Walk - A new year in the Moccasin Kill Sanctuary

January 1. New Year's Day. 50 degrees and sunny. A day not to be wasted indoors watching football. Well, maybe later...

After a green Christmas, we now have a green New Year. And this scene was especially green as I walked in the Moccasin Kill Sanctuary, west of Schenectady.



There's a long-standing mystery between me and the Moccasin Kill. I have a vague long-ago recollection of an open view back toward Schenectady from the end of one of the long ridges between the deeply carved ravines. Today, I set out to find it. And it turns out that I'm either misremembering, or the trees have grown up and it's no longer there. I went where it should have been, but found nothing. So I continued on and walked the rest of the trails.



As I was returning from the blue loop along one of the upper ravines, I noticed something I hadn't seen before - a couple of very nice step waterfalls, visible (with care!) from just off the trail. They were partially frozen, and the water was flowing behind and through the ice. Because of this, they were very white and hard to miss, especially with no leaves on the trees.






Tomorrow night the cold arrives again in earnest, but unfortunately, the prospects for any snow are still pretty dismal. In the meantime, these frequent local walks will have to suffice.