Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/12/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Larry, A very nice place, that I was not aware of. Thanks for retrieving your biking images. Jim Nichols Tullahoma, TN USA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lawrence Zeitlin" <lrzeitlin at gmail.com> To: "Leica LUG" <lug at leica-users.org> Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 1:03 PM Subject: [Leica] IMG; Croton Dam pictures > Somehow my browzer screwed up the URLs on the last post. I'll try again. > Larry Z > > I'm hardly as avid a biker as Nathan but during the summer months I ride > the hills and small roads of my neighborhood for a modicum of exercise. > Generally I carry a small P&S camera in my saddle bag in case I run across > an interesting sight. As I was putting the bike away for the winter I > found > that I had not downloaded many of the pictures taken over the last two > years. The battery was dead flat but I could still pull the images off the > chip. > > If you are in or near New York you don't have to travel to China or Egypt > to > see man made wonders of the world. The New Croton Dam, part of the New > York > water supply system, stretches across the Croton River about 22 miles > (35 km) north of New York City. This dam is the third largest cut stone > structure in the world, exceeded only by the Great Wall of China and the > Great Pyramid of Giza. A gravity aqueduct carries the water 40 miles from > Croton to the aqueduct lake in Central Park. It's downhill all the way. > You > can still walk the Aqueduct Trail stretching from the dam to the city. Or > bike it or ski it depending on the weather. > > Italian stone cutters were hired enmasse to build the dam. Many brought > their families with them or married local girls and remained in the area > after the work was completed. Quite a few were closet sculptors and > painters. The village of Croton-on-Hudson acquired a reputation as a free > thinking art center. It was also a hotbed of pre-WWI radicalism. Many of > our > native born socialists and Communists, including Max Eastman, Daily Worker > editor Robert Minor, and John Reed, author of "Ten Days that Shook the > World," lived in Croton. Today, however, it tends to vote Republican. > > I usually bike to the dam on very nice days or just after a torrential > rainfall. In beautiful weather the park at the base of the dam is a > pleasant > place to relax. Just after a heavy rainfall, the overflow from the > spillway > makes Niagara Falls look wimpy (an exaggeration - but not by much). The > Croton River below the dam is one of the best trout streams in a state > known > for good fishing. > > > This is an exhausted me with my bike. The picture was taken a while back. > I > have a beard now. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/1_+Tired+biker_+Larry+Z.jpg.html > > The dam on a nice fall day. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/2+_Croton+Dam+in+Fall.jpg.html > > The Croton Gorge. The dam overflow runs to the Hudson River. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/3_+Croton+Gorge.jpg.html > > Croton Park. A favorite picnic spot to the sound of rushing water. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/4_+Croton+dam+park+2.JPG.html > > Motorcycles too. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/5_+Croton+dam+park+5.JPG.html > > The dam is much larger than it looks from the front. The spillway > stretches > over a mile and impounds the Croton reservoir. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/6_+Croton+Dam+spillway.jpg.html > > Spring rains send a torrent of water over the dam, flooding the gorge. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/7_+Croton+dam+spring+flood.JPG.html > > The overflow is spectacular. Almost century ago these waters were ducted > to > turbines within the dam to generate electricity for the community. There > is > talk of refurbishing them for green power. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/8_+Croton+Dam+overflow.JPG.html > > A view from the bridge over the gorge. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/9_+Croton+dam+view.JPG.html > > The waters downstream of the dam provide some of the best trout fishing in > a > state know for good trout streams. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/10_+Croton+dam+fishing+2.JPG.html > > Got one! > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/11_+Croton+dam+fishing+1.JPG.html > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >