Sunday, January 5, 2014

A winter walk along Rensselaer Lake (Six Mile Waterworks)

I think every blogger has one or more posts that defy their understanding in regards to "commercial" success.  My post is "Yachting with G" a just for fun posting that I wrote reflecting on floating in my inflatable boat on Rensselaer Lake in Albany, NY.  Due to the surprise success of this initial posting, I posted a follow up the following year, "More Yachting with G" that never really took off.  This deepened the mystery as it would seem that similar topic material would yield similar results, but that was not the case.  Regardless, I had often thought it would be fun to visit the lake during winter to enjoy a fresh perspective of this local treasure and so with that thought in mind, I made a winter trek to Rensselaer Lake.


While the parking lot was initially abandoned when I arrived, I immediately noticed the drone of heavy traffic in the background.  This visit was during the holiday season so there was a high volume of traffic, but the lack of leaves on the trees also contributes to the higher volume of noise during this winter trek.


Approaching the lake from the parking area, I traveled to the left to follow the path which runs parallel to the New York State Thruway toward the Pine Bush.  I was very hopeful of circling around the main part of the lake over the foot bridge in the rear and toward the thicker woodlands of the Pine Bush to insulate from the road noise, but encountered this sign barring entry to the Pine Bush:


I had noticed that substantial vegetation along the Northway had been cleared in the Pine Bush.  The sign explained the project which largely is to remove Poplar and Locust trees, including roots using heavy equipment.  As a layperson, I question the efficacy of this project - I know that Poplars grow extremely quick (and large) and I suspect using heavy equipment would have a substantial impact to small growth, including the scrub pines that are trying to be preserved / encouraged.  

Regardless, the only remaining option for this trip was to continue the hike along the trail that continued to follow the Thruway toward the Albany landfill.  There were some great views of the lake and photo opportunities.


I have also posted more pictures on my Rensselaer Lake page.

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