04-17-2019: Spring's Arrival

Last week, spring arrived in full force. Flowers bloomed, clouds cleared, remaining snowbanks melted, and allergies flared. As temperatures rose above 70 F I took advantage of the thaw to walk one of my final walks in Durham NY. CR-67 is a prominent road that runs east-to-west across the town parallel to the Catskill Creek. In order to cover its spur roads O'Hara, Carter Bridge, and CR-67A, I split the road into two sections, walking the eastern section first.

Fair warning, there is an excess of close-up flower photos in this post. Spring took me such that I couldn't resist stopping at every bit of new growth I could find.

A view upstream (westward) on the Thorp Creek. Taken from a bridge on CR-67A, shortly before its confluence with the Catskill.

Looking upstream on the Catskill from CR-67A. The shore by the cliffs is a popular swimming spot in the summer when the water is lower.

View of the northern Escarpment, with Windham High Peak prominent on the right, from CR-67 near the Greenville border.

This cracked mirror looked quite poignant along the side of the road.

A spectacular view of the Catskill creek, looking south. This was taken from atop a bluff on unposted land just off Route 67.

This segment of road is notoriously dangerous, with steep slopes and no shoulders on both sides of a high-traffic road for nearly half a mile. This was the reason I put off CR-67 until after the winter.

View of Windham HP through trees over the Catskill lowlands.

A yellow flower, very low to the ground.

Scraggly, bare locust branches fill the blue skies along Carter Bridge Road.

I believe these yellow flowers are the same species I photographed in Broome a week or so earlier.

On the 'Welcome to Greenville' sign at the border on Carter Bridge is a small sticker that displays a map of Greenville, with many of its major roads and hamlets labelled.

Windham loomed rather prominently during my descent from Carter Bridge.

This person's property is private, but I was able to borrow a bit of their mountain view from the roadside.

This maple bud seems uncertain as to whether it should fully release its leaves or hide a few days more.

The Crystal Falls, located along an unnamed tributary of the Catskill Creek.

Looking downstream (southeast) on the Catskill from the bridge on CR-67A. Part of Burnt Knob is visible in the background.

Looking downstream (northeast) on the Thorp Creek, near the center of town.

The flag of Greene County flies at a cultural center in East Durham. To the extent of my knowledge this is one of only two Greene County flags that fly, the other located outside the county courthouse in Catskill.