Toad Hall
Yesterday morning I drove to Harriman Park for a beautiful day of hiking. This is some of what I saw:
1. Toad Hall: Not the same as in "The Wind in the Willows," but more true to life certainly. I cross over Black Rock Mountain onto the Nurian trail, and suddenly little bits of leaf litter start jumping out of my way...The leaf litter is lots of little brown toads spotted with black, the size of my thumbnail! I thought I would walk out of them fairly quickly, but as I carefully walked, they kept jumping. Finally it ended. Very cute little creatures! :)
2. On top of Black Rock mountain just off the Ramapo-Dunderberg trail, the summit is a broad expanse of glacially scoured metamorphic rock. There are great views all around. Then I look to my left--peeking over a nearby hill I see the Empire State building and other Manhattan skyscrapers, far off in the distance like some (non-green) Emerald City. I turn to my right, and maybe twice as far away are the Catskill Mountains, hazy in the distance. Wonderful! :)
3. A small pool within the rocks, fed by a small spring. Splash! A frog hides. I wait, longer than he can hold his breath. He swims up and looks at me with froggy eyes.
4. I take a short rest around lunch time. Tickly ants occasionally walk along my arms.
5. A very small bit of rainwater has been captured in a depression in a rock right next to the trail. It is full of baby mosquito larvae life.
6. The glacial scours and cobble marks on the open bedrock on the hilltops tell a story of how different this area was not all that long ago. The boulders scattered on the hilltops stand like sentinels to this story. How puzzled our ancestors must have been wondering how these large round rocks got dropped onto the tops of mountains!
7. A leafy scuttling noise just off the trail on the left. Doesn't sound like a chipmunk, and not quite like a snake, but almost like a snake. Then I see the snake's head looking at me from a fallen tree in the sun. The snake moves and it has legs! It's the first lizard I have ever seen in the park. :)
1. Toad Hall: Not the same as in "The Wind in the Willows," but more true to life certainly. I cross over Black Rock Mountain onto the Nurian trail, and suddenly little bits of leaf litter start jumping out of my way...The leaf litter is lots of little brown toads spotted with black, the size of my thumbnail! I thought I would walk out of them fairly quickly, but as I carefully walked, they kept jumping. Finally it ended. Very cute little creatures! :)
2. On top of Black Rock mountain just off the Ramapo-Dunderberg trail, the summit is a broad expanse of glacially scoured metamorphic rock. There are great views all around. Then I look to my left--peeking over a nearby hill I see the Empire State building and other Manhattan skyscrapers, far off in the distance like some (non-green) Emerald City. I turn to my right, and maybe twice as far away are the Catskill Mountains, hazy in the distance. Wonderful! :)
3. A small pool within the rocks, fed by a small spring. Splash! A frog hides. I wait, longer than he can hold his breath. He swims up and looks at me with froggy eyes.
4. I take a short rest around lunch time. Tickly ants occasionally walk along my arms.
5. A very small bit of rainwater has been captured in a depression in a rock right next to the trail. It is full of baby mosquito larvae life.
6. The glacial scours and cobble marks on the open bedrock on the hilltops tell a story of how different this area was not all that long ago. The boulders scattered on the hilltops stand like sentinels to this story. How puzzled our ancestors must have been wondering how these large round rocks got dropped onto the tops of mountains!
7. A leafy scuttling noise just off the trail on the left. Doesn't sound like a chipmunk, and not quite like a snake, but almost like a snake. Then I see the snake's head looking at me from a fallen tree in the sun. The snake moves and it has legs! It's the first lizard I have ever seen in the park. :)