The First Walk That Felt Like Spring - Central Park (4/20/14)

A couple of weeks ago, I took an awesome walk in Central Park, starting from the south, going north past the lake, through the Ramble, and alongside the Reservoir, to the Conservatory Garden, then the Harlem Meer, followed by an exploration of the North Woods.

Here's the lake:


The view, when crossing an inlet of the lake to go into the Ramble:




A hollow tree in the Ramble:


On the east side of the Reservoir, joggers:


So many daffodils, one of the friendliest sights of spring:


Blossom eruption at the Conservatory Garden...


… where there's a fountain dedicated to Frances Hodgson Burnett:


Just north of the Conservatory Garden, at the northeast corner of Central Park, is the Harlem Meer, where turtles are sunning:


The rest of the walk in the park becomes a guided tour conducted by the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that restored the park in the 1980s and now maintains it. The tour leaves from the Dana Discovery Center by the Harlem Meer and takes us into a part of the park I've been to before, but only briefly: The North Woods.

This becomes the third time I've seen raccoons in the park:


This part of the park has been dubbed the 'Manhattan Adirondacks,' as the park designers tried to replicate the feel of the real Adirondacks with waterfalls, wooded paths, and massive rocks. Also, streams where interesting things wash up:


Central Park as a whole an artificial park. It was largely treeless and in some parts quite swampy when the park designers began working with it in the 19th century. But they gave it the feel of woodlands that have been around for a while.




The tour ends at the Pool, in the northwest part of the park:


I feel grateful for this gorgeous spring day and for this park.