Waiting for the crisis to pass, our thoughts go out to friends and loved-ones who also shelter in place. Old friends pass away, people we loved and admired. Immobilized for the time being, we can revisit destinations, near and far. join me in celebrating the joys of Quaranteam travel, the hope that these diversions might inspire us to value things we had taken for granted, to draw strength, wisdom and compassion from deeper engagements with nature.
North-South Lake from Sunset Rock. July 26, 2016
On the southeast shoulder of North Mountain, north of the Catskill Mountain House is an outcropping of exposed rocks interspersed with mostly deciduous trees, mixed with a variety of conifers. The outcropping is approached by a trail that follows the rim of the Catskill escarpment running north from the former site of Catskill Mountain House—a grand hotel built in 1824 and destroyed by fire in 1963. Halfway along the level part of the trail is a wide stone ledge known as Painters Rock, near the brink of a sheer drop of perhaps two hundred feet. From this point the trail rises, traversing rock-fall and ledges requiring hikers to advance hand over hand. The trail continues to climb, finally winding around the foot of a wall of stratified limestone, a former sea-floor. The trail ascends above the rim of this formation, entering a wooded understory of ferns and other leafy plants. The Escarpment Trail veers to the left, ascending westward to Newman’s Ledge and the summit of North Mountain. Here the hiker backtracks slightly to the east. Crisscrossing trails all lead to up a rocky deck, divided by deep fissures. The southwest corner of this surface holds an object that appears in paintings by Thomas Cole, Sanford Gifford and others.
Thomas Cole. The Four Elements. 1843-1844. Private collection. (Reproduced under Fair Use etc.)
Sanford Gifford. The Catskill Mountain House. 1862. Private collection. (Reproduced under Fair Use etc.)
Topographical sketch from the same perspective as Cole and Gifford. 2013.
The stony overlook that provides this stunning vista is not so large. Reaching back through an open understory of woods and ferns to the shoulder of North Mountain, there is no higher elevation from which to view the scene prior to reaching the summit.
This exercise–measuring the view in a drawing–let me to prove to myself that Cole and Gifford had taken great liberties for picturesque effect, and understand why they did it. While many self-identified realist painters today strive for verisimilitude, neither Cole nor Gifford allowed themselves to be fettered by fact. Looking at Cole’s rendition of the eponymous rock, one would never know it was the same boulder. Descending the trail, I lost my footing on a rock scramble, dislocating a finger—not on my painting-hand. Popping it back into place, I proceeded down the mountain. That evening I painted the sunset from the shore of North Lake. A couple we met recalled spending a night on the mountain, to protect their injured dog, sans food, water or shelter, menaced by bears. With nothing worse than a swollen finger, I felt lucky.
Map of North-South Lake and Sunset Rock. July 25-27, 2016
Painting at Sunset Rock.
. (Image and text were featured in the exhibition James McElhinney. Discover the Hudson Anew, curated by Laura Vookles. Hudson River Museum. Yonkers, New York. September 13, 2019 to February 16, 2020. Published also as a limited-edition in Hudson Highlands. North River Suite Volume One. Needlewatcher Editions. New York. 2018)
Check out April 2020 Quaranteam Traveler Dispatches
(A preview of SKETCHBOOK TRAVELER by James L. McElhinney (c) 2020. Schiffer Publishing).
Copyright James Lancel McElhinney (c) 2020 Texts and images may be reproduced (with proper citation) by permission of the author. To enquire, send a request to editions@needlewatcher.com