Sunset & Moonrise in Rhinebeck

Kingsto-Rhinecliff Bridge under a perfect glow

The moon rising 

The sun setting over Wittenburg

Check out that moon

Just a beautiful sunset

An almost full moon

Top of the tower

Some nice colors

I took this coming down the tower

This is the view from the swamp

Ferncliff Forest is such a great convenience for enjoying sunsets.  On this night, I enjoyed the moon rising in the east, though it was already above the horizon.

Ferncliff Forest

A Walk in the Woods

There's even a lean-to

This is actually a fairly high fire tower

It's a very worthy climb to the top

I do too

Looking over at the Dutchess County Fair

Beautiful sunny morning

Friendly trails can be found at Ferncliff Forest

I went for a walk to the tower enjoying the last of the morning sunlight.  The views here are great for such little effort.  Looking towards the fairgrounds, one could make out the parked cars and a bit of smoke rising from the cooking.  

The Knife Edge

South Peak

The Rocket on Katahdin

The Knife Edge

On the Knife Edge

Chimney Pond

The Canadians making their way

Johnny Rocket scrambling

Walking along a sketchy section

Taking a break, not looking down

Pamola and the chimney

A look back

A narrow section

Some more scrambling

A great ridge walk

The Canadians making their way down the chimney

Heading up Pamola Peak

The Rocket lives!

Looking back at the Knife Edge

Big Bad Katahdin

Hamlin Peak

A good look back

The chimney

the Rocket on Pamola

Looking towards the chimney from Pamola

Chris Hiker with Katahdin in the background

It's all down from here

A balanced rock

Modern rock art

Millinocket Lake

South Turner

Helon Taylor Trail

Pockwockamus Pond

The Knife Edge on Katahdin conjures up images of a narrow ridge walk with its sides dropping off thousands of feet.  Although not as vertiginous or narrow as I imagined, the Knife Edge was far more rugged than I imagined.

Johnny Rocket and I descended down the Knife Edge from the summit of Katahdin.  It did not take long for the trail to narrow.  There were countless ups and downs along the way.  Any bouts of vertigo would be countered with the scrambling involved.  Angel's Landing dropped off far more sharply, but envisioning the fall off the Knife Edge did not provide comfort.  The 2,500 foot drop looked like it'd be far more painful.  

There were a few tricky sections along the way.  But by far the hardest sections were the descent of the formation called the chimney and the ascent of Pamola Peak.  I had to lower myself with my stomach facing into the rock to get down a section on the Chimney.  The Rocket took his backpack off to negotiate this section.  The ascent up Pamola, though tricky, would have provided far more difficulty descending.  Maybe next time.  

The view from Pamola is one of the best.  It's a place I'd like to be for sunrise.  The views from here of the Knife Edge cannot be surpassed.  There's an excellent view of the sketchy walk along the cliff.  From here there's a great view of Katahdin and it's massive wall that drops over 2,000 feet to Chimney Pond.  

From here, The Rocket and I headed down the Helon Taylor Trail.  This trail we'd thought would be easy.  No such luck.  It was almost as rugged as the others.  It would take over 2 miles of scrambling before the trail resembled a normal one.  This trail provided some great views of the Turner Mountains to the west, which worked out well since the sun was setting.  This would be a great trail to end a remarkable day.

“One day's exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books.”  -John Muir