On Saturday, we hiked part of the Back Mountain trail. We had contemplated going to a state park for a more challenging hike, but then we fell asleep on the couch and by the time we got moving again, it was too late.

It was a chilly day, in the 20s, and there was a little bit of snow and ice in places. Despite our late start and the cool weather, we managed to hike about 4 miles.

Back Mountain Trail

Toby Creek

Slightly revised fees

Sarah and Rob

Icicles

The Back Mountain Trail has some beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, it’s rather noisy, with PA Route 309 running right below it. I found the noise a little more bothersome on foot than it is when I’m on my bicycle. Still, it felt great to be outside.

Rock face and trail

Ongoing construction — I need to find out what this structure is. They were doing some welding.

Waterfall

A nearly-vertical cloud

It was getting dark quickly, so the photos get pretty dark here, but they depict the moment well, I think. I could mess around with them and try to make them brighter, but the growing vagueness as darkness fell was part of the allure.

Sarah and Rob again

Me

Sarah

Rob

Heading back. The glowing dots are street lights for the highway below

Power lines

Getting darker

Glowing trees

A few times I used rocks, trees, or handrails in lieu of a tripod. This worked fairly well. I tend to forget how much I enjoy nighttime photography. After we got home and ate dinner, I set out on foot, camera and tripod in tow. There are a couple of beautiful church buildings in the area that are illuminated at night. I did  some exposure bracketing, and I planned on making some HDR images, but in my view the plain night shots turned out better. So, no HDR shots here.

Wall

Saint Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church (and full moon)

Dome on St. Mary’s

Mary

Doors

Stained glass

The Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola

This must be either Mary, or St. Ann (Mary’s mother)

Statue

Reflection in a neighboring building

Abstract

File under: Hiking, Mountains, Photography