Shaw Girl Happenings

After an extensive car ride, featuring a scenic by-pass through downtown Schenectady for reasons that escape me, we arrived in the Keene Valley, home of the High Peaks. After a quick jaunt to our campsite, at the base of Roaring Brook Falls, we set up the tent under a canopy of tall hemlocks, packed our food in the bear canister, and off we went in search of the top of the falls some 400 feet above our campsite. You can't really see the falls from the top, as the water just drops straight down from the sheered off bedrock. We hopped across the stream, stood on the rocks, took pictures and enjoyed the view. (On the ride home, I read that people have slipped, plummeted, and died doing exactly what we weredoing. Ignorance is sometimes dangerously blissful...) We gazed to the southeast towards the summit of Giant-of-the-Valley Mountain, our goal for the next day.

Labels: Adirondacks, food, Katie, Matthew, nature, Sue, vacation

Labels: Holidays, nature

Remember that invitation I sent out a couple of months ago about joining together at Allegany State Park for a Autumn breakfast? I am now finally reporting on the gathering! It was a sunny, crisp, fall day, very similar to the family fall gatherings of past.


Alas, you can't smell the aromas of breakfast: cooking pancakes, eggs, and bacon, smearing homemade jams on homemade breads, coffee over on open fire, a table full of food and hungry hikers, the creek in the background.

After breakfast, we drove up to Thunder Rocks and played until a thunderstorm suddenly blew in, then we headed home!




















I was the only Shaw in attendance from the original breakfast. I thought of all of you and you were sorely missed!

More photos, by Jennifer, can be seen here.

Labels: food, nature, party

Here's a few pics of our Sunday afternoon hike, on yet another gorgious fall day in western New York. This one is about a 5 mile chunk of the East Overland Trail. This sign is right off the parking lot. Doesn't it make you want to just jump right in and start hiking?












This hollow was just
beautiful,
with the sun filtering through the trees, the scent of fall, and the brook babbling (babble, babble, babble...)

Labels: Katie, nature, Rick

Back in September, I hiked 3 days on the Westside Overland Trail, with my old friend from Kindergarten and beyond Jennifer (nee: Scott) Schlick, and a Kindergarten teacher friend Concetta (with whom Katie and I canoed with this summer.) We backpacked this baby, slept in Adirondack type shelters, enjoyed glorious weather, and a few surprises. The trail starts at the Pennsylvania line and winds it's way through farm fields, thick forests, over creeks and streams and ends in the gorge, northwest of Mayville. It's 25 miles long. I hiked 19 miles of it, as I jumped on the trail after school and met up with my buddies in the afternoon.

Our first surprise was at the first shelter. These mountain bikers came pedaling pell-mell through our lean-to site, and one blew out a tire. We offered them some food, and as they fixed the flat tire, one biker pulled out a penny whistle and piped us a tune. He was from Scotland, with a brogue so thick, we mostly just nodded when he spoke and said "uh-huh" because we couldn't understand much of what he said. A serendipitous moment. You can see from the photo how lovely this area is with the pond and the pine trees.




Here's a nice pic of us hiking down the trail. We hiked south to north which is actually a gradual uphill. I'm the one closest to the camera.









We all made these crazy hats to celebrate the autumnal equinox while we camped at the second shelter. Also notice the decorative turkey tail feather that I collected en route. It has since found its home in my oboe case. We found pears, grapes, and apples as we hiked. We ate the apples for lunch, grapes out of hand, and cooked up the pears into a compote for breakfast.







Here's Jen and I, ready for the trail. We are currently planning a spring 4-day hike on the part of the North Country Trail that passes through Allegany State Park.

Labels: nature, Sue

Labels: nature

Well, my friend Jennifer says that whenever she does anything in a boat, something dreadful happens. Now I have had my share of water related catastrophes: boats turtled in the middle of the lake, 2 near drownings, broken bones, bruises, and lacerations, and the worst: losing my 1/2 carat diamond from my engagement ring while lashing a boat in a gale. But, that was all sailing, (which I retired from after the ring incidence, enough was enough.) I’ve always had smooth waters in my canoe. I love canoeing. I love the closeness of nature, the near silence of my trusty canoe slicing through the water, the drip drip dripping of water off my paddle. I do not seek whitewater, but quiet water. I’ve never had any terrifying moments in my canoe; however, that changed last week when I went canoeing with Jennifer.

The morning was overcast, as we put in on the Cassadaga. Temperature in the low 70’s, a perfect day for canoeing: not too hot, not too cold. The stream was lazy this far into August, so we decided to paddle upstream, so as to avoid the annoying car shuffling that occurs when you paddle from point A to point B. We had paddled about 5 miles, past meadowlands rich with wildlife and wildflowers, past the scrubby willows and into the forest, filled with beech, conifers and hardwoods. The sounds of traffic diminished and we were paddling through the wilderness. Heaven.

As we came around another turn in this twisty stream, the sky was black. Rain started, soon became a downpour, the wind kicked up, and lighting started striking. We sheltered under a large tree overhanging the stream, munched on Jennifer’s excellent trail mix (pecans mixed with dried cranberries and raw sunflower seeds, studded with chunks of dark chocolate. Yum- oh!) Lighting struck right across the creek from us. I heard language coming out of Jennifer’s mouth that I never heard before… Finally, the storm passed on and we ventured back downstream.


As we left the forest and paddled through the open meadowlands, another thunderstorm swept through. We were completely exposed. We paddled as fast as we could to an inlet, pulled up the canoe, and huddled under a shrubby willow, shivering and discussing what would get us first: lightening or hypothermia? Well, if you are reading this you know the ending. After about an hour we were finally back in the canoe, although it was still thundering in the distance. We finished our trip, loaded the canoe, and I drove home, soaking wet, took a hot bath and drank a cup of tea and felt restored (and finally warm.)

Photos by Jennifer. Visit her blog here. I left my camera at home along with my first aid kit, hypothermia blanket, cell phone, etc. (I did have my compass however!)

Labels: food, nature, Sue, What-was-I-thinking?

Well, I really don't have canoeing pictures, as I forgot the dry bags at home ("Be Prepared" - I'm such a bad scout...) and didn't dare bring my camera on the canoe. But, we did paddle right by a loon family, mom, dad, and the youngster. Actually they paddled right by us! We just watched in awe. We also disturbed a beaver, and tried fishing, but we were fishing at the wrong time. We planned to get up early every morning to fish, but between the great Adirondack air, and our hiking excursions, we never got up early (bad scouts, again...)






I leave you with our camp portrait, and our last shot from the back of our camp site. Next year, we're carving out more time to spend in this wonderful wilderness. Thanks for joining us on our adventure!

Check out the rest of our Photos by clicking here.

Labels: Brian, nature, Sue

Although we were not in the high peaks area, there were plenty of hiking opportunities in the Central region. First we hiked to the top of Bald Mountain (2350 ft.) and up the fire tower that was at the summit. Here's Brian having a contemplative moment at the summit. The view was spectacular! We could see to Blue Mountain. We heard that on clear days you can see Mt. Marcy.




After we worked our way down Bald Mountain, we continued on the Vista trail, a relatively flat hike traveling through old growth forest and around a few small lakes.
We saw trees growing on top of boulders and lots of beaver
activity including a dam.
Brian took these photos. We figured out an arrangement on the camera. I took pictures on the hikes up, he took pictures on the hikes down.


Our next hike was around Cascade Lake to see the Cascade Falls, which we completely missed. Great scouts are we: we forgot the compass and the map; but, remembered the food (apples and granola bars.) However, the lake was beautiful, and the hike memorable.We just scratched the surface of the hiking opportunities in this area of the Adirondacks.

Labels: Brian, food, nature, vacation

Brian and I loaded up the canoe and escaped to the Adirondacks for a bit before he went back to college. From our house, it is a 5 1/2 hour drive to the Central Adirondacks. We went for it, and WOW! was it worth it!

Our campsite at Nick's Lake DEC was incredible. The front of the site had a stone fireplace and a picnic table. Heading down the site, there was a huge granite boulder and woods on both sides blocking the neighbors. That's where we pitched our tent. We had to sign a release for bear damage. All food and coolers had to stay locked in Bob (Bucket of Bolts, our van.) We never saw a black bear, but we did see bear scat and paw prints.


Continuing down to the back of the site, was another picnic table by the lake with a spot for the canoe. We were right on the lake! So beautiful. We shared the lake with other canoes, kayaks, rowboats, loons, ducks, and beavers. I don't know much about loons, but their cry is haunting and mournful, especially at 3 in the morning when they start crooning! You can find more photos of our trip by visiting my Flickr page.

Labels: Brian, nature, vacation

I combined a couple of events and created a mini retreat for myself: a home winemaker's seminar on Saturday, with the state music educator's conference that started the next day. On Friday and Saturday I had my own little cabin at Timberline campground. The winemaking seminar was well worth the trip, and I'll probably be back next year. The conference was good, but it was very difficult for me, especially after 2 days of fresh air and nature, to be cooped up in a windowless, forced air, convention hall for 3 days.

Labels: music, nature

Our last evening at camp, we traveled over a pass into the Green Mountain National Forest to the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail. The trail features poetry, views, and berry picking. Along the trail, Frost’s poetry is displayed at strategic locations, i.e. “The Road Not Taken” is posted where the trail splits into 3 forks. We picked huckleberries, enjoyed the views, and read all of the poems.





The collected experience of the poems, combined with the surroundings where Frost walked and lived, became overwhelming to me when I read the last poem on the trail "Reluctance". I realized that my readings of the lovely poems were more than just about nature and seasons. This was the poem where I realized I had been reading about life and death and the season that I was currently experiencing in my life. It seems trivial to write, but the moment stunned me. Observing my reaction, Katie was asking "what? what?" not understanding anymore than I did when I first read Frost's poems as an adolescent. "You're spring and I'm nearing the end of autumn" was all I was able to choke out.



We broke camp in the morning, then attended the last of the classes. Katie and CeCe did a fine job of playing their 4 hand duets in the afternoon concert. Then it was hugs all around, and time to hit the road.

Katie and I had a wonderful time in Vermont, filled with growth both musically and within our own spirits. Katie has gained confidence as a composer and will be adding that as new musical dimension to her life. Thanks for reading our blog, and joining us on our adventure!


PS. I spoke with cousin Ava, who is a naturalist for the National Forest in Pennsylvania. She says that Goshawk watched us from the sky during our entire hike, knew who we were, and where we camped. The goshawk in our camp was no coincidence, but a warning! Yikes!

Mozart, Bach, Dello Joio, Hawks, Slugs, Drumming, and New Friends. That sums up our trip!

Labels: Katie, music, nature, vacation

It's rained everyday we have been here, and now the roads are flooded and the passes are closed. CeCe's mother rescued us and we are spending the night at their lovely house, in their living room, over looking the Green Mountains. Katie and I were excited to see more of Vermont, but the drive north was through torrential rain, so mostly we watched the car in front of us, with a close eye to the road striping.


Yesterday, after classes were over, Katie and I, swam in the White river. Cold, but refreshing. There were a couple of swimming holes, which we swam through. The current was quite strong.

Back at camp we hiked the yellow trail out of our campsite to the overlook. The trail loops around, but we had been warned to turn back at the overlook so as not to disturb the nesting northern goshawk. Apparently, this hawk will attack if it's nest is threatened. Our timing was great for the hike, as we arrived at sunset. We turned back, as warned, and hiked back down the mountain, returning to our campsite, where we found the hawk, in our campsite! Yikes! Nothin' like seeing a hawk, 15 feet above you, in a tree, spreading her wings and squawking at you, to get your heart racing! Fortunately, she flew off toward the area we are supposed to stay out of. Here's a couple more pictures from the summit.

Labels: Katie, nature, vacation

I woke up this morning to a squealing, rattling, thumping noise. A squirrel found Katie's travel mug (still had a bit of cocoa in it from last night) and pushed it off the picnic table (thump), dragged it out of the shelter over rocks (rattle) and proceded to enjoy both the contents of the cup (squeal) and the cup itself. When I looked out of my tent, Katie's red Harvard cup was rolling around on the ground with a squirrel tail hanging out of the cup's mouth.

A bit later, after I had rescued what was left of the cup, a squirrel ran up the tree next to our tent, while Katie was in it, chattered loudly and threw nuts on top of the tent, startling Katie. Same squirrel? Who knows.

Here's some of Katie's pictures from around the campground.

Labels: Katie, nature, vacation