Sunny, warm, and calm
Great day for a ride along 7
Lakes Drive, a scenic parkway 18 miles in length in Harriman State Park. In its hay-day, each of the lakes was a
recreation area with swimming, boating, and fishing throughout the summer and
skating, ice-fishing, and cross-country skiing during the winter months. The economic woes of New York State
have led to the closing of some of the beaches and curtailment of other
recreational activities at some of the other lakes. Nonetheless, it retains its beauty and in spite of the fact
that none of the 7 lakes on 7 Lakes Drive are natural, it is a beautiful place
to “get into nature”, even if just from behind the wheel of a car.
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| Lake Welch |
Now that summer has past, the
drive is quiet during the week. As
the fall wears on, the place becomes even more secluded and its possible to
drive the entire 18 miles without ever seeing another vehicle. Pulling off the side of the road or
into one of the parking lots which remain open after Labor Day, you can find a
lot of Mother Nature’s best right along the roadside. With only a short time to take out of our busy day today, we
took the route on our return from New Jersey and easily found several locations
for our blog shots. First
encountered was Lake Welch, a place near and dear to me as I spent several
summers working as a life guard here back in my college days.
Along the roadside, we found a
great many wildflowers including this pretty pink Lady’s thumb smartweed.
While waterfowl
and other birds were not abundant today as they are in the spring, we did come
across a stately Great blue heron which took flight as we drove by. Just past the heron, in a field
adjacent to Lake Tiorati, we found three white-tailed deer. Although aware of our presence,
they seem to know that hunting within Harriman State Park is not permitted and
they paid us little heed.
As I walked back from the
field where I photographed the deer, I nearly stepped upon this fungus. If you take the time to really look
down at the ground as you walk through the forest, you’ll find a multitude of
these beautiful organisms growing on trees, on decaying logs, or just along the
ground as this one was.
As the season wears on, we’ll
revisit 7 Lakes Drive and enjoy the gorgeous colors of the changing
leaves. It is truly a treasure only minutes from our doorstep.
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