. I opted not to try this one!

So I continued on south on the Rail Trail and think I discovered another ancient carriage road. I wondered if the Churchill Road entrance that the town has planned will descend here? LINK >
Two photos digitally enhanced to highlight the carriage road remnants...

Since the forest was clear of undergrowth -- I decided to photograph the cow tunnels as it was right near the carriage road vestiges.

  A little further on, a tree seemed to grow right out of the rock!

 

I  finally decided to shimmy across the river on this fallen log. The river was really raging but I made it across...

 ...and even got a nice photo looking downstream near the middle!:-)

 Looking back - woo-eee!

Sadly, once I got to the Serengeti  I noticed the boardwalk had already shifted - the rain was been relentless and even the current here is pretty strong!

 But golly...(said in a Gomer Pyle voice) it is still gorgeous in the "green moss canyon"

 The Copper Creek was filled to the brim! (Rain, rain, go away- for drier days we ALL do pray!)

 Finally to get back to the car - I trekked up thru Indian Ledges - the trails are freaking awesome!!!

Oops - I almost forgot to mention - my task today was to gray out the old White Blazes as that trail will be re-blazed out of the Serengeti up thru the Sandy Shore trail, etc. I will return with a  friend sometime soon to complete the White Trail blazing ...

Down by the Riverside....

I took a walk down to the Hudson River at lunch hour today. Despite my office being in the west side of Manhattan (the Hudson Yards area to be exact),  it surprisingly still took a long time just to get to the river's edge!

Lunch Hour

It was a crappy day--gray and super wind--but nevertheless good to explore! Around 30th Street, I finally got to the river and came across this - pretty cool!

Aha - I saw a caboose when glancing further south - "very interesting" - gotta check this out on a sunny day!

The only way to get all of these huge skyscrapers in a photo is to get far enough away - way down by the riverside!

Yep - High Winds!! See the flag? It was tough just to walk....

 Shades of yesteryear - these cement monstrosities are covered in barnacles--remnants of an old pier (probably pulled out by an enormous crane!),

 This is carved stone - its nice to see they are being saved!

 Ah yes - there's that crazy Rib Cage :-)

After Work

The walk to Grand Central takes about a half hour but it's always a treat to see Grand Central - especially at Christmastime with all the lights! :-)

White Trail Blazing - Pequonnock Valley

Kevin and I spent more than 6 hours on Sat re-blazing the White Trail. Most of the blazes were old and faded and -- in many places --  too far apart . A renewal was long overdue.

This totally wrong blazing (ARRGH) at the top of the hill where the Red Trail branches off was corrected to White and Red.

Now on the White Trail the blazes are, once again, easy to see.

Check out the paper factory :-)  -- a birch bark tree!

  A small deer took interest in our work!

I swear there's an eye on this tree and it was staring at me!!! :-)

A quick stop at the repositioned boardwalk in the swampland (formerly know as the Serengeti!) reveal the solid footings in the clear and fast flowing water,

The locals trail gnomes did a great job on the new bridge crossing the Cooper Creek (White Trail)

Kevin moved a strange white barrel out off the riverbed. Labels says "Fluid Detector Leak - Natural Gas"

  It was a sad sight to see Coyote Crossing sans bridge :-(

  But the new White Blazes really pop out.

We'll be back in the spring to touch up the other colored blazes. Its frustrating but the blue needs a brighter Blue color - the currently blue used really is dull and hard to distinguish.

Short West Side Trek

Now that I am working on the West Side - Hudson Yards area to be exact - a stroll around the neighborhood is usually dominated by massive skyscrapers...

...discovering Alice's Garden was a treat...

 ...and the occasional painting on the barriers add a colorful flavor to the rapidly transforming area.

Midtown

Lastly, up in midtown (on my way to Grand Central) I stopped by the The NYC Main Library, a.k.a. Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, and snapped a photo of the great sign detailing this blocks previous history as a reservoir!

See also:

• Great Buildings - Midtown NYC