Thursday, April 16, 2020


Autumn landscapes:  Below are a few autumn landscape watercolors of places one might, or might not have experienced themselves. 

The Ashokan Rail Trail runs from West Hurley to Boiceville on the former Ulster & Delaware Railroad corridor.  The trail is located along the northern edge of New York’s City Ashokan Reservoir, which is the second largest NYC Catskill water supply and was completed in 1915.  ART offers users eleven-and-a-half miles to enjoy nature’s grandeur, plus a number of interpretive panels providing regional history of a time long since passed.

Autumn ART:




The Shandaken Hall Town is located on NY 28, less than a mile north of New York City’s Shandaken Tunnel Outlet, locally known as the Portal.  The small pool behind this busy location is secluded once an attentive flyfisher steps into the little Esopus.  It’s a favorite late season spot to angle for wild trout once autumn begins.

Shandaken Town Hall Pool:



One of our favorite times of year to visit the Adirondacks is early October.  There’s a lot to see and do, not far from Lake Placid.  Besides hiking and leaf peeping, it’s hard not to wet a line, cast a fly, in the historic West Branch of the Ausable River.  One of the favorite stops is Monument Falls Pool, along NY 87, within eyesight of Whiteface Mountain, New York’s fifth tallest peak at 4865 feet in elevation.  One early October evening, brown trout rose here to tiny #24 Blue Winged Olives cast their way.

Monument Falls Pool autumn:



Saturday, April 4, 2020


Farm pool, East Branch Neversink:  There’s an old bridge pool, across from the Frost Valley YMCA farm on Denning Road.  Summer campers swim in it now, and one of the stone abutments was washed away by Hurricane Irene.  This pool has always caused me contemplation, making me wonder where the long-ago missing bridge, and the wooded road reclaimed by the forest, once took folks who ventured across it.  Native brook trout still make this pool their home waters.  The watercolor below was slightly enhanced with pastels.

Farm pool (NFS):