In the fall of 2003, I travelled upstate NY ... through the Hudson Valley and around Lake Champlain into Vermont ... these are ALL new lighthouses to me
(This is being posted October 14, 2004 ... Reconstructed from posts on LH.net. I will further supplement it from notes at a later date)
Friday night, Saturday and Sunday we'll be visiting the younger one at William and Mary. He's a bit homesick since Isabel ruined Fall Break. We'll feed him real food, spoil him for two and a half days, and miss him when we're gone.
Monday morning, though, I'll leave home in time to make the Stony Point Battlefield Light when the park opens at 9am. From there I'll meander upstream to shoot the NY lights of Lake Champlain and Windmill Point on the Vermont Side.
From there I'm leaning towards the long drive north to Quebec and start along the St Lawrence. Those plans might change, however, as I might decide to just cut across Vermont and revisit lower Maine and Cape Ann.
While having great ambition, I got a good case of "Am I Nuts or What?" and toned down my plans for this week. Anybody ever get a good look at the immensity of the Gaspere Peninsula of Quebec? That bad boy really extends out beyond all my expectations, maybe a good three hundred miles from the first light I thought I would be able to see at Pointe au Pere. It wasn't the distance from here.. it was the distance from there.
With a thankful assist from Mike(Lightkeeper),the plans are now thus. I will be leaving here after voting tomorrow morning, which, should traffic be cooperative, put me at Stony Point Battlefield Light about 9am. From there it will be up the Hudson Valley, to Esopus, Saugerties, and Hudson-Athens. And, from there, it is to Lake Champlain, and the seven I believe that can be spotted from land.
Eleven new lights.
That trip to Quebec sounds more like a plane to Montreal and a car rental from there, a trip for the future. For the present, I will take these two days and just enjoy them ...
Upon pulling away from the house, when the first words you hear on the radio are "sun giving way to clouds..." it is not a harbinger of good things to follow. (GOOGLE reported over 7000 songs have "rain" in the title...)
I did make it thru the Hudson Valley ... and I did make it around Lake Champlain.. and I'll post about the trip later in the day. I just wanted to set the mood.
The potential was unlimited ... Two days, late Autumn, the Hudson River Valley, Lake Champlain ... not much could be better. I was pared down to the manageable, receiving invaluable aide from Sue (Mombo) and Mike (Lighthkeeper).
Except for the rain (horizontal), the wind (whitecaps everywhere), the cold (“road conditions should improve by daybreak”), and the speeding ticket (I swear it was the truck in front of me), all else was well. However, as Gary Martin once unequivocally stated, “Yeah, but you were out lighthousing.” That became the mantra for the expedition.
Stony Point Battlefield ... Esopus Meadows ... Saugerties ... Hudson-Athens ... Crown Point ... Barber’s Point ... Bluff Point ... Point au Roche ... Isle la Motte ... Windmill Point ... Colchester Reef. Eleven new lights for me. MAPQUEST landed me in the area, LIGHTHOUSE FRIENDS placed me at the light. In addition, thanks to Sue, I received the second best piece of Lighthousing advice ever.
Three lighthouses I could touch. Seven were limited in view, either private property or in the middle of the Hudson. One should have been off limits but I trespassed anyway.
Stony Point ... short and white ... a gasp-inducing walk up a steep hill to a beautiful panorama. History oozed from behind every tree and rock. There was trepidation crossing a one-lane bridge into the park and a historical comfort traveling under the stone arch at park’s entrance. What made me laugh was, as a class trip was getting off their school bus, three women in historical garb were exiting a minivan to greet them. Seems they should have arrived on horse back.
Esopus Meadows and Hudson-Athens ... beautiful structures in the middle of the Hudson River. Against the backdrop of the opposite shore, on another day, in another climate, these pictures could have been spectacular. In between these two was Saugerties Light, a bed-and-breakfast closed for the sesason. A long walk over soft terrain, it was here Sue suggested care in that high tide tends to obscure the trail. I did bring old sneakers just for this walk, and while the tide wasn’t up, the leaves were down, making the trail not always easy to follow. The walk was worth it as this is a marvelous brick structure, angles and eaves everywhere.
It is approximately 150 miles from Athens to Crown Point. I made 137 of them perfectly. Then local law enforcement and myself, we disagreed on the speed of my Saturn. Oh well, a story for a different day ... but should someone know the Mayor, Chief of Police, or Municipal Court Judge of Ticonderoga, NY, I would sure be appreciative.
Barber’s Point is a private home, a tower extended from the front of a two story white building. I was shooting from the path because there were private property signs everywhere. Turns out that was adjoining property, and as the lady in the passing pickup said, I was allowed on property to shoot. The tower no longer active, the new light was on a post, down by water’s edge.
Bluff Point Light ... not white, but similar in structure to Barber’s Point and located on Valcour Island, across the channel from Peru. While a challenge in the gale, it was, from this distance, a point and shoot exercise.
I missed Point au Roche the first time. It was behind trees and on private property. A stone tower with a black lantern, I did trespass onto the edges of the grass to take a shot not obstructed by trees, and as always when I trespass, I almost tiptoe on, tiptoe off.
Isle la Motte ... It was pink ... Actually it was faded red ... an iron tower again on private property. Lighthouse Point Road ended at a roped off gate. I walked around it, up on the hill, and took pictures with the home and water behind. I was far enough away that tiptoeing was not necessary.
Windmill Point ... same deal as Point au Roche ... a stone tower, this time with an orange lantern room. This light was deeply embedded in a private enclave but I played dumb and drove in as far as I dared ... found an unobstructed view ... and shot.
Colchester Reef ... it is a 60 mile drive to the Shelbourne Museum where the restored light is on exhibit and of course the place was shut for the season. Would you think the woman in the gift shop would let me stroll down to take a few pictures? Not knowing whether telling her I was from NJ hurt or helped, she said for security reasons she couldn’t allow it. I went Back out to Rt. 7 and did the best I could, shooting over a fence and around trees. On first glance this light bore resemblance to the one on Ponham Rocks, RI. Trimmed, painted and attractive, I had looked forward to seeing it up close and maybe even walking through it.
It was now 230pm and I was done. I was 350 miles from home. I need to say a word about Mapquest ... Wow !!! From a Vermont State Hiway to a US Hiway to a NY County Road to the interstate, the directions and the mileage’s were almost to the inch. I find that incredible (of course I had a map, too, so I could “see” it, but this was just remarkable).
I made it home just before West Wing, as was asleep before the first commercial.
BACK AND FORTH
