Sean Carpenter – Photographs and Work
Personal Photography and Work
Ocean City, New Jersey was hit last year by Hurricane Sandy, and lost much of its sand. Apparently they pumped in more for this year’s beachgoers, and while the sand restored the surface area it wasn’t great for walking/sand castling because of the excessive shells.
We watched some of the Baltimore Grand Prix, and while I appreciate the safety of the double fences, it wasn’t exactly great viewing (or shooting).
Hiking these mountains started on a whim, and I for one had never hiked anything, ever, before my first trip to Lake Placid. Over the course of these several years our hiking has taught us about ourselves, about overcoming obstacles, about completing seemingly impossible tasks.
On my final ‘rest’ day, I decided that I wanted to get some pre-dawn shots from either near North Meadows (along Adirondack Loj Road) or from Keene Valley.
Five days of hiking out of six was more than we had ever done. Factoring in the difficulty/length of three of those hikes, we were looking for something simpler on day 6. Enter Whiteface & Esther.
The Indian Pass trail was easily the best/most interesting lead-in trail we’ve taken. It’s much prettier (and softer) than the Van Hoevenberg or Phelps trails, and not nearly as boring as Lake Road.
Many (most?) people choose to climb Cliff & Redfield Mountains from the south via the Upper Works trailhead. From the Adirondack Loj, where Kathy and I started, the mileage is about the same, but our route skirts the 3,800-foot elevation Lake Arnold, adding several hundred feet of climbing both ways.
Heading straight for the summit of Tabletop at about 4 miles from the Adirondack Loj, the last mile was dark and muddy (but not shoe-stealing muddy) with relatively middling views.
The Slide Brook and Lillian Brook herd paths were two of the best trails in the Adirondacks. They vary the terrain and direction enough that you don’t feel like you’re on an endless trail, and almost the entirety of both routes is soft underfoot and well-maintained.
One of the impressive features of the waterfalls at Ricketts Glen is both how closely spaced and how varied they are. Not only are the falls themselves dramatically different, but they vary themselves as the seasons change and as the water level changes.
At the 2013 West Chester Iron Hill Criterium, pros and amateurs zip around the 1km course downtown, making a great venue for watching leads change and drama unfold.
I took the morning this year on Memorial Day to pay my respects at the Baltimore National Cemetery.
