Good Luck Lake
Another of the lake
signs at the trailhead abt 3 miles SouthEast of Good Luck Lake, this is where I turned to head back.
I followed snowmobile trails much of the day
Another photo at the trailhead before I turned back.
This blog has been created to provide photographers, artists and those who enjoy the creative process with the opportunity to express ideas about photography. Along the way I hope to share some of my thoughts, as well as some of my techinques in creating nature and fine art photographs. If you are interested in purchasing matted copies of any of these photographs please go to "view my complete profile" below and send me an e-mail. Dave
I am a amateur nature and fine arts photographer who was trained in black and white photography in the early 1970's, worked professionally a bit and then set aside all artistic pursuits until about 2003. I enjoy the creative aspects of photography and look forward to sharing with others of similar interests.
Another of the lake
Another photo at the trailhead before I turned back.
On Dec 28th My friend Pete and I did a 5 mile round trip on the Taconic Crest Trail along the borders of NY, Vermont & Mass. It was sunny, with just a bit of cloud and a high in the teens. Surprisingly there was only 6 - 8 inches of snow. The black & white photo was taken with my Fuji S602 in TIF format and converted to grayscale with Photoshop. The white spot on the mountain near the center of the photo is the trailhead parking lot which was 2 1/2 miles South. This is a great area to hike that I will visit again in the future.
The sign on the tree says - VT Corner Marker, 270 Degrees, 315 Feet
This shot is taken facing West from the same overlook as the black & white.
Between there and the next trail intersection was a distance of 1.7 miles with 6 inches of snow in areas and some small rises to go over. Along this part of the route one of my shoes came unstrapped and I had to take a min or so to reconnect and tighten things. It had been strange to look down and not see the bright yellow snowshoe there when it happened! It was sunny at that point with a puff of wind once in awhile. Lots of animal tracks which I think were mostly deer and mice. I made that next intersection at 11:45 for a total of nearly 3 miles in the first hour. The trail then turned East for a mile to Third Lake.
There was a bit of downhill just before the lake and the snow was clinging to the shoes a bit, making travel a bit slower. I got to the edge of the lake at abt 12:15, making it 3.9 miles in abt 1.5 hrs. the sun was very bright and I estimated the temperature to be abt 15 degrees with a very light breeze starting up. After standing for just a couple of mins I felt myself getting chilled and so I got out my wool sweater out of my backpack. When I took off my coat I found that my long sleeved shirt was soaked with sweat so I changed into the spare that I had brought and then put the sweater on. I spent 15 mins or so taking photos of the lake.
My original goal was to make it all the way to Long Lake a pond that was still another mile to the west over unbroken trail. I decided that I had gone far enough out for the day and packing my camera still on the tripod into the tripod carrying case with a shoulder strap I headed out. I had hoped that following the now broken trail would make the trip back less of an effort, but I found that it was not really the case.
The snow continued to stick to the shoes causing just a bit of extra effort on each step. In fact, at the end of the trip I had to hammer the built-up ice off the crampon on the bottom of the left shoe. On the way back the wind started to pick up a bit blowing snow from trees and causing some of the branches to pop under the stress of being moved around.
Some of the trail I had made going in was already getting covered in windblown snow. It was interesting to hear that around me as I traveled. I also hear that distinctive tap-tap-tap of a woodpecker, but never was able to see the bird.
The mile back to the turnoff towards the trailhead took me nearly 45 mins, possibly because I stopped set up the tripod and take some photos along the way. The sun was almost covered with clouds and there was a bit more chill in the wind as I was going through this section of the trail. The next 1.9 miles to the first intersection that I had encountered on the way in was uneventful and I got there at 2:05. I only stayed long enough to finish my water.
The last mile took 25 mins and I was back to my car right at 2:30, a total of 8 miles in abt 4 hrs. It was a great trip and one that I hope to do again in the future.