ken zirkel

Columbus Day weekend is my favorite time to visit northern New England, especially Maine. I’ve been to New Hampshire or Maine on Columbus Day weekend many times, whether with my family, with the AMC, or with my friend JB. This year I decided to try something a little different. I would attempt to photograph as […]

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I happened to be free this weekend, and my friend JB told me about a special event at New Yorks’ Governor’s Island. It was “City of Water Day”, and paddlers were invited to visit the island under their own power. So I packed the canoe on top of the car and drove to Red Hook, […]

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This weekend I did something a little different. The wife was out of town visiting her parents. Lately, when she’s done that I’ve tried to take the time to work on my photography. It occurred to me that there were two outstanding lighthouses on Block Island that I had not photographed yet. An overnight trip […]

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Acadia trip with JB
10/4/07 to 10/8/07 (Columbus Day Weekend)
I had suggested this trip to my old friend JB as kind of a reliving of our younger days. We hadn’t travelled together in a few years, and I hadn’t been to Acadia since 2003. A young person I knew spent a weekend in Acadia in late […]

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TO MONTAUK: Sept 6
I left the house with an ambitious plan: after closing on the house I would make for Montauk Point to photograph the lighthouse there. But first, I wanted to stop by my old favorite bagel shop and stock up. Not only do I like to stock up on bagels for my freezer […]

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Overnighter in Franconia Notch with Daughter

Daughter and I enjoyed a short (overnight) camping trip to Franconia Notch. I introduced her to my favorite kind of outdoor travel, with a taste of hiking and bicycling. We tented in the Fransted Family Campground, which was nicely quiet in October. We toured some of New Hampshire’s beautiful natural […]

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Cape Cod with college friends, September 13 and 14, 2003
This year’s trip got off to an inauspicious beginning. The date proved to be a poor choice (for which I take responsibility), as MN had to withdraw due to circumstances related to an unexpected job change. My Wife, too, experienced a welcome but unexpected job change, […]

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Hiking and bicycling in Acadia with the Appalachian Mountain Club
My wife had been planning for some time to take the kids and visit her family, several states away. I idly scanned the AMC “Outdoors” magazine looking for something to do while they were away. Bingo! A 3-day bicycling weekend with the AMC for a dirt-cheap […]

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My solo hike along the Gulfside Trail, thru the Northern Presidentials of the White Mountains
Labor Day weekend 2001

DAY ZERO? - Friday evening

I check the website www.mountwashington.org for weather forecast. Fortunately, weather observer Katie Hess gives a detailed forecast. Rain on Saturday morning, turning to fog in afternoon. She predicts Saturday and Sunday to be excellent […]

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September 2000
I left the wife and baby Daughter behind and traveled to Acadia National Park with my old travel companion J.B. We camped in a beautiful spot on the […]

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