{"id":486,"date":"2013-10-15T20:42:14","date_gmt":"2013-10-16T00:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/?p=486"},"modified":"2013-10-17T22:07:23","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T02:07:23","slug":"two-weekends-in-the-hudson-valley-mountains-and-apples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/2013\/10\/15\/two-weekends-in-the-hudson-valley-mountains-and-apples\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Weekends in the Hudson Valley: Mountains and Apples"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mountains<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>On Saturday September 21st I headed out to hike Stissing Mountain<\/a> in Pine Plains, NY. The preserve is a Nature Conservancy property about 40 minutes away from Vassar College in north-eastern Dutchess County.<\/p>\n

Setting out in the morning, the air was crisp, foreshadowing the autumn days to come. The directions I obtained from the internet were not extremely descriptive, but I eventually found the trailhead:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0627\"<\/a><\/p>\n

About 100m up the trail, I found this little Orange Spotted Newt sitting on a rock. It was a lovely start to the day, but also really exemplified the nature that tourists often come to the Hudson Valley to admire:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7197\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The hike up to the top was fairly steep, but certainly worth the effort. After missing a trail turn and getting lost in the woods for 30 minutes, I eventually discovered the fire tower. Although I harbor a small fear of heights, I slowly reached the top of this rickety metal and wood structure. The views from the top were spectacular.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1257\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The view up at the tower was also beautiful (the top of the left peak):<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"IMG_0637\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After all this activity, I planned to stop by the relatively new Red Devon Market, Bar, and Restaurant<\/a> in Bangall, NY. However I found out that that I arrived in the awkward time between lunch and dinner (4p.m.?) where only the bakery case and market items were available. However, I do intend on returning to enjoy some local eats, as I have heard this place has excellent farm-to-table creations.<\/p>\n

On a whim, I then ventured to Millbrook,NY to share a meal with my boyfriend\/driver. It was a fairly average diner in a cute little town:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0667\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Overall, It was a great day in the Hudson Valley!<\/p>\n

Apples<\/b><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0688\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/b>On Saturday September 28th I decided to go pick some apples. I went to Fishkill Farms in East Fishkill, NY. I won\u2019t tell too much about this day because some of my classmates will share about their apple picking adventures in more depth, but a few hours spent in an orchard did make me ponder one question of note: Is this model of agri-tourism sustainable? Several attributes of my experience caused me to pose this question.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The line of cars waiting to enter and exit the orchard. Besides being immediately counterintuitive to the \u201cfresh air\u201d experience I thought I was having, they really show the problematic structure of a society where suburban\/urban tourists pollute their own homes, yet also expect an unpolluted day in the country.<\/li>\n
  2. The small variety of apples that are available, showing the growing homogenization of agriculture, and lack of historic biodiversity.<\/li>\n
  3. The solar panels on the roof. In contrast with the previous points, I was excited to see this step in the right (meaning more ecologically sustainable) direction.<\/li>\n
  4. The lack of pesticides used in the orchards. On the back of the map of the orchard, the management bragged about their clay-based insect repellent. This may also exemplify a case of how an operation like this can be more eco-friendly.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I certainly don\u2019t have a conclusive stance on if this business model can be ecologically sustainable. This may be because the sustainability of this business is not one-sided because the orchard is not a closed system: the needs and practices of the consumers certainly play a part in the adoption of sustainability initiatives. However, the ecological focus of this business is a good thing, and makes me hopeful for the future. The adoption of more sustainable business practices can help create an economically thriving, ecologically healthy Hudson Valley.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Mountains On Saturday September 21st I headed out to hike Stissing Mountain in Pine Plains, NY. The preserve is a Nature Conservancy property about 40 minutes away from Vassar College in north-eastern Dutchess County. Setting out in the morning, the air was crisp, foreshadowing the autumn days to come. The directions I obtained from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1818,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1818"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":520,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486\/revisions\/520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}