Seeing dead people at Greenwood Cemetery

From Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery, you can see the Manhattan skyline.
You can also see lots of fancy tombs and graves.

Strolling the Gowanus Canal

OK, you can't really stroll along most of the Gowanus Canal - there isn't a path beside it. But we did toodle around the neighborhood a bit.

This picture of a concrete works is old-school Gowanus. Gentrification is sinking its teeth into this part of Brooklyn, too, and urban sites are being snapped up as lofts, and some unbearably enormous lots are replacing old buildings. But the process is far from complete yet.

Not enough leaf peeping!

I need to start planning my Octobers better; I really haven't gotten out to see the fall colors nearly as much as I should have.

On the other hand, it's been 80 degrees all week. So is it really even fall?

Greens of Riverside Park

Fall colors may be at their peak in the Adirondacks, and close to their peak in the Catskills, but here in the city the leaves haven't started turning yet. It's true that the leaves are starting to look a bit tired, but summer is still hanging on.

Visiting Kaaterskill Falls

Kaaterskill Falls, one of New York's most impressive waterfalls*, has been undergoing trail renovation over the past couple of years. There was no official trail past the base of the falls, yet people climbed up there regularly, and every year a couple of people fell to their death.

Since I was last there, a new trail has been built to the top - a very solid set of stone stairs. Eventually, there will be a viewing platform at the top, but when we were there, construction on a bridge over the falls prevented access in that direction. You can reach the top, but you can't see much from there.

Despite a dry summer, the falls were still running, but with less water than on my previous visit. It's still worth the steep hike up from the road (not to mention the crowds at the lower levels). What's still a huge pain is parking; the lot simply isn't big enough. People, this is not the place to leave generous space between your cars!

* Obviously, Niagara Falls is the most impressive.

Return to Tremper Mountain

After successfully tackling Red Hill, J and I had to decide which fire tower was next. My plan for the weekend had been to do Overlook, which follows an old road and has not only a view but a bevy of interesting sites along the way. However, it seemed like a waste to do such a scenic hike on a cloudy day, so we went to Mt. Tremper, which I remembered as having somewhat disappointing views.

I had forgotten, though, that it was the steepest of the Catskills fire towers. Hunter is more challenging, since it's longer and scrambly, but Tremper isn't a laid-back amble. We took our time going up and were pleasantly surprised to find the top of the tower was open - volunteers staff it through Columbus Day (weekends only).

Upon reflection, the cab being open makes a real difference at Tremper, more so than at the other towers, since the peak isn't as cleared as the others. You actually can see a lot more with just that few extra feet of elevation. My view was obscured thanks to the clouds: We weren't socked in, but clouds drifted past the hills, showing only a little at a time.

I enjoyed Tremper more this second time. It would probably be best in winter, when leaves are off the trees, but I am unlikely to be back to it anytime soon.

A surprise hike at the Mountain Top Arboretum

As many times as I've been to Tannersville, I never knew it had an arboretum until J saw a small sign for it while cruising through downtown. The Mountain Top Arboretum (free admission) has a variety of gardens, including a woodland walk, labyrinth, spruce woods, flowers beds, and more.

We strolled through most of the park except the East Meadow, and we only took the Black Spruce Glen trail to the boardwalk - since the boardwalk was closed for repairs. I'm not sure what the distance was, but the trail sign's estimate of 90 minutes to walk Black Spruce Glen was wildly inflated; we went slowly and took half that time. I would guess it was about 2 miles total, not entirely flat.

Despite it being a rainy autumnal day, the arboretum was quite a pleasant surprise. There were still flowers in bloom, and of course the large number of evergreens are interesting year-round.

This isn't the perfect hike if you're looking for a fast workout, but it makes a great perambulating, stop-and-look kind of stroll. We saw quite a few parents with kids doing just that, although none of them on the Black Spruce Glen trail.

Supposedly, the arboretum is good for birding, but ironically the most interesting birding sighting of the weekend occurred near the park, not in it - northern flickers hanging out by the side of the road.

Revisiting Red Hill fire tower

After starting on the Saranac Six, my sweetie and I decided to start working on the Adirondack Mountain Club's Fire Tower patch. I had already hiked the five Catskills fire towers, but J hadn't, so we started them over a long Catskills weekend.

Having travelled to the Catskills Friday morning, we decided to do Red Hill, the shortest, that day. My previous hike was two years ago. Like that visit, this one was also in October, the weather was less than ideal, and there was no volunteer at the top. However, being earlier in October, the weather was rain instead of snow, and the lack of volunteer was because it wasn't the weekend.

The hike is short and, as the Catskills go, reasonably straightforward - there is no scrambling and the trail is not confusing. At the top, we enjoyed the well-appointed privy (it has framed art on the wall!) as well as the tower itself. While the day was misty, the views weren't completely obscured.

Eventually, I suppose I should get up there when the tower cab is open.