This is looking down the Hudson River toward New York. I'm not sure I've ever taken a hike before where you had to check the tide table before setting out. The Hudson River is actually a tidal estuary, affected by the tides as far north as Albany. At the trailhead to this short walk, the tide table is posted with the days and times that the trail is underwater!
There are two items of note here. First is the bouy with something on top. It's an osprey nest. If you look closely, you'll see a baby's head.
Squint even harder, and you'll see a bridge just to the right of center. That's the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge that Marie and I walked across in March 2023.
I learned a new plant, but it's a bad one. This is Water Chestnut, Trapa natans. It was brought to the US in 1884 by a plant collector. Of course it escaped into the Hudson River. It forms large mats that clog waterways. Animals do eat the large seed pods.
This is a fun plant, but I haven't seen it for a while. It's Dodder, Cuscuta sp., a parasitic plant that looks like someone draped orange silly string over other plants. It has to tap into the vasuclar system of another plant for nourishment. It will sometimes bloom, and I have pictures of that from back when my pix were 35mm.
Also, we saw what appeared to be an ordinary squirrel. However, on closer inspection it appears to have been crosed with a lemur. Just kidding, but I don't think I've ever seen one with stripes on its legs like this.
In other news: We sent for our FLT 50 and FLT Branch Trail patches. We bought paint. If it ever stops raining (not constant, but enough to keep things wet), we have a DIY project to do.
The reason I'm blogging late is that one of Ed and Marie's very shy kitties (two rescue cats) decided to sit on my lap for a long time. Previously, (like for several years previously) she has not even let me touch her. The other cat won't let anyone touch him. I mean, when a shy cat parks on your lap, you just can't get up and blog.
Miles hiked so far in 2024: 351.1.
Trail to Saugerties (NY) Lighthouse and back, 1 mile
 | See Sort of a Foodie Day |
3 comments:
Love seeing old buildings that have stood the test of time.
Yep, if a cat wants your lap you let it have it.
Ann- One of the things I like best about the East is the age of so many buildings.
Lulu: "SQUIRREL!!!"
Charlee: "Our Dada says we have that dodder stuff all over the place here! It's so weird! He and Mama had never seen it before and thought it must be invasive, but, nope, it's native. Mama took some to her classroom and it started creeping across her desk towards her other plants like some kind of alien monster!"
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