Fire Island, NY

A few days ago I left my house with the intention of taking a short walk along the beach and maybe take a few photographs. I felt intrigued by the ominous skies and kept on walking, and in the end my "short walk" had turned into a 4-hour hike along the ocean and through the dunes of Fire Island. Granted, I zig-zagged and stopped for pictures a lot, but it was quite a walk nevertheless.

The Fire Island National Seashore (appropriately shortened to FINS) is a very long and narrow barrier island just off Long Island's southern shore. On it's north side it borders what is known as the Great South Bay, while it's beautiful southern beaches lie on the Atlantic Ocean. Located towards the western tip are a number of small summer villages, most of which can be reached by ferry only. No cars except official and emergency vehicles are allowed on Fire Island. My hike took me from Robert Moses State Beach, where you can park your car and walk onto Fire Island from it's western end, to the first little town named Kismet. Even though the starting point of my excursion is only a short drive away from my house and not very exotic, I thought it still deserved to be called a "journey" :wink.


Here I began my walk along the beach. It was an overcast but somewhat warm and windy day and I loved the way the sky kept changing by the minute:






On this overcast day, the beach was almost deserted. But when I spotted this lady, I had to admire her skills in coordinating her outfit with the colors of the day:





I kept on walking until the parking lot was long out of sight and there, in the middle of nowhere, a strange guy dressed all in black was digging trenches in the sand for no apparent reason. I just love weird encounters :





A short while later I reached the "clothing optional" section of the beach. It is strange phenomenon that there are always people around here, no matter the weather or even the season. You don't have to take your clothes off, but carrying a camera is a big no-no for sure.





That's why I decided to turn left towards the dunes. There are tire marks here because this pathway is also used by Ranger vehicles which occasionally patrol the beach:





It is almost impossible to walk the Fire Island Dunes without coming upon at least a few deer. Island Deer, as they are called, are somewhat small and grow an incredibly thick coat during the winter months. Since they have no natural enemies the aren't shy at all. This youngster munching on leaves couldn't have cared less that I kept snapping pictures from only a few feet away:





Unfortunately it isn't all too healthy for the deer to be so used to people, because they get fed with all sorts of crap. The parks department has set up these feeders, where the deer can help themselves without the need for human contact:





After quite a bit more of dune trekking, the the little town of Kismet finally came into view. Here you can see how snugly the houses sit in between the dunes. Kismet is somewhat sleepy compared to Ocean Beach or Cherry Grove where the party people from NYC prefer to go. It doesn't look like much, but those crooked utility poles are definitely a sign of civilization :





The very first building one encounters is the fire house. It looked pretty uninviting against the overcast sky, but I like this kind of grungy vibe. Every fall there's a big pasta fest here, sort of a good-bye party for the last of the summer guests. Very few people live here year-round:





Here are some more typical Fire Island houses. Most of these are summer rentals only and get shuttered for the winter. I love the tradition of every house having it's own name. The one in the background is called Belle Aire I believe:





The luckiest ones own or rent homes directly above the dunes, which come with a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean for sure:





Here's what a classic Fire Island street looks like. Vegetation is lush and the grid very simple. One or two small roads run east to west and are being crossed by several streets leading from bay to ocean. As I said, the island is narrow - I would guess no more than 3/4 of a mile wide and you can comfortably make it from one end to the other in a few minutes. Here's looking north, down a cross street and towards the bay and harbor:






Turning south, you'll end up at a ramp leading towards the ocean beach...





... behind which you'll find this...






...or this. Since most of the summer guests have already left and it wasn't a particularly sunny day, the beaches lie deserted and this lonely angler was the only other human being I met.






A lone ocean kayak radiates neon-green between protective fences a the foot of the dunes:







Since cars aren't allowed anywhere on Fire Island, bicycles are the main means of transportation and can be found everywhere. Mostly older and somewhat rusted models, also known as "beach cruisers":





I did say they can be found everywhere, didn't I?






I thought that this flowery and brightly colored pair was particularly pretty to look at:






Back at the bay side, I was surprised to find the boat slips at the Kismet marina almost completely deserted. Just a few weeks ago it was impossible to get a space here and most vessels had to anchor in the bay, from where you either had to wade, or row, your way to shore if you were lucky enough to have a dinghy.





It doesn't look any busier on the other side of the pier, but I really liked the name of this boat.





As mentioned before, Kismet is small - so small that it doesn't even have a grocery store. There are, however, a pizza place and two restaurants, known as "the Inn"...





... and the "Out" .





At this time of the year and on a weekday afternoon, even the pizza place is closed and only the "Inn" remains open. Here, the last ferry of the day picks up passengers at 4:45p.m. and whoever doesn't make it will have to remain on the island until the morning. Unless, that is, you have a car parked at the state beach a few miles away :wink. The little hand-drawn wagons are famous for Fire Island, and are being used to transport groceries and luggage from the ferry and back.






Although I would have liked to continue on to the next and somewhat more lively town called Saltaire, I decided to better turn around because it was getting late and I didn't want to walk through the dunes in the dark. I chose the route along the bay, but after a short while of trudging through soft sand and getting bit by about a million mosquitoes, I somewhat regretted my choice. Here's looking back at Kismet and I began to feel a bit wary of the rather long walk still ahead of me:






Finally back at the Ranger Station I knew I didn't have to walk much further and took a detour along this pier. Where I encountered a very cocky seagull who seemed to get a good laugh out of my somewhat sweaty and sandy self:





No walk through the Fire Island Dunes would be complete without at least one shot of it's most famous landmark, the lighthouse. I, along with every photographer in the area, have dozens of shots like this, but it's always quite beautiful and now the light was finally right. No to mention, the lighthouse just had received a fresh coat of paint:






While the lighthouse celebrates it's 150th anniversary this year, there was an even older lighthouse here, built in 1826. It turned out not to be tall enough and today this foundation is all which still remains:





Finally I made it back to the parking lot and took one last look at the dunes in the evening sun. The island's a bit wider here and at the end of summer lush vegetation is abound as far as the eye can see. After this final photograph I was quite happy to see my car again :rofl:





Thanks for looking. As I said, not an exotic location, but nevertheless an interesting and beautiful one. Some more infos about the Fire Island communities can be found at this really cool website: http://www.fireislandferries.com/

Greetings,
Jana