Hiking the Adirondacks

Kate and I went up to her favorite waterfall and brook this week to wander around and take photos. We had a debate about whether it qualified as a hike or was just a walk. I pointed out that we had 100 photos of waterfalls as we walked, which means we have to be walking up. Otherwise it would just be a stream.

Why take the easy route when there are waterfalls to view?

There's also a bit of video on youtube.

And a bunch more photos:

A Week with the Terns

I'll start with the highlights and end with all the rest of the photos.

To give you a sense of the island:

They aren't kidding about don't land. Between Common Terns and Roseate Terns there are over 10,000 nests, which means 30-40 thousand birds, half of whom are tiny and under foot. You have to be so careful walking around.

That's a little blind on the left. There are maybe 10 of them scattered around the island. Then the big blind on the right which was the only one tall enough to fully stand in.

Sunset on the 4th of July.

If you do a google map search for Great Gull Island you can see it, but not at this time of year because most of the island is covered with vegetation like this and the map looks mostly dirt and open. 

Morning chick check. The commons like to hide under the brush.