Scouting Hog's BackMid-day light over Letchworth's Hogs Back The daylight savings time is gone, it's 29°F and forecast 22°F for the morning. There are still some remaining colors up on trees, mostly yellow and some orange. The frosts came early in September but then it warmed up and the color progression slowed down markedly. As such, reds were in short supply this fall season. However, the yellows and oranges were beautiful too and the fall season was another unique show of nature's artful creations.

I have so many photos to share from this fall season but am not sure my timing will be great. I like to keep my posts somewhat timely, with the occasional break down of a late post I did not get to sooner. Posting wild colors when it's all white around may seem odd. Let's see, maybe the winter blanket will hold off for a few more days, or even weeks.

The Letchworth State Park is a Western and Central New York state classic, especially in the fall with all of its deciduous trees showing off their autumn coats. 2013 was a good year for me and Letchworth and I made it to the park quite a few times to witness sunrises, warm summer days, and a sunset or two. I made it to the balloon festival during the Memorial Day weekend. I also managed to get a little bit off the beaten path and explored a few new trails. On each of these visits I also always vividly remembered my beautiful foggy experience from last year!

This was a hiking day, hoping to go to the Papermill Falls, which I am yet to see. But that plan was thwarted early. There was a water main break at the trailhead, which in turn was closed and bulldozers were the only trail blazers at that time. Instead of heading down Trail #19 we hiked the nearby Trail #18, just across the Silver Lake Outlet gorge. While so close, its also so very far. This branch of a gorge is very deep and possibly even more impressive than the Genesee River gorge itself. Trail #18 dead ends on a spur with a straight down drop off.

After some initial delays and the hike the time reserved for exploration has passed and it was time to leave the park behind. Before heading for the exit, we stopped at the Hog's Back though. I had not been to the northern part of the park in a while and wanted to scout sunrise possibilities there. I am certainly glad we stopped! It was the final motivation I needed to set the alarm and head out.

Cloudy Daybreak at Hog's BackLetchworth colors on show before sunrise

The Hog's Back of Letchworth before Autumn Sunrise

While nature had different plans than I and obstructed this morning's sunrise it gave me something possibly even better. The dark ominous clouds over the fall color show made for heck of a backdrop!

As always, plan, but welcome the unexpected, … and most of all, have fun!

Sources:

• Hiking Map for Letchworth North
• Papermill Falls, Gibsonville, NY in Letchworth State Park

Equipment used:

• Nikon D600
• Nikon 24-85mm Nikkor Lens
• Induro Carbon Fiber 4-section Tripod (CT014) (my travel tripod; its four sections give it smaller collapsed size and it's also lighter than my standard workhorse tripod. It has been through deserts and oceans and is still going strong after 4 years)
• Manfrotto ball head (496RC2)
• Cokin graduated ND4 filter (last photo)
• Cokin P Holder with a 72 mm Adapter (last photo)
• Think Tank Speed Demon Waist Pack,  Petzl Zipka Plus 2 Headlamp (always in the bag just in case), SanDisk Extreme 32GB SD Cards
• Exposure delay mode of 2 seconds, no remote release
• Nikon Capture NX2

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