Clark walk
Just before the snow: only the ferns and a few other green plants around. A magic place.
end of October
Clark Reservation, last of October, late fall. Once-cut fern, Yellow Beech trees.
take a hike
Clark Reservation again. Water level is still very low. Aaron’s Panorama feature on his new phone:
fern
We found the rare endangered American Hart’s-Tongue Fern , Asplenium scolopendrium. Don’t ask me where it grows; I’ll never tell, even under duress of torture.
Ferns have an interesting life cycle.
Clark reservation
We found some of the invasive European swallow-wort (Cynanchum rossicum) at Clark Reservation (pic #4). It is said to be invading the environment of the protected and rare American hart’s-tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum; AHTF), which we haven’t found yet. The Council of Park Friends has a meeting Sunday at 2pm.
thin ice
Clark Reservation: It’s unusually warm for end of January. We saw a couple ice skating on the ice- probably not a good idea!! Here I’m playing with taking multiple exposures of a scene and layering them together using masks (HDR). A few of these are processed like that, so that the sky is not washed out and there are details in the shadows. Probably the best example is the last photo, in which Dhiki is reading Walden, by Thoreau, for her class.
exploration
Another exciting search for the lost East Caves of Syracuse. (this time with a camera along!) Found the old kiln and some car parts too.
Clark Reservation colors
The colors here are probably not quite at peak yet. Soon.
Dan says I’m getting my ducks in a row, finally. Maybe so, but they are geese.
Panasonic Lumix camera.
Clark Reservation
These three photos at left are taken at the house. Aaron is testing Dan’s mountain bike. The crow sits on the tall birch tree, and the red maple is crazy red.
The slideshow is from Clark Reservation, nearby. Dan & I saw two owls – perhaps barred owls? We guess that one was young because he was smaller and made more of a chirping noise, not a proper owl hoot. The wood thrush sang near the parking lot.
more color and geese
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(Click to enlarge smaller photos. )
Another quick Clark Reservation hike. The colors seem to be getting more intense every day. The water level was high; we had trouble getting around in some parts. Paul got one wet sneaker. The geese were on a rest stop on their migration and we were trying to determine if they tended to swim in a ‘V’ pattern too. I’m not convinced.
Not enough time to do a complete hike there unfortunately.
(Click left photo to enlarge.) This propeller plane flew from Syracuse to DC. I took a bunch of interesting photos of the Finger Lake area from the window.
last chemo day
Dad’s last chemo day was today. Unfortunately there was no fanfare or balloons at the clinic, so we stopped at Clark Reservation on the way back, just to be outside in the sun. It was a beautiful day.
We had quite a lovely party later at the house, reading through Wampo’s old letters. That was really interesting.
clark reservation
Clark Reservation is another meromictic lake, formed by glaciers, in central NY. There are interesting hikes, including a 176-step stairway down to the lake.
There was some construction going on at Clark Reservation, perhaps a new bathroom going up. But there was also talk among the hikers that the park may be closed later this summer if certain state budget cuts happen.
Clark Reservation

Glacier Lake
There are 176 steps to the base of the lake. (We counted!) The steps were built in the 1880’s.
Dan got stung by yellow jackets twice and so the girls declared it was time to head home.