Sages Ravine

For Cinco de Mayo this year Mark and I decided to celebrate by exploring Sages Ravine.  It lies on the western border of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and it has beautiful pockets of old growth forest.  Part of the hike follows the Appalachian Trail and is well maintained and well used.  We hiked as far as the Massachusetts border, then looped back.  (The AT continues through MA).  Here is a photo of me after a particularly rigorous stretch of rock-face:

The first patch of old growth comes early in the hike.  A glen of old hemlocks sits a few hundred feet off the trail along a brook.  Here is Mark with one of the trees.  If you look closely you may notice one of the tree's roots gripping the rock.

Mark and an old hemlock tree

There were many bright greens, whites, and pinks scattered throughout the forest in the form of new leaves, buds and flowers.  In some places there were fiddleheads:  

Fiddleheads

When we got down into the ravine, the forest's underbrush disappeared.  It was quieter, cooler and seemingly more peaceful.  Mark snapped a shot of this tree:  

Towards the top of Bear Mountain, we saw many shades of quartz in the rocks underfoot.

All in all, a beautiful hike.

Manhattan Hiking

Earlier this week I took the A train all the way uptown to Inwood Hill Park, which boasts some of the oldest trees in New York City.  Bright spring greens and purples illuminated the park's scenery.  It was a welcome bit of nature in this at times nature-starved city.  There are even places on the top of the hill where I could look out over the Hudson River and hear none of the incessant city noises!  Check out some photos below.