| |
| Queens Urban Parks Again, NY | |
|
| | Queens Urban Parks Again, NY | | | |
|
|
Queens Urban Parks Again, NY
| | |
| |
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Masked as required, and invigorated by Spring temperatures, I have been hiking through the local parks here during these first weeks of May (2020), Cunningham and Alley Pond in particular. Jaunts of a nice lengths (3 to 5 miles) are readily possible, given the good size of the parks, plus the distance from my home to the parks. Lots of pictures taken. No GPS route guides though. The parks are such one can just meander around, either on the paved paths, or intertwined trails, or across open meadows and fields, or just right through the park forest not on any path or in any particular direction. Not much vertical elevation gain though, like maybe a few dozen feet on any given ascent. So basically we can call this area flat.
I mentioned Spring temperatures, so as a reference probably a little cooler than Sedona but most likely definitely warmer than Flagstaff. Except as I write this mid-May. A winter blast produced the briefest of snow in Central Park in Manhattan, and just north enough snow to accumulate on the ground.
Social distancing was in evidence. The parks sprawl out enough to absorb the crowds, so the groups can stay separated, and the parents blowing bubbles for kids to chase have enough room to not intrude on anyone’s distancing space. And as people walk along, a certain decorum exists, with most passing by not directly but keeping the six feet separation even in just passing. Small “violations” of sorts do occur within groups. While members of direct families don’t necessarily need to stay distant (after all they likely live together or at least frequent each other), the members of groups obviously of friends and not direct family, those members often sat close together. In theory groups of a half dozen to dozen friends should avoid congregating in a common, tight group, especially for the hours they may linger together in the park.
As I hiked, I took note of invasive species. That evidently is an emerging issue for the NYC parks, and an large effort seems underway to limit evasive species spread. Now invasive species control is complex, and even debated. After all, in time frames of evolutionary cycles, before humans, invasive species introduced by say continental collisions, or bird migrations, such invasive species as they spread triggered evolution of competing species, given the growing abundance of the invasive species. Or the invasive species collapsed under its own dominance. Maybe decades or centuries or millennium (or more) were required, but nature seemed to just let species roll along in an interactive sort of interplay, with no intentional intervention. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
