Another Black Friday successfully evaded! HOORAY!
I escaped by land this year -- the forecast was for a lovely day but a bit on the breezy side for paddling, so I decided to go for a shorewalk. It ended up being a fun one, making good use of part of the Brooklyn Greenway to change the Sheepshead Bay to Gerritson Creek and back walk I'd set out planning to do into a 6.5 mile one-way walk, beginning at the Sheepshead Bay station on the B and Q line and finishing at Riis Landing in Queens, where I caught the Q35 bus back to my neighborhood. This was really neat!
The walk to Gerritson Creek is a favorite of mine, but I've done it several times and have been thinking it would be fun to mix it up a bit. I think it was the last time I did it I found myself standing at the inlet to the marsh behind Plum Beach, which is a little too deep and wide to cross without hip waders even at low water, looking up at the bridge over the creek, seeing a cyclist or a walker up there, and thinking "OK, another time I will have to figure out how to get up there". Fortunately I remembered that this time! I started out on the beach, then took a well-traveled trail that took me up along the north shore of the marsh. That let me get onto the bike and walking path as I approached the bridge over Gerritson Creek, as I'd figured it would.
There was a great view of Manhattan from up there - I switched out to my zoom lens and was able to grab a nice shot between passing cars (the walkway is on the bay side of the bridge). I followed the Greenway path to Flatbush Avenue and then turned south, getting onto the beach at Dead Horse Bay through the Gateway Marina. I can't remember exactly when I decided to add Queens to the day's itinerary, but it hit me at some point that the timing of this escape was such that catching the 4:30 sunset from the Marine Park Bridge was highly plausible and would make a splendid finish for this new walk.
And that worked out perfectly, even though the Dead Horse Bay section of the walk was at the usual low-water beachcombing amble pace (I don't bring many treasures home these days but I still love looking at things and taking pictures). The sunset was magnificent, I just missed a bus so I walked over to the Riis Landing parking lot for a couple more pictures, then headed for the bus stop, where the next Q35 showed up before too long.
A fine escape, and a walk I'll do again! That's it for the write-up, all photos from here on - click on any photo for a slideshow view.
The walk to Gerritson Creek is a favorite of mine, but I've done it several times and have been thinking it would be fun to mix it up a bit. I think it was the last time I did it I found myself standing at the inlet to the marsh behind Plum Beach, which is a little too deep and wide to cross without hip waders even at low water, looking up at the bridge over the creek, seeing a cyclist or a walker up there, and thinking "OK, another time I will have to figure out how to get up there". Fortunately I remembered that this time! I started out on the beach, then took a well-traveled trail that took me up along the north shore of the marsh. That let me get onto the bike and walking path as I approached the bridge over Gerritson Creek, as I'd figured it would.
There was a great view of Manhattan from up there - I switched out to my zoom lens and was able to grab a nice shot between passing cars (the walkway is on the bay side of the bridge). I followed the Greenway path to Flatbush Avenue and then turned south, getting onto the beach at Dead Horse Bay through the Gateway Marina. I can't remember exactly when I decided to add Queens to the day's itinerary, but it hit me at some point that the timing of this escape was such that catching the 4:30 sunset from the Marine Park Bridge was highly plausible and would make a splendid finish for this new walk.
And that worked out perfectly, even though the Dead Horse Bay section of the walk was at the usual low-water beachcombing amble pace (I don't bring many treasures home these days but I still love looking at things and taking pictures). The sunset was magnificent, I just missed a bus so I walked over to the Riis Landing parking lot for a couple more pictures, then headed for the bus stop, where the next Q35 showed up before too long.
A fine escape, and a walk I'll do again! That's it for the write-up, all photos from here on - click on any photo for a slideshow view.
