It was a Saturday and I had intended to go for another walk at Rockwood Hall, but it was teeming with people so I thought I’d try the Rockefeller State Park. It was the same story: the car park was full and the parked cars were backed up all the way down to Route 117 and then for some distance along Route 117. So decided to try nearby Graham Hills Park.

I was talking to a friend about this walk and as I started to mention the park’s name I paused thinking: wasn’t Graham Hill a famous British Formula One racing car driver? As it turned out I was right, but this Graham Hill had no connection to the park. Rather it’s named after Graham Hills, a one-time hamlet and station on the Putnam Railroad, which in turn takes its name from Dr. Isaac Gilbert Graham, a Revolutionary War army surgeon, who settled there circa 1785.

The pictures show a typical woodland walk around here at this time of year: fallen leaves, bare trees, rocks etc. with the odd brightly colored tree (at the time I took the pictures there were still a few but they’re disappearing fast). It’s not an easy walk, particularly when it has rained. The trails are covered in leaves made slippery by the rain and you can’t readily tell what’s under them (rocks, roots etc.) so it’s easy to lose you footing. Also the park appears to be particularly popular with mountain bike riders. While I don’t begrudge them their fun I wish some of them would pay a bit more attention to other people using the park. At times they would come over a rise, or around a corner at high speed and I’d have to quickly jump out of the way.

Taken with a Sony A6000 and 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 OSS kit lens.