Last Week of September 2021

Sept 21, 2021

Theresa came for a quick visit since she had a few days off and a Covid case in Corning put an end to a planned trip there. 

We decided to ride bikes on the Albany-Hudson Electric Rail Trail, so we drove to Nassau Lake as our starting point. We rode about 22 miles through Nassau, North Catham, Valatie, and ended in Kinderhook. We had a nice lunch and bathroom stop at Samascott Orchard farmstand and picked up some produce as well. On our way back we stopped in Valatie to explore the main street and discovered two waterfalls in the process. 





I made some turkey burgers for dinner that night and we planned tomorrows trip to the Harlem Valley Rail trail. 

Since she was heading home after our ride, we drove separately through Columbia County and maybe Dutchess County to get to Millerton, NY. We've ridden south to Wassaic several times, but the north section just opened so that was our goal. The first six miles or so was newly paved and wandered by ponds, fields, and pastures. It was lovely. Then the trail joined up with an older section on a road for a bit, then crushed stone all the way to Copake Falls Station. 





We ventured a bit further north but then turned back towards Millerton and lunch. As the diner was closed by the time we returned, we ended up having an early dinner at 4 Brothers Pizza in Millerton.  It was a great 2 days of riding -  about 45 miles total.


September 25, 2021

I am loathe to go up into the Adirondacks on a weekend, but Garnet Lake is a bit out of the way so I decided that a nice kayak in search of loons warranted a Saturday adventure. Lyne joined me as we set out in search of loons. We weren't on the lake for more than a minute when I heard them, so we headed in their direction. They were quite friendly and decided to come over to check us out as well. 






To make me extremely happy, one loon started to sing and I had the presence of mind to record it.



After a few hours of kayaking, we loaded them up, them set off on a 5 mile hike to Round Pond which was wet, mucky and unremarkable save for a brief encounter with a cute goldendoodle puppy named Sparky. I was beat, but Lyne wanted to stop for dinner so we went to Bolton Landing for a lovely ? I can't remember what I ate because I was so tired, but it was delicious. 



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