Keeping New Year's Resolutions . . . Hiking, Birding, and Photography

      Back in January 2013, before my work life went crazy, I wrote about New Year's resolutions for the Mountain Gazette. I outline some suggested resolutions that I thought would make the sporting world a better place and sportsmen better people - if that is possible.  Among the resolutions I suggested was "Take up a new and complimentary 'hobby'; something to get you out in the woods during the off season. Take up photography, bird watching, hiking, canoeing – something to get you outside; something you can do with family or friends...."

Tri-Colored Heron and Great Egret, Cape May, NJ

I decided to follow my own advice (for a change) and take up several "hobbies" to compliment hunting and fishing activities. And while many hobbies don't come cheap, they don't have to be expensive (unless you get a new camera and new hiking shoes, and a new backpack...not that I'm saying I did...).

Being outdoors keeps me sane. Some people have no problem dealing with crowds of people, tons of traffic, and lots of buildings and pavement. Not me. I need the outdoors to recreate and regenerate. When I'm in Vermont, I'm surrounded by the outdoors. When I'm away, not so much.

My "hobbies" bring me outside when noting is in season or, God forbid, I don't have time or feel like hunting or fishing. When I'm away from Vermont these same pursuits give me a great reason to head for the hills - not that I need too much of a reason.

Sky Meadow State Park, VA

I started snowshoe day hiking on the western slopes of Mount Mansfield after hunting season was over and before trout season opened with . The woods were almost empty and I certainly didn't overhead.

Friends in Virginia told me about Sky Meadows State Park, which has become a favorite - especially the section that runs along the Appalachian Trial. Wherever I am on the weekend I look to see what local trails are available.

Sometimes the weather is less than desirable or I simply don't have the time available for a good hike. Enter the hobby of birding. I used to bird back in high school and my early fatherhood years - both periods of time with my friend Tom Kenefick. Back in the day, we'd pack our daughters Lauren and Katie and go looking for Bald Eagles at Mason Neck in Virginia. We'd tie feathers on the girls and let them flop around in their winter coats hoping to attract some birds. (Just checking to see if our wives ever read my blog.)

Great Blue Heron, Huntley Meadows Park, VA

In fact, back in high school we birded with David Allen Sibley (once). David was in my class and Tom and I ran track with David's older brother Steve and sister Anne. We went out one night looking to call owls and stayed through dawn. We ended up in a marsh, trying to convince David to leave so we could grab some breakfast. To say that David had an unusual level of focus for a high school guy would be a gross understatement, certainly where something other than girls were concerned. Of course, having more focus than either Tom or me was a low hurdle to meet.

So, I'm birding again and taking some short side trips to various locations near and not so near and it has been a lot of fun.

Whimbrels, Cape May, NJ

The Tri-Colored Heron, Great Egret, and Whimbrel photos were taken on a September trip to Cape May, NJ. The shots were taken from a boat in choppy water. I was using a Lumix GX-7 with a 100-300 lens. The camera has an anti-vibration feature, which was handy shooting from a boat.

I saw 34 species of birds. Many of the birds were firsts for me. Kind of neat. It gets me out and is an interesting challenge to learn to identify new birds. It is like preseason scouting, where you aren't sure of what game you'll actually find.

One interesting sighting while at Cape May was a Whiskered Tern. You won't find it in your local bird guide since it is from Africa. It was visiting Cape May when I was. It was only the third sighting of this bird in the United States. Frankly, it wasn't an impressive looking bird. It was nice to add such an unusual sighting to my life list.

Expect to see many more photos in coming posts. I already have quite a backlog. 

Old man vs. Stony Man

Last weekend I decided to take a drive out to Shenandoah National Park to do some hiking.  My goal was to hike to the summit of Stony Man mountain, then continue hiking along the Appalachian Trail ("AT").  I saw a beautiful photo taken from Stony Man in Backpacker magazine and was hoping to get a picture or two using my iPhone.

The signs are right "Watch for Deer"

I won't bore you with stories of DC-area traffic...coming and going, but will say that you have to love getting out to the country to suffer the traffic.  I guess you take the bad with the good.

It was a relatively cloudy day, so I knew my visibility would be limited.  What I did not know or could not recall knowing was how high some of the mountains are in the Park.  Stony Man is just over 4,000 feet, only about 300 feet shorter than Mt. Mansfield in Vermont.  The summits of each mountain are very different.  There is no tree line on Stony Man like the one on Mt. Mansfield.  It was about 10 degrees cooler on the summit of Stony Man than in the valley.  I'll take cooler, even if it is only 10 degrees!

A sneaker-friendly trail

The other big difference between the peaks of Shenandoah National Park and Vermont is that Virginia has Skyline Drive which runs along the peaks and is parallel to the AT through the Park.  I recall reading that FDR's Administration had a similar proposal regarding building a Skyline Drive in Vermont that would run along the backbone of the Green Mountains, but that Vermont - then being very independent and wary of too much government intrusion - rejected the idea.  Virginia's mountains are more accessible than Vermont's, but something is lost when you can just drive right up to a high peak.

I know something is lost because that's how I began my hike, driving to a parking lot just south of Stony Man's summit.  Fortunately, there were many other trails, because the hike to the summit was not too long or too challenging.  It was, however, a great place to eat lunch.

Hiker looking down on the clouds

There was a front moving in while I sat at the summit and ate my ham and cheese sandwich.  Luckily, the clouds below did offer some nice views.  It wasn't as breathtaking as the photo I had seen in Backpacker magazine, but still pretty impressive.

I'd love to plan a nice long hike along the AT, but I'd need a free weekend to do it.  I'd have to stay down close to the Park to insure I could get an early start.  Perhaps later this summer.

Another first for me happened on my hike.  As soon as I got back to the car, it started to rain.  It really rained...and I was done and sitting in a dry car.  It was a nice almost end to the day.  I still had the traffic to fight as I got closer to DC.

another view from the summit

another another view