[Bill
Menke's Journal Entry for the afternoon of December
9, 2005] I wake up to find that a snowstorm is in progress. About six inches of snow is on the ground at
daybreak, and heavy show continues to fall.
I cross-country ski in Tallman Mountain Park in the
morning, for about three hours.
The snow slowly tapers off, the sky clears, and the afternoon turns
bright and sunny. The landscape, covered
with the new-fallen snow, is very beautiful.
I decide to return to the Park, this time on snowshoes, to take
photographs. I park in the south lot, at
the terminus of the Bike Path, and head toward the north Picnic area, which is
about a mile and a half away. I take
many side trips to visit photogenic spots. I head down the Long Trail, as far
as the pond. The bushes along the marshy
borders of the pond, now with every arching twig thickened by a sleeve of snow,
are very beautiful. Small birds flutter
around them. The damp areas along the old levy that the trail follows sport
many snow hummock, each a brilliant white against the dark brown hues of fallen
leaves that cover the floor of the swamp.
I walk down the crest of an old levy, past the pond, and out onto the
cliff edge, I
photograph some of the gullies that lead down the Palisades to the Hudson
River, below. The Piermont Pier and the
surrounding salt marsh, stand out well against the Hudson, because of their
snow cover, the bright sun and the especially clear air. I then rejoin the Bike
Path, because travel is easier there, and I am getting pretty tired. I hike up
on top of the hill of the North Picnic area.
The view to Hook Mountain, and the Hudson Highlands beyond it, is less
vivid, more pastel. As I start to head
back, the wind picks up, and the low sun lights up the blowing snow
spectacularly. The sun is just setting
as I return to the car. One hour fifty
minutes.