Only Two Hours from NYC
Don and I decided to go camping for a week up to Cherry Springs State Park to watch the meteor shower (Perseids) and then go hiking in the Catskills. Cherry Springs has the darkest sky on the east coast, and is the second International Dark Sky Park- you can see the Milky Way during a new moon with just your eyes, no telescope needed.
I really wanted to take pictures for you, but I'm not ready to lug around an equatorial mount and spend an hour working on polar alignment- Maybe next year...
We saw a bunch of meteors, but agree that the skies in the Catskills seem just as dark (we saw meteors there too), so we could have saved a trip to PA. It's amazing how bad light pollution is now- it's screwing up ecosystems by interrupting wildlife migration and reproduction. If you haven't seen the stars in a while- I recommend you go gazing before it starts getting cold. It's mesmerizing.
There were so many waterfalls just along this crazy winding road that we had to keep stopping for pictures. fuggler would have loved it.
Rondout Creek
I haven't photographed water before much, so I blew out some of the highlights and forgot my polarizer in the car ;( Ah well, still learning...
Also saw a lot of crazy mushrooms and fungi- thankfully the dogs didn't try to eat anything
We hiked to the top of Mt. Peekamoose and back- a good seven miles. The dogs hiked it too (although I carried Trixie on the way down b/c she only walks on three legs and I didn't want her to fall). I can't believe it's been 8 years since the last time I went camping/hiking!
We're going back in the autumn when the trees start changing colors. Just day trips though- no more leaky tents for a while. I can't wait!
I really wanted to take pictures for you, but I'm not ready to lug around an equatorial mount and spend an hour working on polar alignment- Maybe next year...
We saw a bunch of meteors, but agree that the skies in the Catskills seem just as dark (we saw meteors there too), so we could have saved a trip to PA. It's amazing how bad light pollution is now- it's screwing up ecosystems by interrupting wildlife migration and reproduction. If you haven't seen the stars in a while- I recommend you go gazing before it starts getting cold. It's mesmerizing.
There were so many waterfalls just along this crazy winding road that we had to keep stopping for pictures. fuggler would have loved it.
Rondout Creek
I haven't photographed water before much, so I blew out some of the highlights and forgot my polarizer in the car ;( Ah well, still learning...
Also saw a lot of crazy mushrooms and fungi- thankfully the dogs didn't try to eat anything
We hiked to the top of Mt. Peekamoose and back- a good seven miles. The dogs hiked it too (although I carried Trixie on the way down b/c she only walks on three legs and I didn't want her to fall). I can't believe it's been 8 years since the last time I went camping/hiking!
We're going back in the autumn when the trees start changing colors. Just day trips though- no more leaky tents for a while. I can't wait!