(or, a romanticist\’s take on Reality…)

A waterfall and an abandoned house. What\’s one got to do with the other apart from being on the same road? Nothing, apparently. But it may not be too much of a stretch if we consider them rough approximations of birth and death strung on the same road-as-thread. And if I may stretch things a bit further, Quantum Mechanics would say, everything. Taken at its most extreme, Quantum Mechanics is saying all is one.

QM, however, is riddled with contradictions. Indeed, its self-contradictions give QM its voice of authority. A particle is both here and there. A cat unobserved is both alive and dead. And matter at opposite ends of the universe can converse as if the space between them didn’t exist. Not all can be known even by God led to Einstein’s consternation on God creating the universe so God can play dice. That is, assuming there is a flow of time in which God had nothing in the beginning then the Universe a moment (or a week according to the Bible) later. But what does that make God if God only operates within the bounds of Time? God cannot be God if not omnipotent. So, God must be Time himself.

But some thinkers say the passage of time is a construct our minds made up so we can make sense of experience. Time is an illusion. It does not exist outside of our minds. If Time does not exist, then so would God. Then, again, without Time there can be no music. Music is the progression of one note after another in a timed fashion. And music must play an important role in consciousness for how can it not when simply hearing certain tunes I get goosebumps? It is said that music is the language of the soul. So, for music to be real, Time must exist. Or, taking all these arguments we have so far, Time both exists and doesn\’t exist. We\’re back full circle to QM and its contradictions.

But fret not for I say we are not condemned to an eternal state of confusion. Rather, we should embrace contradiction and rejoice in a beautiful reality where a glass half empty is also a glass half full, bad things happen even to us good people, and creation and destruction—our waterfall and our abandoned house in our rough approximation—are part of a greater whole. All is one. Just look at your most cherished someone whoever that may be, and I am confident you will agree that if not for his or her imperfections, however subtle or not, he or she would not have been so perfect.

Is it haunted? Is it even still there?

Deep in the woods of the Vernooy Kill State Forest, just right outside the southern tip of the mountains collectively called the Catskills, is a richly beautiful area to hike, commune with nature in immersive isolation, and maybe even go for a swim in the summer in the crystal-clear waters of Vernooy Kill. Yet hardly anyone goes there—indeed, the neighboring townsfolk 6 miles away vigorously avoid it and the absence of human litter so common in all popular spots and detested by the avid nature lover could instead spook the intrepid hiker—save for the adventurous soul who has an insatiable taste for the macabre and the paranormal.

Such is the setting one finds in Pottersville, a town built on the same pioneering spirit as the early New World settlers’, that is, on a hunch and a willingness to endure hardship in the hopes of striking it rich.

Except that unlike other towns that found fame and fortune, for the small, fledgling, newly-emerging town of Pottersville, things went rather quickly awry.

Back in the early 1900s, a man named Francis Potter built a lumber mill in the Vernooy Kill State Forest. Families who worked there soon began building homes and the small settlement around the mill acquired the name, “Pottersville”, after the mill’s founder.

But the mill owner died, the mill closed, and having no other source of income, the families began moving out. A massive flood happened in 1927 followed by a fire which all but hastened the families’ departure. Not long after, Pottersville became a ghost town.

Before it did, however, two horrific incidents would happen there that would make “Pottersville” synonymous with ghoulish activity in the woods in the minds of many from the neighboring towns.

A man would murder his entire family then kill himself. A murderer would be caught there and hanged there. With such heavy concentration of murders, suicide, and a killing in such a small locale within a short period of time, word spread even to this day that ghosts roam Pottersville long after it was abandoned.

So, who’s up for a haunted hike? A trip with Mother Nature that has a metaphysical component could be an experience like no other. Because for all you know, your professed love for the “natural” may just be a clever guise and a hair’s breadth away from devolving into the realm called the “supernatural”…

360 degrees of Fall foliage splendor.

So, you say you want to see fall foliage before they’re gone. I say there’s no better way to do it than from inside a fire tower. A tall structure on top of a tall mountain, a fire tower offers grand vistas of the surrounding mountainous landscape for little to no hike at all. That’s 360 degrees of fall foliage splendor unobstructed for your eyes to feast on.

Built from the early 1900s to aid rangers in spotting the telltale signs of forest fires, fire towers are today defunct and are either dismantled for safety reasons or repurposed for propping up radio antennas, solar panels, and other equipment what with the rising popularity of drones that are simply better suited at the job. Unless volunteer initiatives form to save the fire towers, they will likely disappear.

And because they were originally built for forest rangers, fire towers can be easily reached simply by driving up to them. Think about it, getting to the top of most mountains requires a grueling, all-day hike. But if there is a fire tower, not only is the road paved for your driving pleasure all the way to the top but you are also offered additional elevation on a manmade structure when you get there on which to appreciate the beauty of Nature all around.

So, just as you are rushing to witness nature’s spectacular display of fall colors before they disappear, so, too, must you rush to find yourself a fire tower before they, too, disappear–this one for good.

Medieval vibe that is all fun and games.

You do get the medieval vibe at Renaissance Faire, an outdoor theme park in Tuxedo Park, New York that lets you travel back in time when knights and princesses held the public’s awe. That is, if, like me, your one and only point of reference is Hollywood’s “A Knight’s Tale”. As one author puts it (Marc Harzman, “Chasing Ghosts”, 2021), the medieval times was when “for centuries, the Grim Reaper ran rampant across Europe, reveling in plagues that wiped out whole towns, amassing bodies in hundreds of bloody wars, and possibly wincing at disturbingly creative methods of torture that sent victims into his arms.” Death was everywhere and a short lifespan whether by disease or the gallows was in the offing for everyday people like you and me. That is hardly the vibe you’d get at Renaissance Faire.

Then again, maybe the carnival-like atmosphere, whether or not but very surely driven by booze, was the medieval person’s way of rejoicing at just being alive, shelving the dark ages that came before and slowly easing the way for the coming of the Renaissance.

Accurate or not, however, the visitor is more than welcome to forget history and partake in the festivity instead, reveling in the notion that it is and always has been all about now. It’s fun, sport, and games. You just may not find a livelier place to celebrate life just by being alive than at Renaissance Faire.

Nature tour on the wild side.

I guess the only thing going against Ausable Chasm–a rock formation with plenty of adventure opportunities for the thrill-seeker including tubing, rafting, climbing cliffs, and crossing the chasm either on a hanging bridge or a stretch of cable no wider than your index finger above a raging river in what is heralded as the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks–from becoming a highly popular New York destination is its proximity to a whole other country. Having driven 5 long hours upstate from New York City, the tourist may well drive the extra 30 minutes, exit the country altogether, and venture into Canada leaving Ausable Chasm in a cloud of dust behind.

Indeed, the few times we\’ve been to Montreal we hardly paid Ausable Chasm notice as we passed signs and read brochures for it along the highway.

Which is unfortunate. Because what I initially thought could be a tourist trap–some billionaire snatching land away from the State and turning it into a moneymaking business when Nature, for all I care, should be enjoyed by all for free–Ausable Chasm was reasonably-priced and actually has its merits at being privately-run. Whereas government-run state parks tend to be peaceful and serene, Ausable Chasm is the complete opposite. For the young and old–indeed, the brave couple in front of us on the raft, as you will see in the video, were much older than us, and a young woman possibly in her 20s turned back tugging her boyfriend along not daring to cross the hanging bridge–I guarantee a surge of adrenaline awaits not just once but maybe twice or more on the tour.

So, I say plan for visiting Ausable Chasm at some point in your life. Because when you do, you just might wonder why it never made it into your bucket list and also wonder why you can never stop talking about it. At least we do.

A waterfall forgotten?

There’s hardly any parking at all—I just parked by the side of the narrow road and hoped no truck came by and grazed my car—but judging from the amount of litter, the waterfall on Birchall Road in Ellenville seems to be a favorite hangout.

Yes, sadly, there’s litter everywhere. Plastic bags, soda bottles, graffiti, you-name-it, and there was even a small, inflated beach ball floating on the pool at the foot of the falls when I came. It made the place less idyllic and more like a forgotten part of town.

Indeed, while reviewing my footages on my computer, I noticed a man standing in the bushes watching me while I flew my drone. (You can see it on the video at the start of the second song at 2:30.) But on closer inspection it looked more like plastic bags caught in a tree and shaped like a man wearing a hoodie and jeans.

Then, again, examining the shape even closer, it looked like it has a face. A “creepy monkey” according to my daughter when I showed it to her. A cryptid!

I can only wish. As you never know after spending so much time in the Shawangunks and the nearby Catskills when Bigfoot might show up…

Seriously, I can only wish that visitors remembered to always take with them what they bring in…

Mining tunnel behind a waterfall

I first learned about Horseshoe Mine Falls with a mining tunnel behind it late last year. But also learning that I will have to wade in the pool if I wanted to photograph the waterfall from inside the tunnel, I decided to wait until the following spring when the temperatures warmed up.

So it’s late spring the following year and the waders I ordered finally arrived. I went to visit Horseshoe Mine Falls. I was not disappointed.

When I started hiking the Catskills and surrounding regions to photograph and film waterfalls more than a year ago, I thought of the activity more as “work” than “pleasure”. I got up early before sunrise and drove to a remote location over an hour away sometimes hiking for a mile or two and the night before I ran through a series of checklists making sure my cameras were in working order, the memory cards formatted, the batteries charged, and the drone’s firmware up-to-date, not to mention the research I did to know something of the place that I may say something worthwhile on video for the viewers to hear. I did not at all buy into a favorite quote among outdoor lovers attributed to naturalist John Muir saying, “the mountains are calling and I must go”. I did not consider myself to be among the flock. It was, for me, pure work.

And when I arrived at the waterfall, I had to decide where to position the cameras, where to launch the drone from, what to say about what I was seeing, and ultimately decide whether I have captured enough on video before I left. My mind was constantly on a future outcome instead of the present moment that my nature-tripping became obsessively “work” far removed from the “play” that it should have been.

But recently having found a new job, I became immersed in corporate work encased in steel, glass, and concrete looking after the company’s bottom-line. My mind was constantly dialed to a future outcome. I was left with little time and energy if at all for spontaneous activities like the nature-tripping I used to do.

Yet two months in to my work, I began to feel a longing for the outdoors. I will drive past the woods and see the mountains in the distance and from somewhere within me a pang of desire would surge wanting to be there instead of here on the asphalt road on my way to work. Spring, a waterfall recently made public, a mining tunnel, and the arrival of my waders could not have come at a better time. It’s off to Horseshoe Mine Falls I go.

The trip had a sort of coming-home feel to it when I arrived. Standing at the trailhead for the waterfall I was about to commune with, I could not help but think to myself, spend time in nature long enough in whatever capacity, condition, or demeanor you happen to be in, then stay away from her long enough, and, like a mountain from afar, she will come calling for her flock to shepherd you back.

Waterfall hike in Pennsylvania.

After freezing rain covered my region with snow and ice for weeks, we finally got a thaw so I promptly scheduled a hike, this time just across the state border (I’m coming from Port Jervis, NY) to Pennsylvania. I visited Hackers Falls, one of several waterfalls in the area and one of two big draws in the popular Cliff Loop trail that also features a hike along the top of a cliff (which is probably how the trail got its name) that offers sweeping views of the Delaware River below and northern New Jersey beyond.

Cliff Loop is 3.7 miles long, but I only went as far as Hackers Falls which is 1.6 miles (or 3.2 miles out-and-back). The hike is “easy” and “good for all skill levels” according to alltrails.com and children may be brought along. Some trails are flat and wide enough for vehicles to pass although I did not see any tire tracks. But I don’t think you could push a baby stroller along because the inclines can be steep.

Considering that my out-and-back to Hackers Falls was just 0.5 mile shy of the full loop (3.2 vs 3.7 miles), why, one might ask, did I not just do the full circuit and enjoy the scenic vista from the cliff edge, too? Maybe one day I will. But for now, my mind dictates that when it comes to admiring beauty, I do not necessarily always have to go for the two-for-one.

Waterfall inside … a cemetery?

Just a short, downhill walk to a stream called Beer Kill from Route 52 in Ellenville, NY is a massive waterfall that is practically unheard of, Hanging Rock Falls. Yes, you will find it online—that was how I found it—but what few websites you’d likely find were posted only in recent years some as recent as this year. Indeed, a December 2020 post says they’ve “lived here for almost 8 years now and have never heard of or been to this waterfall”. It’s a powerful waterfall formed by massive rocks tiered in a stair-step cascade approximately 100 feet in height that is not much talked about either through intent—the locals might want to keep such gem to themselves—or scorn after the automobile then the airplane diverted New York City vacationers away from Ellenville to other far-flung destinations thus ending Ellenville’s glory days as a vacation hotspot when rail was the only means of long-distance travel on land.

This region east of the Catskills—the Rondout Valley and the nearby Shawangunk Mountains—is riddled with waterfalls and Hanging Rock Falls just 2.5 miles north of the Ellenville village center on Route 52 is just one. Two miles south also on Route 52 is another waterfall, Nevele Falls, sometimes called Buttermilk Falls by locals. The name “Nevele” came from the name of an inn owned by an early Jewish farmer renting out rooms. In 1903, he named his inn “Nevele” after the number of his children, eleven, spelled backwards.

The name “Ellenville” itself has a storied origin. Local lore has it that in the early 1800s the villagers needed to name their village to apply for their own post office. Coming up blank they settled on the name of one of them, Ellen, so Ellenville it was and Ellenville since.

If you’re ever in the area, I strongly suggest visiting these two waterfalls as they are practically by the roadside with Hanging Rock Falls offering a deeper trek into nature with many possible off-trail—with caution of course as the terrain can be steep—attractions and adventures.

Two roadside waterfalls in Ellenville.

Just a short, downhill walk to a stream called Beer Kill from Route 52 in Ellenville, NY is a massive waterfall that is practically unheard of, Hanging Rock Falls. Yes, you will find it online—that was how I found it—but what few websites you’d likely find were posted only in recent years some as recent as this year. Indeed, a December 2020 post says they’ve “lived here for almost 8 years now and have never heard of or been to this waterfall”. It’s a powerful waterfall formed by massive rocks tiered in a stair-step cascade approximately 100 feet in height that is not much talked about either through intent—the locals might want to keep such gem to themselves—or scorn after the automobile then the airplane diverted New York City vacationers away from Ellenville to other far-flung destinations thus ending Ellenville’s glory days as a vacation hotspot when rail was the only means of long-distance travel on land.

This region east of the Catskills—the Rondout Valley and the nearby Shawangunk Mountains—is riddled with waterfalls and Hanging Rock Falls just 2.5 miles north of the Ellenville village center on Route 52 is just one. Two miles south also on Route 52 is another waterfall, Nevele Falls, sometimes called Buttermilk Falls by locals. The name “Nevele” came from the name of an inn owned by an early Jewish farmer renting out rooms. In 1903, he named his inn “Nevele” after the number of his children, eleven, spelled backwards.

The name “Ellenville” itself has a storied origin. Local lore has it that in the early 1800s the villagers needed to name their village to apply for their own post office. Coming up blank they settled on the name of one of them, Ellen, so Ellenville it was and Ellenville since.

If you’re ever in the area, I strongly suggest visiting these two waterfalls as they are practically by the roadside with Hanging Rock Falls offering a deeper trek into nature with many possible off-trail—with caution of course as the terrain can be steep—attractions and adventures.