George Steffanos
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George Steffanos
@gsteffanos.bsky.social
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Author of Then the Hail Came, a book about my 1983 Appalachian Trail thru-hike, available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle.

https://www.georgesteffanos.com
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George Steffanos @gsteffanos.bsky.social · 27d
November 8, 2025: This is an update and correction to my August post on the status of my planned long distance hikes.

On August 18 my friend Dave and I headed north along the Appalachian Trail from Falls Village, Connecticut towards Massachusetts.

#hiking #forest #nature #mountains
We are on a mountain standing atop a rock outcrop of light gray rock marbled with darker gray. There is a pine tree to our right. Some hardwoods to our left are already showing signs of autumn, several have leaves of gold and orange. We are looking across a broad valley hundreds of feet below filled with the greens of late summer. Most of it is covered with deep green forests broken by emerald green pastures and farm fields. A small pond is not far away near the middle of our view. A line of blue green hills and mountains runs along the far horizon. A morning of clouds is just giving way to bright sunshine. The sky is a soft blue filled with lines of clouds.
The Reservoir in Bloom Sunset. New Britain Reservoir, Southington, Connecticut. September 28, 2020, 6:18 PM. Not sure what this white flowering plant was that proliferated on both shores, but there was a lot of it.

#sunset #hiking #lake #wildflowers
The shore of a lake at sunset. Dramatic dark clouds stream past, some tinged gold and orange. This is reflected on the rippled waters of the lake. A large outcrop of cracked gray rock is right foreground. Several more are scattered along the far shore. The rest of the ground on both far and near shores of the lake is covered with leafy grass-like plants and a few low leafy shrubs. Hundreds of white blossoms speckle this green ground cover. A low wooded ridge rises above the far shore.
December 6, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Little Painted Desert near Winslow, Arizona. April 1984. A colorful labyrinth of eroded rock formations and box canyons.

#hiking #Southwest #desert
Beneath a deep blue desert sky with streaky white clouds we are standing atop a cracked and fractured pinkish violet rock looking down several hundred feet into a landscape of narrow shallow canyons and rock formations below. There are striations of color throughout: chalky white, blue gray, pinkish violet, brown. A scattering of olive green shrubs are the only signs of life in an otherwise barren scene.
December 6, 2025 at 5:23 PM
🧵1/9
September 8, 1983: After Eisenhower, the trail descended into a col before another stiff climb up Mount Franklin, the first 5000-footer of the day. The sky had cleared very nicely by the time I reached this peak.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
An alpine plateau in gold-tinged slanting evening sunlight beneath a soft blue sky. Much of the plateau and small portions of the peaks have a ground cover of golden grass-like plants with patches of green, leafy ground-hugging plants. Everything else is bare gray granite boulders and rock outcrops. Three nearby peaks rise above the plateau on our right. Beyond the three peaks, the top of a much higher peak is hidden by a long dark cloud, which casts a dark shadow on the rest of the peak and a spur ridge of that mountain.
December 6, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Some of the best fall colors I ever saw in Connecticut came on a very rainy evening in late October 2019. Scoville Reservoir, Wolcott, Connecticut. October 29, 2019, 5:25 PM.

#hiking #autumn #forest #rain
A gray and rainy evening, walking a gravel and dirt path. A wooden footbridge crosses a stream and the surrounding marsh. The marsh is filled with tall water grasses now golden brown and leafy shrubs decked out in bright yellows and yellow greens with touches of gold and orange. The same vibrant colors are repeated on the trees on either side of the marsh, although some taller trees on the far side bordering a wide grassy area have lost most or all of their leaves.
December 5, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Mountain laurel catches the evening sunlight. Sleeping Giant State Park, Hamden, Connecticut. June 1, 2023, 7:29 PM.

#hiking #spring #forest #wildflowers
It is early evening beneath a very pale blue sky. The westering sun shines through the leaves of a lush green late springtime forest, touching the clustered white and pink blossoms of a mountain laurel thicket in full bloom with a soft backlight.
December 5, 2025 at 4:41 PM
🧵1/7
August 7, 1983: I left the Brien Shelter at 6:00. It had taken me an hour to regroup — psychologically more than physically. All day, I had been driving this out-of-shape body towards a single goal: that shelter.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
We are in a field of waist-high weeds atop an otherwise open ridge crest. At the edge of the field ahead, the forest begins. Several of the trees at the edge of the field and beginning of the forest are dead. Several taller larger wooded hills rises above us ahead. The sky is very light blue, almost white. The angle of shadows and the golden hue of the light tell us the sun is close to setting, offscreen to our left. A series of other ridges cascade into the distance, gradually dissolving into the thick haze.
December 5, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Smudges of gold and rippling waters sunset, version 2. Scoville Reservoir, Wolcott, Connecticut. June 20, 2020, 8:38 PM.

#sunset #hiking #lake
Laying beside a large lake looking out from ground level through nearby shallows filled with partially submerged rocks and water grasses. A leafy shrub frames the scene on top and to our left. A fresh summer breeze is rippling the waters. The pale blue evening sky is filled with long hazy gray clouds. The clouds are smeared with bright gold and orange from the recent sunset. Many of the ripples on the lake below are catching those colors.
December 5, 2025 at 12:42 AM
October sunset at the reservoir. New Britain Reservoir, Wolcott, Connecticut. October 12, 2019, 6:00 PM.

#sunset #hiking #lake
A blue gray evening sky with a few clouds tinted gold by the sunset. We are standing beside the feeder stream for a lake. The stream is surrounded by a grassy marsh with large gray boulders scattered around, a cluster of small white flowers and a few short leafy shrubs. On our left, the marsh ends at the edge of a forest with a number of maples already turning bright reds and oranges. The water level of the reservoir is low, much of the lake bed is exposed around the edges, covered with a green leafy ground cover that resembles grass from a distance.
December 4, 2025 at 4:45 PM
🧵1/8
June 29, 1983: After a seven-mile morning, I followed the half-mile side trail from the AT to Wiggins Spring Shelter.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
A rainy evening in the forest. In the deep gloom, a small stream engorged by the heavy rains is cascading down a steep slope.
December 4, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Deep blue twilight sunset. Scoville Reservoir, Wolcott, Connecticut. August 27, 2019, 8:00 PM. My favorite sunsets linger on into the twilight.

#sunset #hiking #lake
Walking a footpath beside a lake in the twilight. A tree overhangs the path to our right. The far shore is wooded. The sky is a deep blue, with darker navy blue clouds. Many of the clouds are streaked with pink from the recent sunset. The horizon is a pale orange. The sky is mirrored on the gently rippled lake below.
December 4, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Cotton candy sunset. New Britain Reservoir, Wolcott, Connecticut. September 8, 2020, 7:19 PM.

#sunset #hiking #lake
An overgrown field at the edge of the forest, filled with very tall grasses and leafy shrubs sprinkled with dozens of yellow and white wildflowers. It is a bit past sunset, the forest is dark and mysterious in the evening light. The pale blue sky is filled with a dramatic mass of cotton candy clouds painted bright pink by that setting sun.
December 3, 2025 at 4:32 PM
🧵1/7
Pictured: the Potomac River when I crossed it leaving town July 12.

July 11, 1983: After a mile of descent, the trail crossed the Shenandoah River on a highway bridge.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
Standing on the rocky bank of a wide, shallow river filled with large beige rocks and rocky islets. The opposite riverbank is also rocky, with wooded ridges and cliffs rising steeply just behind the bank. The rushing waters of the river appear a blue green shade of gray mirroring the hazy gray white summer sky.
December 3, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Misty orange sunset. Scoville Reservoir, Wolcott, Connecticut. July 8, 2020, 8:21 PM.

#sunset #hiking #lake
We are walking a dirt and gravel footpath. A wide swath of grass to the left of the path runs steeply downhill 15 feet or so and then levels off for a similar distance before meeting the edge of a forest. Another patch of forest is just to the right of the path. Straight ahead the path arcs gracefully to our left as it comes up beside the shore of a large lake. A thin mist rising from the lake is obscuring the wooded far lakeshore a bit. The sky is a pale blue gray with clouds tinted bright orange shades by the setting sun.
December 3, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Autumn leaves floating down the Mill River. Sleeping Giant State Park, Hamden, Connecticut. November 4, 2022, 2:18 PM.

#hiking #autumn #forest #river
We are standing next to a large tree trunk on the bank of a river. The ground is relatively flat here, the slow current creates gentle ripples making interesting patterns in the reflections of trees along the riverbanks. The forest on both sides is past peak autumn colors, lots of golden brown and burnt orange. Many fallen leaves are covering the forest floor and floating down the river. The bright sun and blue sky are not visible other than what is mirrored on the river's surface.
December 2, 2025 at 4:36 PM
🧵1/3
May 15, 1983: Eventually the AT descended to a road crossing at Stekoah Gap, where I caught up to Dave. We relaxed for a while in a roadside meadow also surrounded by mountains and acres of national forest.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
A very hazy day with a bright overcast. A meadow along a ridge crest. The forest begins across the meadow to our left, to our right is an open view of rugged mountains beneath thickening clouds. Everything beyond the meadow is heavily wooded and intensely green. A hiker is sitting near the front edge of the field with his back to us. He is wearing shorts, a white and red long-sleeve T-shirt and a blue bandana tied around his head.
December 2, 2025 at 2:46 PM
A tropical Beach with a small pandanus tree. Aitutaki, Cook Islands, South Pacific. May 1990.

#hiking #SouthPacific #tropicalisland
Beneath a deep blue sky with streaky white clouds. A pale sand beach on an aqua ocean. Some small green sprouts are growing beside a small tropical tree with long, pointed leaves.
December 2, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Fossilized coral seacliff, late afternoon, Atiu coastline, Cook Islands, South Pacific. May 1990. Atiu's coral reef grows directly from the shoreline and encircles the island. Eruptions from an undersea volcano have raised the inner portion of the reef to form these cliffs.

#hiking #tropicalisland
It is very late in the afternoon. The partly cloudy sky has patches of light blue, with low clouds and fog along the horizon. To the right is the blue green ocean, graying in the fading light. A low point of land is just visible through that low cloud. To the left are rugged naked brown fossilized coral sea cliffs, almost vertical, dozens of feet (20-30 meters) high. A rock of the same material is just offshore. Although the cliff faces are barren, there is lush green ground cover growing right up to the edge at the top, with green shrubs and trees growing from it starting a few feet (1-2 meters) in. The tall, slender trees are swaying gracefully in an onshore breeze.
December 1, 2025 at 4:49 PM
🧵1/3
September 6, 1983: I have always been fond of South Twin. At 4902 feet, it is one of the loftier summits in New Hampshire, and the ridge crest has an extensive alpine zone.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
The sky is bright white with hazy sunshine. We are high up a mountainside looking out over the treetops down into a narrow wooded valley between us and another wooded mountain to our right. The valley curves to our right, disappearing behind the second mountain. A wooded ridge running down from our range to the right borders this side of the valley as it curves around the other mountain. Other mountain ranges cascade into the distance beyond this ridge, gradually dissolving into the mists. A dead, naked tree trunk frames the photo to our left.
December 1, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Monochrome. The day after Christmas in Waterbury, Connecticut, December 26, 2021, 8:35 AM.

#city #monochrome
Monochrome image. Looking down on a small, aging industrial city from a few stories up. Several larger office buildings and two parking structures dominate the view. There are also several much older office buildings, including an old brick 4-story building on a corner near the center of the pic. It is the day after Christmas, not a lot is going on here as far as vehicle or foot traffic. Everything is wet from rainfall recently ended. The pale morning sky is clearing, the retreating clouds are catching some sunshine.
December 1, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Reposted by George Steffanos
mizkitty.bsky.social
When I lived in Brookings there was a trail I walked often, maybe because it was close to home, but it was also magical. Through a forest drenched with sun rays, a meadow, to dripping moss and spectacular views. See Alt text for more.
I tended to walk early mornings then, as I do now. Most of the time the fog was just lifting and the morning sun slanted through the trees. I never saw another human and it was a bit spooky at times, but always beautiful and a bit magical. This is the photo that I've been noticing on my screensaver and inspired this post. Walking out of the forest into a meadow, with the point drawing me to it and the blue Pacific greeting the morning. Once on the point, there was yet another sensation, and one that seemed so out of place to this Southern girl. All that dripping moss seemed more like the coastal South than a windy point in Oregon. From this spot there were views up and down the coast. Looking south from the point, to beaches only reachable by boat, I assume. Pristine and beautiful, and all-in-all so evocative of this beautiful, rocky coast that I love so much. The northern view was just as spectacular, but no room for a 5th photo here.
November 30, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Weather-beaten tree atop the cliffs tackles another winter, Giant's Right Knee, Sleeping Giant State Park, Hamden, Connecticut. January 10, 2025, 2:40 PM.

#hiking #monochrome #mountains
A clear sky with thin, gauzy clouds. Emerging out of the forest onto cliffs of dark rock speckled with light gray lichen. This part of the cliffs has a wild profusion of moss, grass, shrubs and the occasional small tree growing in a thin layer of soil across much of the rock. Almost all are dormant for winter. The trees and shrubs are mostly leafless. A weather-beaten tree with a tangle of gnarled and broken limbs stands just to our left. To our right is the rocky edge of the cliff. The sun, offscreen top, is shining directly at us, creating a patchwork of long dark shadows and splashes of bright sunlight.
November 30, 2025 at 4:44 PM
🧵1/13
August 10, 1983: About two miles from the end of the long roadwalk, we stopped at a little town park in Pawling, New York, about an hour’s drive and two or three universes removed from New York City.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
Under a soft blue summer sky with a few hazy clouds, we are standing in an overgrown field atop a mountain looking out across a valley towards some distant mountains along the misty horizon. The field is a tangle of tall grass, leafy shrubs, dark red brown feathery plants and red violet wildflowers. The valley is a rolling countryside of mostly forest with small clusters of buildings and farm fields.
November 30, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Lush green springtime at the marsh and pond, Herron Pond, White Memorial Foundation, Morris, Connecticut. June 4, 2025, 3:50 PM.

#hiking #forest #marsh #pond
A soft blue sky with streaky white clouds. We are standing beside a small marsh filled with ferns and skunk cabbage surrounding a tiny still pool of water. Ahead the marsh empties into a pond whose surface is covered with hundreds of lily pads. The marsh and pond are circled by a lush green forest of stately pines, hemlocks and hardwoods.
November 29, 2025 at 4:51 PM
🧵1/4
June 4, 1983: Standing at the top of that large, steeply-rolling meadow, a rural two-lane curved through the green valley below and up over the next ridge. Beyond, there again were Roan and Hump Mountains and the intervening sweep of balds.

#hiking #backpacking #AppalachianTrail
Beneath an overcast sky, we are standing at the top of a meadow running down the mountainside towards a valley below. The sides of the meadow also slope upward to our left and right, rather steeply towards the top on our right. There is a patch of forest at the bottom of the meadow. A rural two-lane runs through the valley below, past a patchwork of farm fields and forest. Beyond the valley rise several green thickly-forested ridges.
November 29, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Mountain laurel blossoms, Mattatuck State Forest, Plymouth, Connecticut. June 13, 2020, 7:30 PM.

#hiking #wildflowers #flowers
Against a backdrop of waxy green leaves in a thicket of mountain laurel deep in the woods are clusters of bright white blossoms with dark pink markings. Most of the blossoms are fully unfurled, but a few are in various stages of opening up from buds.
November 28, 2025 at 4:30 PM