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MyOptic - A Visual Record of a Journey |
Climbing Mount Sneffels At 14,158 feet it's the 27th Highest Peak in Colorado. It is located in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness of the northern San Juan Mountains, outside the town of Ouray. The primary route to the summit follows a creek bed up from Yankee Boy Basin, this however was our descent route. A secondary route follows a ridge line to the summit from the saddle of Blue Lakes Pass. We ascended along the more exposed ridgeline. Mount Sneffels is one of the most photographed mountains in Colorado. |
Flying to the Grand Canyon September 9, 2008 Pete picked me up in Denver and after a day of waiting at the airport for the skies to clear we finally started the flight to the Grand Canyon airport before dawn. Pete had packed bikes and we rode the final miles into the park and up to the rim. We hiked a short way down the canyon and back before nightfall. After a very satisfying diner in the lodge restaurant we headed back to the campsite we had established while riding in that morning. We awoke well before dawn to the sound of bugling elk and rode the bikes back to the airport in the dark that morning. We were back at the Animus Airpark just in time for Pete to start work. |
Pocono Steep Creekin' November 1, 2008 The Poconos is home to some of the best steep creeking in the North East. Runs such as Shohola Falls and Gorge, Raymondskill Creek, and other hidden gems that shall remain unnamed are pool drop heaven gorged into the Delaware River Valley's ancient stone. Steep and technical with many drops it's constant and high pitched whitewater heaven . |
Running My First Class IV Creek. Lower Big Sandy Creek in Rockville, WV Cheat Fest weekend 2008 Its time for the Cheat Festival again and I am fondly remembering last spring when with much rain and high water levels many paddlers took the opportunity to run the Lower Big Sandy. Due to the generosity of Wayne Gman who agreed to guide me, the Lower Big Sandy became my first Class IV run. |
Boof & Rally One Weekend, Three Rivers, and a League of Extraordinary Individuals Labor Day Weekend 2008 The Bottom Moose - Moose, NY The Black - Watertown, NY The Beaver River - Beaver, NY |
Hole Brothers 2008 KCCNY & AMC Friends Black River Watertown, NY |
Hole Brothers - Watertown, NY June 15, 2007 The pictures included in this volume document the activities on one wave over a one hour period. It was late in the afternoon on Saturday the 21st of July 2007, and the action was on the wave commonly known as Hole Brothers, located on the Black River in Watertown, NY. Come share the ride. Kayakers: Jack Moskowitz, Ellen Moskowitz, Steve McLuckie, Scott Sail, Ram Tripathi, Fergus Coffey, Derek Snyder, Chris Gragtmans, and Tino Specht. |
Winging It West On November 27, Thanksgiving morning 2008, Dad and I woke up early and drove to the Airport in Warwick, NY. We pulled the plane out of the hanger where it had been stored overnight to keep the frost off. Just before sunrise we commenced our journey west. The plan was to try and make to it Durango in two days, flying a southern route through Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, through Texas and skirting New Mexico while avoiding the highest mountains as we cross into Southern Colorado. |
Desert Flying We navigated to Window Rock AZ, the seat of the government of the Navajo Nation. After lunching in Window Rock we continued flying for the rest of the day site seeing over Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Monument Valley Utah, and the Goosenecks of the San Juans by Mexican Hat Utah. We continued over Soda Springs, Utah for a spectacular view of the otherworldly terrain of the San Juan Canyon. We ended the day flying over Mesa Verde as we headed back to Durango. |
The Durango and Silverton - Narrow Gauge Railroad Along a spectacular 45-mile route between Durango and Silverton a narrow gauge railroad was cut into a remote and treacherous landscape as a means of extracting the valuable mineral being mined in the majestic San Juan Mountains. From the start the Silverton Branch, as it was known at the time, was recognized for its unequaled access to the fantastic vistas of the San Juan Mountains and the roaring beauty of the Animus River. The railroad is literally cut and hung along the Animus River Gorge. |
Life & Death The full cycle of life is played out every day |
On My Doorstep In and Around Milford Castle Antigues |
In and Around NYC |
From Above Pete has picked his way around the skies of Colorado and the Four Corners Region for a while now, but it is his terrestrial, literally hands-on experience that really lends weight to his descriptions of the terrain we witness from above. Through rock and ice climbing, skiing, hiking and biking, Pete has collected an intimate and learned understanding of the landscape only a passionate few will ever attain. Seeing these features from the sky provides a perspective that greatly extends and deepens ones understanding of scale and proximity. |
MyOptic - A Visual Record of a Journey |
by Andrew Ludke |
57 Hope UNDER CONSTRUCTION |
Art, Sculpture, Installations, Paitings, and other stuff. |
Floating the Battenkill River Arlington, VT Crazy Eight + An awesome group of people, perfect weather, fall colors and a pristine river happened to conspire during a meandering paddle through farmfeilds and mountains. How blessed I feel to share these experiences with them. |
Panoramas |
Family It is an understatemen t to say I am fortunate. I have an awesone famlily. My parents, siblings and grand parents each and everyone is amazing in their own unique way. UNDER CONSTRUCTION |
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Canyon Lands |
In and Around Milford Panoramas of MIlford PA and the Surrounding Area |
Cross Merge Part : Paths I have brushed. I have crossed paths with many people. Some as glancing blows others were breif interludes and fewer merged for long periods before parting again. Some of those who touched my life most deeply are honored here. UNDER CONSTRUCTION |
Crestron I work for a mad genius along with thousands of smart dedicated and fun professionals. Crestron is an amazing place with strong company spirit, traditions, values, and pride. This is a tribute to all who make Crestron an awesome place to work. |
Ah, yes, back at the Meadowlands, where the Grateful Dead had a long, at times outstanding, history at both venues here, Giants Stadium and the Brendan Byrne Arena (aka Meadowlands Arena, aka the current Izod Center). The band performed 30 times at the Meadowlands, with a nearly-even split between indoor and outdoor shows, 14 at Giants Stadium and 16 in the Arena. The setlists to these shows keep getting better, with virtually every night offering a taper’s dream list. The first set opens with what used to be one of my favourite Grateful Dead show openers, Touch of Grey, which then fell into the always-fun Pride of Cucamonga. |
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The Dead: Izod Center Meadowlands, NJ - April 29 2009 |
<MIXED A collection of random images from the archive |
Another great weekend with Scott, Steve, Jordan, Jack, Ellen and so many others. It was amazing to see so many KCCNY and AMC paddlers out on the river at the same time. With just under 2' of water on the guage and beautiful weather Swimmers was playful and friendly. Scott, Steve, and Cameron checked out the rumored surf wave below the take-out and it is reportedly worth the hike back up to the shuttle bus. Note to who ever walked off with my shorts but left the wet booties at the take out ... I hope you get crabs. |
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Lower Yough - Ohiopyle, PA - Memorial Day Weekend 2009 |
The Icelands highway is a stretch of highway through the otherwise remote Canadian Rockiy Mountains of Jasper and Banff Nation Parks. Thank goodness this land is being protected. This is a remote, harsh, beatuful, enticing, unforgiving place .... sprinkled with the most friendly of folk, ahe! |
Driving the Icelands Highway: Banff to Jaspar, May 17-18 2009 |
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Cedar Creek - May 30th 2009 Twisting and turning through the Pine Barrens near Toms River NJ, Cedar Creek, starting in Double Trouble State Park is a beautiful run that is perfect for beginningers and those looking for a laid back day. We sure had a good time. Aftewards Brett and I drove up to the Adirondaks to his cabin in North Creek. We stopped in Kingston to coax Steve to come along eventhough Jordan and Scott couldn't make it. On the way up the Thruway we engorged ourselves at Bomber Burrito in Albany. On Sunday, Steve and I kayaked the Indian and Hudson with impromtu paddling partners Pierre and Peter. WIth 6' of water on the guage the river demanded our full attention so I didnt take any pictures ... sometimes it is good to leave a reason to return. I will return! |
Lower Shohola Creek - June 14 2009 Steve McLuckie takes his personal photographer along This is an under-appreciated run. I just wanted to put that out there at the start. While there's no single feature that stands out, this river offers such a variety of water. You'll encounter everything from placid pools from which to watch birds, beavers and water fowl to class IV rock slides in deep box canyons and gorges. We putin at Dead Mans Pool which is below the falls and avoids the more difficult water in the upper box canyon. Dead mans pool is so named as the place to catch those of ill-fated attempts at the upper box. (see Pocono Steep Creekin' below for photos of us running the falls and upper box). |
The beginning of the 10 mile run starts with a very creeky continuous boulder garden with a decent gradient ...you can feel the tilt on the narrow channelized river. After about a mile of this you end up in a marshy flat section that is chocked fulll of wood. Wood is a concern throughout the run. We only encountered a few necesary portages, but ducked under and scraped over a lot of other wood in this area. From here the river meaneders along slowly picking up speed over several miles untill you are again breezing along in nice bouncy class II+ water. |
Hang on however, the run ends with a series of escalating rockslides in a pool drop box canyon. |
by Andrew Ludke |
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The Big Ditch Rafting and Kayaking 290 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon The really is no way to communicate the intensity of an experience like this. Not only were we immersed in the gothic complexity of the most fantastic geological, architectural, archeological, spectacle on earth, we were confronting big water rapids of varying intensity and difficulty on a daily and often hourly basis. But still, it goes further than that... I slept on a cliff edge below Anasazi grain storage caves that are hundreds of feet above the river. But still, it goes further than that.... |
Adams Creek Dingmans PA 7-25-09 What's more fun than a waterfall and a rope swing? Dave Colosi and I hiked up Adams Creek ... I wanted to scout the kayak run. Some kids had just hung a new rope swing in front of the last big drop. We each took a few plunges before continuing up the steep loose trail and cliff. Ella proved herself to be quite the rock climber and swimmer, I had to provide some support up and down the nearly vertical trail while holding onto roots and rocks but Ella made it all the way. |
Pond Eddy to Sparrow Bush Delaware River 7-26-09 The threat of bad weather couldn't deter us and in the end it turned out to be be a great day. We saw four bald eagles; the most I have ever seen in a single day. We paddled by a tree with an eagles nest in it noticing that there was one eagle in the nest and an adult and a young eagle on the branches nearby keeping watch. |
Beerkill Creek Ellenville, NY 8-2-09 With mother nature providing the lubrication, every creek was running swiftly this weekend. Wayne, Cameron, and I ran the Beerkill on Sunday. It's a supper beautiful run that feels remote and innaccessible. The cost of that feeling are 2 class 5+ portages. The ground was seeping water making the steep loose gorge a very difficult place to carry a creek boat. Thanks for the pics Cameron. |
Most accidents happen off the river ...Doh! Neversink River putin 8-2-09 Had I already been wearing a helmut the pipe I ended up head-butting on the river bank while getting my gear together would have been nothing but a glancing blow ... instead, four hours and four stiches later I get to hear about Wayne and Cameron fun high-level run of the Neversink. Yes I am jealous. |
Gov't Mule Welmont Theater 8-5-09 Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule played for more than 3 hours at the Welmont Theater on Wednesday night. Talk about living out a dream, Warren Haynes is also touring with The Dead and The Allman Brothers this year. He's clearly channeling the musical spirit of his former mentors. With two encores it was a stompin good time. |
Dad kayaks the Yough Ohiopyle State Park, 8-14-09 Dad kayaked the Youghiogheny River over three successive days this weekend. While he's a little sore and waterlogged, he's even more determined to improve his kayaking skills. As the rivers get harder there's more incentive to stay upright and in control. Who else can say they took up whitewater rafting and kayaking in their late sixites and got to raft 300 miles of the Grand Canyon and kayak rivers like the Yough ... go Dad! |
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Indigo Girls With Michelle Malone and Special Guest Jill Hennessey 10-2-09 It was a surprise to find Jill Hennesesey on stage at the Indigo Girls concert Friday night. She had met them a few days before while performing at Mountain Stage. Jill owns a tavern near my office. They serve great pulled pork sandwiches with carmelized onions and of course cold beer ... oops off subject. Anyway the concert was just great ... the Tarrytown theater is simply an awesome place to see a show. |
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Teluride Blues & Brews Telluride, CO September 15, 2007 Hangin with Pete |
The Subdudes Tarrytown, NY 12-4-09 These dudes were not subdued. The drummer looks so minimal with his tambourine and almost invisible hand/foot triggers but the rythm is downright fierce at times. The groups croons with awesone four part harmonies and let me tell you about the stompin guitar and accordian. What a fun group. See them if you can ...buy there CD's. Before the show Phil, Connie, Dennis, and I ate dinner at the wine bar next door...mmm! Mike did we tell you we hung out with Bonnie Raitt ??? |
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The Bad Plus - Villiage Vanguard NYC : 12-29-09 Walking in at the last minute we were seated in the only remaining seats which were at the bar in the back of the room; yet there's not a bad seat in the place. While it seemed that it took a bit for them to get warmed up and communicating with each other, they were tight and inventive for the reminder of the set. |
Lake Placid - Full Moon Ski Party 1-30-10 It was -18deg F when we awoke on Saturday morning at Highland Cottage. Connie fixed a warm western eggs breakfast and we bundled up for the cold. After stopping in town to add to our already multitudinous layers of clothing, It warmed to -7 and the sky was clear blue. Before sugar-coated mountain tops we watched sled dogs relish in the cold. Around midday we headed over to Cascade XC Ski Center. Once geared -up we stuck to the green trails long enough for Daisy and Connie to gain some control of the skiis. After each break to warm ourselves with soup or cider a marked improvement in skill and confidence was universally observed. We skied till dusk before the long shadows of a setting winter sun chased us back to our cozy micro-cabin. Once inside Connie and Daisy prepared our pasta dinner while Madeleine Peyroux serenaded us into a deep state of relaxation, comfort, and warmth. It was so serene we were in serious danger of never making it back to the ski center for the main event ....the Fullmoon Ski Party. With four heavy heads fixed by four Starbucks double shot expresso I pulled drinks from the fridge we were back on track and ready to party. We skiied under a flash-light full moon out to the first campfire and keg of beer. A couple of locals had brought their guitars and were pickin and strumming their way through familiar tunes (This is the first time I have witnessed sub-zero guitar pickin). We found some cups and helped ourselves at the Keg. The beer froze in the plastic cups as fast as you could drink it. We eventually made our way another mile or so along the trail to the second staged campfire and keg of beer before heading into the lodge for live music and dancing. Sunday started slow but we made it to Saranac lake to see the building of the Ice Castle. We lunched with Carol and David Vosler before getting a tour of bluseedstudios, Carrol's work of love. It is an awesome and inspiring place. She has really put something special together here. |
SuperBowl 2010 Kel's Diner, Dallas 2-7-10 Thanks to Jeff Dufrene and his family I was not homesick on SuperBowl Sunday. The party at Kel'd Diner with Jeff, Jerry, Catherine and their whole gang of friends and family was awesome. The band conglomerate was great. The horn section played "When the Saints Go Marching In". They jammed on "Mustang Sally" and other blues standards during breaks. They really added so much to the spirit of the evening. The after party included more of the same with catfish and gumbo, ribs and spicy chicken, not to mention the fixin's and deserts; I was happy as a .....well lets just say I was livin large and lovin it all? |
House of Blues - Dallas 2-8-10 Thanks to Jerry and Catherine and their friends and family I was out seeing a great Rock and Roll show. I arrived an hour late having been held up at the jobsite, but I drove fast on my way into downtown Dallas and arrived just in time to see, in it's entirety, the 'Halestorm' set and all of the 'Theory of a Deadman' show, more than an hour and a half of music . HaleStorm Lzzy Hale has incredible stage presence with an electric psychodelic sexual rock style that I found entrancing. The band members are from Red Lion, PA... fellow Pennsyl-tuckians. Theory of a Deadman Having reached #1 on the rock charts with "Bad Girlfriend" these guys played a tight set. I really liked the light show too. Its so much fun to photograph. All these pictures were taken with a Casio consumer grade camera while holding it with one hand high above my head. The place was pulsing and well you can see that energy in some of these pics. |
The Raquette Conquer or Carnage : 9-5-09 I drove up with Wayne. It was the weekend of the Beaver and Raquette releases. Last year I had a great time on the Beaver and had heard of the infamous Raquette. I told Wayne I wanted come along to take pictures and to boat if I was feeling bold. I never got into my kayak that day. We slept on the rocks below the dam and were scouting the river when the water of the scheduled dam release started to ramp it up. Raquette Falls is a very intimidating place and I watched one boater after another swim out of the hole at the bottom of the falls confirming my good decision to focus on photographing that day. |
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Ice Castle Saranac Lake, NY 1-31 & 2-20 I only only attended Winter Carnival in Saranac Lake once back in 1988, but it was a super good time and I have strong memories that have drawn me back. David Vosler was helping to re-construct the castle after a warm spell damaged the previous work. It's awesome to see the ice cutting and careful work that goes into assembling the castle. We also visited BlueSeed Studios, Carol Vosler's labor of love. It's an inspiring place that's a testament to Carol's energy and strength of character not to mention her art and charisma. |
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Skiing Mt Von Hoevenberg Lake Placid & Saranac Lake 2-19 & 2-21 Bag with my posse of kayakers and open boaters. This weekend we concentrated on frozen white water while skiing the trains at Mount Von Hoevenberg. Jordan and I arrived at 4am having left Peekskill at 11:30pm after the Tommy Emmanuel concert. Sundays 9 mile black diamond run of the outer loop was a good challelnge for me and I was thoroughly exhausted afterwards. Driving home we found Charles and Sozanne stuck on the side of the road. We stuffed gear as tight as possible and made room for 1-1/2 people in the back ... it may not have been confortable but they agreed it was better than standing in the bitter cold on the side of the road. |
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Snowicane 2010 36" of Snow - Dingmans Twp, PA 2-27 & 2-28 With our original plans of driving to Vermont for a full moon ski at Prospect mountain dashed to bits by a seemingly endless supply of snowflakes falling from the sky, Daysi, Peter and I drove out to PA only to find waiste deep snow and not a plow in sight. We trudged laboriously through the snow to the house and while Peter and made a second trip out to the car Daysi cleared the porch ... and bruised her leg. We slept in Staurday, had a hearty breakfast, and headed over to check out Big Bear Ski Area . With 48" base and all this fresh snow it couldn't have been better. By Sunday afternoon Daysi was snowboarding the entire mountain. |
Pequannock River Butler NJ 3-17 We ran the Pequannock river in Butler and Bloomingdale NJ yesterday afternoon with Cameron, Wayne, Rob, and local boaters Joe and ? (Shit I forgot his name already). It had just dropped below flood stage so the water was a few feet into the trees on each side of the river. There were just enough small eddies to keep it somewhat interesting. It was fast and continuous Class III run at 600cfs. I would venture to bet that it was a different beast last weekend when the river was flowing at more than 3000cfs. Houses that are typicall on the shore would have made some interesting river features. |
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Tohickon Creek Sping Release 2010 3-20 & 3-21 It's been a joke among some of my friends that I had never once run the Toh. Tohickon Creek is one of the more popular class 3+ runs for local boaters in NJ and Eastern PA. It is a right of passage in some ways. All my friends have run it numerous times but I have never made any of the dam releases and whenever it had natural flow I was paddling something that one or another friend thought would be better or supposedly harder to bag. I paddled the Raymondskill for the first time last year during the spring release. Well I finally made it. The river is fun and has some good play spots. I'll be back. |
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