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Winter 2011-2012

On Tues, January 31st, I had planned to go to North South Lake and hike a LONG distance loop around the entire area including the entire escarpment and North Point. I had some chores to get done in the morning but thought I might still get out in time to do the hike. Cindy was not enthusiastic about such a long ride so we decided on Ashokan High Point instead. As we were getting dressed our new puppy, Sheila, began to get excited about going on a hike. It took her only twice to associate our hiking clothing with a wonderful time outdoors. She is a mixture of yellow, Labrador retriever, Husky and boxer. This combination means she is VERY energetic and LOVES the outdoors especially snow! We had not planned to take her to Ashokan as it it long and hilly enough that I would like to use poles. Sheila still needs be on a leash so we changed plans AGAGIN and decided to do the long loop at Frick and Hodge Ponds with both dogs. The weather forecast was for a beautiful day and I wanted more views than this hike would provide but was willing to sacrifice them for the companionship. We arrived at the parking area just after 10:00 AM with beautiful blue skies with some clouds and plenty of sun. The temperature was in the high 30's or low 40's but a breeze made it seems a little cooler. We got started as soon as we could by crossing the road and heading up the Flynn Trail toward Hodge Pond. There was only a thin layer of wet and melting snow near the beginning of the trail but as we climbed the Flynn Trail the snow became deeper and was more "crunchy". Throughout the hike the snow was never deep enough to require snowshoes but they would have made hiking parts of the route easier. At about .9 miles into the hike I was admiring the ledges to the right of the rail. As I looked up into the woods, I saw some laid up stone. The stone that I saw looked more like the support for a road than a some wall so we decided to walk up the hill to see what it was. We found a very nice woods road that I had 1 never seen before and turned left to head toward the clearing near the top of the Flynn Trail. The road stretched behind us for some distance and I will investigate where it goes in that direction on another day. The road very quickly hit a high point and then went right back to the Flynn Trail. This was disappointing but we decided to follow the trail rather than bushwhack to the clearing. Sheila was doing fine except for the fact that she continued to pull on the leash as she followed Sheba. She is bigger now and I am trying to teach her to walk without pulling and to come when called so that I can let her off the leash.

At about 1.2 miles we came to the road that leads to the clearing and instead of following it we just walked up the bank into the woods and directly to the clearing. The white snow, green trees and blue skies made a pretty pictures. The wind was blowing some and I cooled down as I took some pictures. I had opened up most of the zippers on my Mammut hoody and my shirts as I was very warm while moving, We got back on the Flynn Trail and were soon at the junction with the Big Rock Trail. We continued straight ahead top go down to Hodge Pond. Sheila wanted to run and I obliged her for as l;onglong as I could. As we entered the clearing at Hodge Pond the wind picked up but almost seemed warm as the sun was out and the air temperature had risen. This also meant that the snow was beginning to melt making is wetter and not as firm to walk on. There were a few deeper drifts near the pond as we approached the shore. I took some pictures and we got a drink before heading around the back of the poi9nd on the old jeep trail. I did not stop to take pictures from the head end of the lake as the sun was at the wrong angle. We hit the Flynn Trail on the other side at 11:45 AM about 3.2 miles into the hike or not quite half way. There is some blowdown on this part of the Flynn Trail but we were able to avoid it without much problem and were soon on the flatter portion of the trail headed toward Junkyard Junction. There was some snow on the trail but much of it was open with some very wet areas which were only partially frozen. This was the wettest and hardest part of the trail to walk. At Junkyard Junction we turned left and started down the Quick Lake Trail toward Iron Wheel Junction.

The upper part of the Quick Lake Trail was packed by snowmobiles but as the snow volume has decreased the trail has turned to ice. The lower we got on the trail the more open it was with little or no snow. By 12:40 PM we were at Iron Wheel junction about 5.3 miles into the hike. Sheila was beginning to whine but I think it was more out of the "boredom"" of being on the leash as she was still pulling me along most of the time. The trail from Iron Wheel down had not had any snowmobile traffic but still alternated between snow and open ground. After crossing a little stream, we ran into the blowdown that has been there for some time. We simply walked around it as we have been doing but it certainly would be nice if the powers that be would get it cleared! The final piece of trail down to Frick Pond was open and very wet in places. We arrived at the bridge across the outlet at 1:05 Pm 6.3 miles into the hike. We stopped on the bridge and I took some pictures. Frick Pond was most open unlike Hodge Pond that was completely frozen. After taking pictures, we headed back to the car. The last part of the trail along the woods road was very open and wet. We arrived back at the parking area at 1:20 PM having covered 6.9 miles in 3 hours and 15 minutes.

On Monday, January 30th, I didn't have much time to hike but knew I had to get out after a buay Sunday. Sheila also needed the exercise so we headed across the street to Round TOp. THis time we headed up the woods road passed the quarry and continued on. We took the woods roads to the second peak on the ridge with me following Sheba all the time. Sheila loved being out and I had a hard time holding her back. There was a thin layer of fresh snow on the trail which covered some very icy patches underneath. At the top of the second hill, he turned around and retraced our steps down. At the end of the descent I told Sheba to take us home and I followed her to the quarry. We turned up into the quarry and then followed road and path to the top of Round Top. At this point I wanted to head back rather than do any more loops. I gave Sheba the command to take us back home and she took off. I was interested to see where she would go as we had not used this route for a year. Sheba led us down the hill on almost the same route we have always used. Once we hit the woods road at the bottom, she turned in the correct direction and then turned back into the woods right where we always turn. She followed another woods road and I thought she was off course until she made another turn and we were right where we always end up to head home. If anyone has an explanation of this behavior, which Sheba regularly repeats, please e-mail me. We walked about 4 miles in 1.5 hours which was a relaxing but challenging workout.

On Saturday, January 28th, Karl was available to hike but we had not decided where we were going when he arrived in Livingston Manor at 8:30 AM. We knew that it was the Catskill 3500 Club's Winter Weekend and that at least one other group had a hike planned. It might have been interesting to hook up with one of these groups but we chose to go somewhere that others pro ably would not go. Karl asked about the trails at Little Pond that he remembered from picnicking there when he was younger, much younger. I proposed a hike that I had been wanting to do for some time. We would park one car at the Mary Smith Hill parking area on Berry Brook Road and then drive to the Little Pond State Campgrounds to hike back to the other car. I added up the mileage from the NYNJTC maps and it look to be right around 9 miles. This was definitely a route that required a car shuttle. By the time I got ready and did a few chores, we got a later start than I would have liked. (This seems to be a theme!) We drove with our dogs to the Mary Smith Hill parking area where I parked my car. The parking area was a sheet of ice. Sheba and I got in Karl's car and we headed out to Route 30 where we turned right and headed around the Pepacton Reservoir. We took the Barkaboom Road to get to the Little Pond Campgrounds. When we arrived at the access road, the gate was closed which we knew would be the case. We parked in a spot away from the gate with two pickup trucks. We suspected that the owners were probably ice fishing on Little Pond. By now it was 10:20 AM and it was time we got hiking. The sun was out and the temperature was right around 30 degrees. It seemed warmer than the temperature indicated as long as the wind was not blowing. Both Maggie and Sheba were ready to go and bounded ahead of us up the bare road. At the pond we stopped so that I could take some pictures from the bridge over the outlet. It was odd to see the brown and green around the campgrounds with ice on the pond and snow on the hills. We walked around the right side of the pond to the upper end. We found some people ice fishing and talked to them briefly before continuing on to the yellow Little Pond Trail. We took a right on the trail and started the first climb of the day.

The trail was very wet standing and running water. The first part of the trail parallels a small stream and the water in the brook made a pleasant sound. We began to run into more snow as we gained elevation. Throughout the day we would see bare ground, packed snow, ice and looser snow. Much of this depended on whether or not anyone had walked the trail lately, the elevation and the exposure of the terrain. We walked through the tall pines which are Karl's favorite and were soon at the viewpoint near the top of the Little Pond Trail. I took pictures of the pond there and some more shots of the surrounding hills before we moved on. There is the foundation of an old house in this area and we both agreed that this would be a beautiful spot to have a house although the access would be difficult! At the junction with the red Touch-Me-Not Trail we turned left to climb Cabot Mountain. There was more snow and the trail was not well marked as it is not that popular. Soon we were at the bottom of the climb up Cabot Mountain. In the spring, summer and fall this climb is punctuated by nettles and prickers. In the winter, there is usually a lot of snow or, as in this case, a layer of thick ice. We started up by walking on the side of the trail where there was less ice. At some point I suggested putting on spikes but Karl did not want to and I stubbornly would not put them on unless he did! We struggled to the top of the first climb, walked a short distance on flatter ground and then started up the next climb. Eventually we ran out of "up" and were on the flat part of the trail that winds across the top of Cabot. By 12:20 PM we had hiked 3.6 miles and were standing at the viewpoint over Little Pond. The lighting was not good for photography and there was a he that would persist for the rest of the day. We had already gained 1150 feet from the car with the 480 feet over the last .5 miles on the climb up Cabot. The average grade in this climb is 25%! Both Karl and I were cold standing in the wind on the viewpoint. We had long ago dropped a layer since we were warm when on the move. After a few pictures, we moved away ROM the exposed area, got a drink and some lunch and continued on our way. It began to occur to both of us that we needed to keep moving and that this hike was by no means easy.

We walked across the flat area on Cabot and then began the first descent. The trail was icy in most places and we finally decided to put on the spike. Karl used MicroSpikes and I put on the Yak Xtremes. This made the descent so much easier that I regretted not using them earlier. After the first short descent, we walked across another flat area and then began the long, steep descent to Beech Hill Road. Some of this descent was bare but much had ice and hard packed snow. Toward the bottom the trail was bare and we removed our traction devices. From the highest point on Cabot Mountain we had hiked 1.25 miles and dropped 700 feet! It was 1:15 PM and we had hiked 4.7 miles. We turned right and walked .2 miles on Beech Hill Road before turn left on a private road. The private road turned into a sheet of ice and the left turn up the trail was steep and seemed impossible without traction. I found a woods road which was not as steep and we walked up that and then bushwhacked a short distance over to the trail. The trail was bare and wet in many places but there was enough ice to make it treacherous. After walking off trail to avoid the ice, we finally decided to put on the spikes which made everything much easier! We were now on the Middle Mountain Trail and climbing up Beech Hill. Throughout the hike we would climb to the "top" of a hill only to find that it was a false summit and there was more climbing to do. The walk up Beech Hill was like this with a little rise just before the actual sumMIT. We walked about .6 miles from the private road to the summit of Beech Hill and gained about 460 feet along the way. NOw it was time to descend Beech Hill so that we could ascend Middle Mountain! It was about .7 miles between the two summits but we dropped 150 feet and then climbed 280 feet to get to the top of Middle Mountain. It was now 2:20 PM and we had hiked 6.25 miles in 4 hours!

The next part of the hike was the descent down Middle Mountain to parking area on Mary Smith Hill Road. I remembered this as being a nasty section of trail which was poorly marked. There is at least one very wet area which passed through a drainage. The descent was every bit as "interesting" as I remembered with icy patches and areas we tried to avoid even with spikes. The drainage was one of those areas but there was an easier way down which it seemed others had used. The descent down Middle Mountain was about 1 mile and we dropped 730 feet to the parking area. The road was covered in snow since it is one of the roads with "Seasonal Maintenance". Both Karl and I were a little tired at this point. We had removed our spikes toward the end of the descent since the trail WA almost bare at the lower elevations. I had noticed a problem with the Yak Xtremes which is potentially serious design flaw. The back spike plate came off my heel and rode up the back of my boot more than once on the descents. There is no chain to hold the front and back spike plates together so this can easily happens. I like Yak's versio0n of the spiks in many ways but this is a problem I will be referring to them. I will let you know how it turns out. At 3:00 PM we were ready to start the last section of the trail having already hiked 7.25 miles. From the signs on Mary Smith Hill Road this last section would be LONGER than the Middle Mountain section. It was also clear that the hike would be well over 10 miles instead of the 9 miles I had calculated!

I have hiked the sections of this route several times and I have to admit I did not remember them as being difficult. Perhaps this is my poor memory or it is the fact that hiking a single section is much easier than putting them all together! We had removed our spikes and the first few hundred feet of the Mary Smith Hill Trail did not make them necessary. After this, we put them back on as the trail went back to packed snow and ice. Over the first .4 miles the trail averaged a 24% grade gaining 480 feet in .4 miles. We contort to climb to near the top of this unnamed hill that is higher than Mary Smith Hill. The trail actually never hits the top of this hill but travels along the north shoulder but still gets above 2900 feet. The summit of the hill is well over 2900 feet making it almost as high as Cabot and middle Mountains! From the high point we descended a little over 250 feet over the next mile to the base of MAry Smith Hill which was our last major climb. We were a little tired at this point but knew we were near the end. We began our climb and at about 9.3 miles stopped at the Middle Mountain Lookout. The views here are nice but it was getting late in the day and there wasn't much light. The lack of light, the haze and the general bleak landscape made photography difficult. I did get one picture of Karl looking a little tired! We hit the highest point of 2700 feet on Mary Smith Hill at 4:20 PM about 9.4 miles into the hike and already more than my estimated distance. I knew that it was all downhill from the top but that the descent had some tricky places. The trail down had several blowdowns and the last descent is narrow. This narrow part was steep and had patches of ice. I breathed a sigh of relief when we hit the bottom because I knew that we were less than .25 miles from the parking area. We were back at my car by 5:00 PM having covered 10.4 miles in 6.5 hours. We had to drive over to Little Pond to Karl's car and then back to Livingston Manor. I arrived back at my house at 6:00 PM. I now realize that this is an interesting trail system that connects points as far away as Round Pond to the area around Trout Pond.

On Thursday, January 26th, the weather report was for a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain. I decided to cancel a trip to Syracuse and stay home to see what developed. Sheila had not been out on a walk/hike in several days so we headed out over Round Top at about 11:00 AM. We started the way we always do by walking to the top of the cemetery hill and turning left on the path into the woods. This time we continued straight ahead up the hill to the lookout over the town. From here we skirted the ledges and then walked toward the high point of Round Top. Instead walking to the top I decided to walk below the ledges. We did this for a while and as we did I noticed I had started to snow. Sheba took the lead and found a woods road we had used the last time we were on Round Top. She led us to the road that ascends the next hill and turned to go up the hill. My intention was to hike to the top and turn around but Sheba had other ideas. She continued over the top of the hill and found a woods road down that I had not seen ebfore. We followed the steep road to a flat area where the road again descended toward Old Route 17 and the flats. We turned left and started around the ledges and soon found another woods road we had used before. We passed the area where we had cut toward the Quickway the last time and were soon at the place where we had cut up the hill earlier. I watched to see what Sheba would do. Sheba did not start back up the hill but followed our route from the last hike in reverse. We ascended a small hill and passed the quarry on a path. Sheba cut down to another road precisely where we had come up the last time. Soon we were back on the path to the cemetery and then back to the house. Since it was close to 1:00 Pm, we had been out for about 2 hours. We had hiked almost continually so my estimate was right around 4 miles covered.

On Tuesday, January 24th, I wanted to go for a relatively long hike but did not want to deal with the trail conditions in the Catskills. A heavy rainfall on top of snow and ice on a warm day did not seem to me to be ideal hiking conditions! I decided to head farther south where there had not been as much snow and ice. I thought that Storm King Mountain would be a good destination since I would only have to deal with the wet trails. Also, I had not been there for some time and I expected the temperature there to be in the mid to high 40's. I looked at my maps and decided to park on Route 9W at the trail head for the Bobcat Trail since I had never used this approach before. As often happens. an ambulance call came in just as I was getting ready but the patient decided to go by car after we responded. I got started a little later than I wanted and, even s, the skies were still overcast in Livingston Manor. I was hoping for some sun and blue skies to be able to take some pictures on the hike! When we left at just passed 8:30 AM I calculated that we should be at the trail head and ready to go at around 10:00 AM or even a little earlier. As we traveled south and east on Route 17, the skies cleared and the sun came out. The thermometer on my car slowly crept over 40 degrees. I took the turn toward West Point and got on Route 9W north toward Newburgh. The road is narrow and there are few places to pull off or turn around. As I drove passed the trailhead, I knew I would have some distance to go before I could turn around and then would have to turn around AGAIn to get back to the trailhead! It is a mistake I will never make again but we were soon parked and out of the car. We actually were on the trail just a few minutes after 10:00 AM which made me happy. The temperature was about 45 degrees but the wind made it seem colder. I kept my softshell on as well as light gloves and a hat. The Bobcat Trail descends from the Route 9zW parking area to a junction with the blue blazed Howell Trail that ascends to North Point. I was surprised to find some snow and quite a bit of ice on the trail. This situation was to repeat itself for the rest of the day. Any trail or surface with a northern exposure WAs covered ion ice and this made some of the hiking very tricky!

The Bobcat Trail is a little over a quarter mile long and ends at a junction with the Howell Trail. We turned right just passed the junction to climb up and over North Point. On the way up and at the top I stopped to take pictures. The contrast in colors was remarkable and there was little or none of the haze that usually hangs over the river. There was only a small amount of snow remaining on top. I took pictures of Storm King and the upper Route 9W parking area. I got some particularly good vies and pictures of the Storm King Highway and other places toward the north. The pictures show how the Storm King Highway really DOES hang on the edge of the mountain! The trail makes a right turn after North Point amd heads southeast until it again rises to a point higher than North Point. After this the trail again turns northeast and descends a ridge line toward the river. From this ridge there are views down to the river and across the river to the Hudson Highlands especially to Mount Taurus and Little Stony Point. We walked along this ridge for .65 miles until we were on a lookout on a cliff right above the river. We we about 1.7 miles into the hike and ready to start the decent down to the Storm King Highway. I took some pictures to the south and across the river before starting the descent. As soon as we started the descent, I realized that the trail was facing north and all the rocks were covered in ice. From the lookout down to Pitching Point the trail drops over 500 feet in .4 miles with an average grade of over 20%. The ice was not thick enough in most places to make a traction aid worthwhile but the descent was certainly "interesting"! At several point along the way I took some pictures but many views are only partial and blocked by trees or shrubs. At the bottom of the steep descent the trail turns sharply to the left. We turned to the right and walked a short distance out to Pitching Point. The views here are actually not as good as from the top but it is interesting to look at the highway less than 300 feet away and almost straight down! We went back to the main trail and walked about .4 miles downhill to the Storm King Highway. The trail ends/begins at a parking area near Stillman Springs. The Storm King land was donated to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission by the Stillman family in 1922 and there is an inscription near a spring that commerce this AC. I took a few pictures before we started out again by walking along the highway to the north and then immediately picking up the white blazed Stillman Spring Trail. It was 11:55 AM and we were 2.5 miles into the hike and 850 feet lower than our starting point.

The Stillman Trail starts at the highway and heads west and southwest back toward the Howell Trail. Along its .7 mile length it gains over 400 feet. I was watching for the short Crossover Trail but was surprised when we arrived at the Howell Trail without spotting the other trail. The blazes on the Crossover Trail have been painted over but I usually use it as it is a more direct route. When we reached the Howell Trail we turned right to head toward "The Clove", the low point between North Point and Storm King. The Clove has two different streams running through it and they were as high as I have seen them but still easy to cross. At 3.45 miles we were at the bottom and ready to start the climb up toward Storm King. The trail rises 550 feet in .5 miles to a junction wit the white Bypass Trail. I decided to turn right on the Bypass Trail as it has some nice views to the south which you cannot get from the summit of the mountain. My plan was to take the Bypass Trail To the yellow Stillman Trail and follow that around the north side of the Mountain just to add some miles. From there we would return to the summit of the mountain and then back the way we came through "The Clove". The walk along the Bypass Trail presents some very nice views and there are several opportunities to take alternate routes which visit different viewpoints. I avoided most of these since the best lookout is at the junction of the Bypass Trail and the Stillman Trail. When we reached that lookout, we walked up to a large open rock and I took off the pack and got out the camera. A couple on the next rock over were the only people we had seen all day. From spot I took pictures to the south and east and some of the mountain behind us. I thought about what route we would take from this point and decided to stay with the original plan. We started out on the Stillman Trail around the north side of the mountain.

As we started out on the trail we ran in to a little ice and snow but nothing too severe. A little further along there were several patches of ice that could be avoided by walking along side the trail. In another spot hikers had formed a little path on the outside of the trail which went around a larger patch of ice. From this point on the trail really hangs on the side of the mountain with a steep drop to the north and little room on the other side to avoid the ice. The constant thawing and freeing had produced beautiful ice flows...beautiful that is if you didn't have to walk over them. I continued to bare boot it for a while but I was slipping and sliding on the ice and the patches were getting larger so that they occupied the width of the trail and were pretty long. I decided to put on my Yak Xtremes and this was a good decision. Of course, the ice flows alternated with bare ground but having the traction made all the difference. We came to the bridge and it was surprisingly clear and in good shape. I took some pictures of the bridge and we continued our hike. After the bridge, there was little ice so I took the Yaks off but kept them handy. From the lookout to the junction with the Bluebird Trail is only .9 miles but it took us almost 5 minutes! We turned left on the Bluebird Trail which regains in .5 miles the 480 feet lost on the way down the Stillman Trail. There are numerous switchbacks on the trail but it is still a good climb. All the way down the Stillman Trail the skies seemed to grow more cloudy and the wind whipped up some. Once we came around from the north side of the mountain the conditions improved but it was still more overcast than earlier in the day. At the trail junction we turned left of the Stillman Trail to head over the summit of Storm King. This .7 mile section is relatively flat but does gain almost 100 feet to the summit before dropping back down to the junction with the Bypass Trail. I stopped several times to take pictures to the north. When we came to the last viewpoint, I remembered that it was the only one really worth the stop since it is much more open than the others. By 2:40 Pm we had traveled 6.5 miles and were ready to head back to the car. Our moving pace was about 2.0 mph but our overall speed was only 1.5 mph due to the numerous stops!

The return to the car was uneventful as there are few viewpoints and I kept the camera in the pack. We dropped down the Bypass Trail to the junction with the Howell Trail and then continued down through "The Clove". Once we were at the junction with the Stillman Springs Trail we simply continued on the Howell Trail back to the junction with the Bobcat Trail just before the Howell Trail climbs North Point. Some of the ice had melted on the Bobcat Trail so getting back to the car was a little easier than I expected. It was only .8 miles from the Stillman Springs junction to the car and it seemed to go quickly. Along the way we met two hikers walking toward us on the Howell Trail. This part of the hike was as muddy as any part had been except maybe the trip through "The Clove". We were back at the car by 3:40 PM having covered 8.4 "interesting" miles in about 5.5 hours. There are two more ways to access Storm King Mountain and both are from Mountain Road near the Storm King School. I think I will try these sometime in the near future.

On Sunday, January 22nd, I wanted to go on a hike after church to take advantage of the fresh snow. I especially wanted to do this as the forecast was calling for freezing rain and rain on Monday with temperatures in the 40's. My preference for winter is snow and more snow. Snow should not melt until late March! I didn't want to go over Round Top one more time so I decided to take both dogs and go to Frick Pond. Cindy was not interested in hiking on this day so I had to put the new puppy, Sheila. in the front seat by herself. Sheila was reluctant to even get in the car and once in the front seat sat until we left the driveway and then laid down for the rest of the trip. When I walked out of the house, I walked back in and put on a thin baselayer as it seemed very cold out. The temperature was about 25 degrees but the wind was blowing. When we arrived in the parking area just after noon, the car thermometer read 22 degrees and the wind was blustery. I got out first and put on my pack and snowshoes before letting the dogs out. I was again hiking without poles and I knew that some of the uphills would be more tiring than usual. I had not yet decided on the exact route and thought I would see how we were doing at various points. I did not want to get too far out and find that Sheila was finally at her limit. When we reached Frick Pond, I took a close look at the scene and =decided I had numerous pictures already. We didn't stop but continued over the bridge at the outlet. As Sheila walked across the bridge for the first time her long legs went through the spaces between the boards several times. Her reaction was comical but she made it across in good shape. When we got to the junction with the trail around the back of Frick, Sheba turned right to go around the pond and I followed her. We would go to Times Square and then up the Big Rock Trail to the junction with the Flynn Trail. At that point we could simply go back to the car or go to Hodge Pond first before walking back to the parking area. As we walked around the back of the pond, we were in the shade and the wind seemed to penetrate the woods. I was a little cold but kept going. As we approached Times Square I could hear and then see snowmobiles. Several machines were coming down the Big Rock Trail and turning up the Logger's Loop. We hit Times Square at about 12:40 PM at about 1.2 miles into the hike. We continued straight ahead up the Big Rock Trail.

The Big Rock Trail was packed by snowmobiles and was a little easier to walk than the snow we had just come through. I did notice that Sheila was not pulling on the leash as much and wanted to walk in the snow by the side of the trail. I was a little disappointed that she had chosen this moment to start to behave on the leash as I WA scouting on her to give a little pull up the hills on the Big Rock Trail. From Times Square to the Flynn Trail junction the Big Rock Trail rises 625 feet. This doesn't sound like much but it certainly wore on me after awhile. Not being able to use poles really gave my legs a I kept listening for the snowmobiles but they never returned while we were on the trail. By 1:15 PM we had walked 2.25 miles and were at the junction with the Flynn Trail. The first thing I noticed was that there were snowmobile tracks on the Flynn Trail in the direction of Hodge Pond. The tracks went right by the sign that said "Snowmobiles Prohibited". I took some pictures of the blue skies and pristine snow on the Flynn Trail. I decided that hiking to Hodge Pond did not interest me so we turned right to head down the Flynn Trail to the car. This return trip always seems longer than the 1.7 miles that is posted which is the correct distance. The trail is pretty but has no views. I decide to stop at the clearing we had found earlier in the year. The clearing is usually wet with bog-like conditions and the type of plants you find in that environment. We climbed the steep bank and walked the short distance to the clearing. I took pictures since the scene was quite serene. Blue skies with a few clouds hung over the snow covered ground with green trees poking up here and there. After taking in the scene, we headed back to the Flynn Trail and continued back down to the car. We arrived in the parking area at 2:10 Pm having covered 4.1 miles in just over 2 hours. I was surprised that we were able to keep this pace given the snowy conditions and the hills. Sheila seemed ready for more so next time we may try a 6 mile round trip.

On Saturday, January 21st, we woke up to a fresh snowfall of about 4 inches in town. The snow was light as I found out when I shoveled all the walks and part of the driveway! After finding out that a church event was canceled, I suggested to Cindy that we take both dogs and repeat the loop that I had done on Thursday. She agreed and we started our hike right from our house. This time we wore snowshoes as they would give us better traction and are just fun to use. I could not use poles since I had Sheila on her leash and I wondered how that would effect my snowshoeing as I had never gone without poles. I took the GPS with me this time to record the route but decided it was too difficult to take the camera since that would require a pack. We started just after 11:00 AM by walking across the road and up the hill behind our church to the Orchard Street Cemetery. Near the top of the hill, we turned left on a trail into the woods. A little ways up the trail we turned right on an old woods road that climbs passed some very nice ledges on the left. We continued on this road bearing slightly left and up hill until we encountered another road. The route leveled some at that point and we soon were in the area of the quarry. We continued passed the quarry and down always trying to stay on the roads. This time I took a slightly different route that would allow us to make a shorter route if anyone was tired. When we had to make a decision, we all seemed willing to do the longer route so we headed up the second small hill that tops out at just under 1900 feet. We continued over the top of that hill and I chose a slightly different line than the last time. The route from Thursday was just too steep so I ,picked a better lien and we were soon on level ground with another descent ahead of us. Sheba and I found the road that led down to another road that we could follow back. The descent was tricky with some rocks and brush still poking out from under the covering of snow. At the bottom we turned left and headed west paralleling the Quickway on our right. We could not see the road but could easily hear traffic. The road we were on passed below some interesting ledges and then headed up a little hill to another road. Here, as on Thursday, we turned right and walked down to a little clearing before walking along the base of some cliffs. From that point we followed our tracks down to a road that runs just above the highway and followed that to the clearing that overlooks the Livingston Manor interchange. On Thursday, the dogs and I followed a woods road toward town and then climbed a rather steep route to the lookout. I knew that this would not be possible on snowshoes so we headed up the hill almost imemdiately. Sheba took the lead and seemed to know where she was going so we followed her. We had not been on this part of the route since last year but Sheba led us directly to the lookout! From here we walked down the woods road to where we ahd turned earlier and continued back to the house. We were back by 1:00 PM having covered 3 miles in just under 2 hours. Sheila did not seem tired or cold and looked like she could do a few more miles.

On Thursday, January 19th, I wanted to get in a short hike before going to school to do some work and time the basketball games. I decided to hike up Round Top behind our church again. My plan was to use the same route as before and pass by the quarry. I thought to extend the hike by ascending the hill beyond rRound tOp and going down the other side before turning back. Eventually I would like to hike this whole ridge out to Morrston. I was going to take the GPS but somehow I left it at home. The dogs and I started just after 11:00 AM by walking across the road and up the hill behind our church to the Orchard Street Cemetery. The hill was all ice and I chose to walk in on the side as I had no traction on my boots. Near the top of the hill, we turned left on a trail into the woods. A little ways up the trail we turned right on an old woods road that climbs passed some very nice ledges on the left. We continued on this road bearing slightly left and up hill until we encountered another road. The route leveled some at that point and we soon were in the area of the quarry. We continued passed the quarry and down always trying to stay on the roads. Eventually we came to a junction and turned left. After a short walk I recognized the road that climbs the hill beyond so we turned right and headed up hill that tops out at just under 1900 feet. We continued over the top of that hill and I looked for a route down through the rocks and brush to the flatter area below. I found a challenging route and Sheila pulling on the leash made it even more exciting. Once on the flatter area below, we walked to the edge to find another descent. We walked along the edge until we found a road down the hill which we followed almost to the end before heading off the road to the north and west. At the bottom we turned left and headed west paralleling the Quickway on our right. We could not see the road but could easily hear traffic. The road we were on passed below some interesting ledges and then headed up a little hill to another road. Here we turned right and walked down to a little clearing before walking along the base of some cliffs. From that point we walked down the hill to a road that runs just above the highway and followed that to the clearing that overlooks the Livingston Manor interchange. We followed that road as we had before until we got OT an area where we could climb the hill on the left. This time we went up the hill but stayed more to the right. Before us was a steep set of ledges but I could see a line through them. This would have been an easy climb but the ice and snow on the ground and rocks made it tricky especially without my poles. When we got almost to the top, we passed around a large outcrop only to find another steep and challenging climb to the top. Sheba took the lead and seemed to know where she was going so we followed her. She led us right to the lookout and back down the hill to the cemetery. From there it was a short walk home. We were back by 12:30 PM and I vowed next time to take the GPS. Sheila did not seem tired or cold and looked like she could do more next time.

On Wednesday, January 18th, I was planning on hiking somewhere with Lisa the owner of the local hiking store, Morgan Outdoors. When I got up, the temperature was barely double digits and the wind, as forecast, was howling. I almost hoped that Lisa wouldn't call but she did at about 9:00 AM. We agreed to meet at her store around 10:00 AM and go to hike at Long Pond off Willowemoc Road. This hike is fairly flat compared to the 35s and doesn't have too many views or other points of interest. What is does have is nice open trails that follow woods roads and most are protected from the wind. When we arrived at the parking area off Flugertown Road, the temperature had risen to the twenties but the wind was still blowing. We were hiking by 10:30 AM and moved into the woods and out of the wind. Most of the elevation gain is in the first .7 miles with a climb of 360 feet. This is just enough to warm up and was welcome on this cold day. Lisa and I walked at talked and at about 1 mile turned right to go down the short spur trail to Long Pond. I took off my pack and got pout the camera to take some pictures of the iced over pond. The sun was shining brightly but there were clouds in the sky. We walked back up to the main trail and continued on to about 1.4 miles where there is a trail junction. The trail to the left goes back out to Flugertown Road and the back to the parking area and is a very short hike. Lisa agreed we wanted something a little longer so returned right to continue out and around the big loop which I knew was about 6 miles. After the junction the trail has several almost permanent "puddles" but these were frozen over. At 1.8 miles we came to the trail to the leanto but decided to stay on the main trail as the site of the leanto is secluded but not very scenic. We continued to follow the trail along the woods road. As we did the wind again started to blow and it began to snow lightly.

At 2.5 mules the trail ends at a road where I always turn left. I have wondered several times what is to the right on the road and we decided to head briefly in that direction. Within several hundred feet the road opened into a field with some views of the hills beyond. I took some pictures even though it was snowing. It appeared that the road continued but we did not want to adventure fiscal on this day. On most maps the road is shown as ending after a short distance but the maps do not show what is at the end! We retraced our steps back to the point where we had turned and continued on the road toward the junction with Basily Roads, about 3 miles into the hike. We were at the junction with Basily Road at about noon and from there the hike was downhill until, at about 3.6 miles, we were at the beaver pond. The small footbridge that was installed makes the crossing easy and we stopped to take a few pictures. Immediately after the crossing are "No Trespassing" signs but the land owners allow hikers to cross their property. In the past, the private bridge was closed and hikers had to ford a stream that is rather wide and deep at most times. The gates on the bridge were now gone and the markers indicated that the snowmobile trail passed over the bridge. We followed the markers and were soon on the road which turns from Basily to Flugertown somewhere along the way. The wind had died down a little and the snow had almost stopped. As we walked the road paralleled a stream and we could see and hear it as it flowed along. The road was very icy and required that we walk on the snow along the sides. At 4.6 miles we were in the vicinity of the trail to Mongaup Pond. The road at this point is still ""seasonal maintenance"" and so was unplowed and unsanded. We did some vehicle tracks which did not look too old. Eventually we came to the last house on the road where the maintenance ends and from this point on the walk was easy as we left the ice and snow behind. We were back at the car by 1:10 PM having covered 6.2 miles in just over 2.5 hours.

On Monday, January 16th, I knew I had to get out of the house even if I only took a short walk. I hadn't hiked since last Wednesday due to job and family commitment and some poor weather. When I got up in the morning, the temperature on the back porch read 0 degrees! I knew I would have to wait a while since my plan was to take both dogs on a walk around the hill behind our church in Livingston Manor. Most people call this hill Round Top and a few can remember when it had few trees and did look very round. Just after noon we headed out the door. Sheila, the new puppy, is not quite 4 months old and we are still training her. I kept her on a leash the whole time since she sometimes would rather play than come when called. We headed up the road to the top of the cemetery and then struck off into the woods. The temperature was now around 20 degrees and there was some sun. I had layered so that I was a little cold since I knew Sheila had a lot of energy and running with her would warm me up. After several hundred feet and a short climb we turned right on a woods road which we followed further than we had on previous walks. The road flattened out some and when it came up I took a turn to the left. My intent was to walk a big loop and incorporate some of the snowshoe paths I had used before. At the top of a small rise was a flatter open area that I recognized as a quarry. I knew the had been a quarry on the hill and both my sons had visited it when they were kids. I had missed it on all my previous walks since I had misunderstood its location. We passed through the quarry and followed the road as it continued on around the top of the hill. We eventually cut through the woods to the top of the hill where I recognized some landmarks from my snowshoeing adventures. I had been concerned that Sheila might be cold as she has a short coat compared to Sheba but she seemed to be going strong. We headed down the hill toward the Quickway way slipping and sliding as an enthusiastic Sheila pulled me along. JUst before the lower woods road we usually use, we turned left and headed along the side of the hill to pick up the road further along. The road leads to a clearing that overlooks Exit 96. I took a peek and then decided to continue to follow the road which descends gently for some distance. As we walked it became clear that we would drop down into town behind a private residence. I decided to make a sharp left to head up the hill to the lookout over the two and then back to my house. The problem was that this area has many ledges and cliffs and the rest is very steep. We worked our way up to the top and Sheila and I followed Sheba who led us to the exact place I was headed. From there it was a short walk back down to the cemetery and back to the house. The dogs and I had a great time. I hope I can train Sheila to come when called so that I can take her on longer hikes without a leash.

On Wednesday, January 11th, I was planning on staying home to get some work done after a 9 mile adventure the day before. At about 9:00 AM Lisa, the owner of the local hiking store, called me to ask if I was going anywhere. I decided a short walk might no be so bad and suggested Kelly Hollow. This is a longer ride than Frick Pond of Trout Pond but is a little "newer". Lisa agreed and we met at her store at 10:00 AM. I drove to ward Downs Ville on Route 26 and then turned left top take Route 30 and the New York City roads to Millbrook Road. We had to wait for a city road crew to finish some work before we could make the turn. We parked at Kelly Hollow at around 10:45 PM. As we got ready to get on the trail I noticed a privy near the parking area that I had not seen before. This one was handicap accessible and was indeed new. As we headed into the woods, I decided to head out on the east branch of the loop and make the complete "circle" around the beaver pond and back on the west branch. We walked and talked keeping a good pace as we went. Lisa noticed some of the "features" that I ahd seen before and I pointed out others. I also spotted some things I had no seen before like interesting stone walls. There was a lot of accumulated ice in the stream but we initially resisted the impulse to work our way down to the streambed. The trail follows a woods road and rises continuously toward the pond. For a good part of the way it parallels the stream and, on the east branch, passes through sections of very tall pine trees. At one point we noticed some waterfalls and rapids below. These were above the bridge and were not ones that I had photographed last time. The bank was very steep so we walked a little further to a [point of land just above the last waterfall. Here a path led down to the falls and then continued precariously along the brook. I followed the path and stopped several times to take pictures. When I was done, Sheba and I climbed the VERY steep bank to get back to Lisa and continue on the main trail.

The trail takes some interesting twists and turns as it heads south and then west. As it heads west to the beaver pond it skirts a hill and heads northwest and then southwest to get around it. We arrived at the beaver pond and paused a moment by the leanto before walking to the shore of the pond. The pond was almost completely covered in ice with only a little open water near the beaver lodge. At the sore of the pond, I stopped to take some pictures of the pond and the lodge before continuing on around. We headed back toward the parking area on the west branch of the trail. The trail descends the whole way through mostly hardwood groves. It comes near the stream in several paces but the bank is steep and hard to negotiate. In one spot there was a huge ice flow covering the while trail but it was easy to avoid. As we neared the road, the cemetery came into view and we walked over to examine some of the markers. The last date on any stone was 2006. Many of the markers are very old dating back to the Civil War or before and many are simple slabs of stone. The simple markers that are engraved are getting harder to read as they have weathered over the years. After spend a few minutes at the cemetery, Lisa and I walked out to the road and back to the parking are. The 4 mile hike had taken 2 hours with plenty of time for side excursions and pictures.

On Tuesday, January 10th, I wanted to hike another 35 but I wanted the closest one I could find. I decided to check out Big Indian from Route 47 as had not been there since May 2007! The route is not one of my favorites as it is a long slog without any really good views. I thought I might include Fir in the hike but that depended on the weather and my hiking speed. The forecast was for cloudy skies in the morning with temperatures rising to almost 40 degrees and sunnier skies. I wasn't sure about the water crossing of Biscuit Brook but I knew the road was passable from previous trips. The problem with this water crossing is that you must hike about 2 miles to find out whether or not you can cross. I have turned back in the past when I felt the crossing might result in me getting wet. It is one of the few places where I wish the DEC would install a bridge! Sheba and I arrived at the trailhead at about 9:30 AM to find no other cars in the lot. We were ready to hike and started across the road almost immediately. The first part of the trail starts to the northeast but then quickly shift northwest and starts to climb 400 feet in .65 miles to the top of a ridge. From here the trail follows an old woods road along the Frost valley property line. The road parallels Biscuit Creek and I could hear the noise of the water in the creek making doubt whether or not we would be able to cross the stream. Over the next 1.5 miles we dropped about 130 feet to the water crossing at 2.1 miles.The water was not very high and some well placed rocks formed stepping stones across the stream. On our way to the water crossing we had found a few muddy places but the mud was mostly frozen. We had also crossed several small stream which had eroded there courses more deeply since the hurricanes last fall. The streams were partly frozen and the footing a little tricky. Just before the water crossing we passed the leanto but did not visit. The trail after the leanto was not marked and it took me a minute to recognize the correct path. I have noticed that many of the trails need a few new markers and have not been blazed in some time. After the water crossing, we walked between to parts of the creek until gaining the far bank.

For the next 1.5 miles the trail is always climbing with some areas being steeper than others. The trail initially continues to parallel the stream with some spectacular views down into the gorge cut by the water. Eventually it northwest away from the stream but continues to run into other, smaller streams. At one point the sun came out briefly and then went behind some increasingly thick clouds. The wind started to come up and I began to get hit in the face with icy pellets. This would let up and then start in again. We were finally at the last climb before the trail levels off. The trail here is narrow and sort of sidehills for a distance with a major switchback. The snow and ice increased and I( put on my Yak Xtremes since a slip would be nasty. We worked our way through the switchback to the plateau. I remembered that this was the area where I had turned west and headed off to Doubletop more than once. That hike is about 1.7 miles of difficult bushwhach! Once on the plateau I was going to take off my traction but decided that there was still enough snow to leave them on. We passed the 3500 foot sign and a cairn marking a path to the west that looked like it might go to Doubletop. Now all we had to do was find a path to the summit of Big Indian. I remembered that the best path was just after a rise in the trail and just before it started to drop. As we walked I saw several sets of footprints turning right off the trail toward the summit. I resisted the urge to follow and in less than .5 miles found a more pronounced path marked by a cairn. The .15 mile bushwhack to the top went quickly and the path led directly to the canister. It was just before noon and the skies were completely overcast. The wind was blowing and ice and snow wer falling. At this point I had to decide whether to return on the trail or strike out for Fir. The footprints I had been following headed off in the direction of Fir and seemed to be calling. The hike to Fir is along the Catskill Divide which separates the Delaware and Hudson watersheds. The hike can be relatively easy IF you stay on the divide and it adds only about 1.5 miles to the hike. The problem is that it is all bushwhack with a tricky descent on the other side. I reluctantly decided to come back another time when I was not pressed by an evening commitment. We turned around and followed our route back to the main trail. Once on the main trail we headed back the way we had come. On the icy descent I looked down to see that one chain on the Yaks was "broken". When I took the Yaks off after the descent, I found that the split link chain had...split. Later, at home, I made the repair but wondered if this design would result in further failures. The water cross on the way back were no problem and we kept up a good pace. We arrived back at the car at 2:1 PM having taken 4 hours and 40 minutes for the 9 mile hike.

On Satutrday, January 7th, I wanted to do a LONG hike but one that was mostly walking on trails without having to worry about ice flows and the like. I decided to head to the east of the Hudson and hike from the park in Beacon to the summits of both Mount Beacons and then along Scofield and Fishkill Ridges. This was a hike I had done before but I knew I could reverse it or throw in another wrinkle. I like hiking with by wife and asked her if she wanted top come along. I explained that there were some great views but cautioned that there were some steep climbs. Cindy agree and I immediately started to plan how to shorten the hike to 6 or 7 miles. I decided that the easiest way was to eliminate Fishkill Ridge which was not a big sacrifice since the views are much the same as from other places on the route. When we arrived at the parking area for the small park on Route 9D in Beacon we found it almost filled with cars. There weren't too many people around the lot so we assumed they must all be hiking somewhere. I knew that many people hike up to the site of the casino ruins on North Beacon and then return without going too much further. We set out soon after parking and I decided to leash Sheba at least until we could determine how many people and how many dogs were hiking. As w ear the steps, I pointed out to Cindy the tracks that still ran up the mountain to the area of the casino site. These racks are the remains of the Otis ELevated Railway that used donkey engines to haul passengers cars from the base of the mountain up to the casino. Next to the tracks are a set of metal steps that allow visitors to walk up to the first set of trails. This area is very steep and the dirt is unstable. The steps went quickly and we took a brief rest at the top before continuing. The steps end at about ,3 miles after gaining less than 200 feet. The roads and trails from that point continue the ascent of almost 1000 feet to the casino site. There are some switchbacks to cut into the steep ascent but it is still a 20% grade or more in most places.

On our way up to the top, we met several people coming down. A few seemed to be out for a walk but others were trail runners! All said "Hi" as they passed. We did encounter a few patches of ice with one more significant one near the top but we worked around all of them. We met one dog on the way down. I didn't stop at some of the informal paths that lead to viewpoints as I knew the view from the top was best. Soon we were at the last steep, short climb but I walked off the trail Ti the right and toward a red brick ruin. This is the remains of the building that housed the engines that pulled the passenger cars to the top. I walked up to the building and looked down to the bottom of the mountain. The tracks and cables are still visible. ALso, inside the shell of the building there is still some equipment. We took pictures from several angles although the bright sunlight did not make this easy. After we were done with the building, we walked over to the flat area where the casino was once located. There is very little to indicate anything was ever built here. I took pictures of a few of the foundations before turning my attention to the view from the completely open viewpoint. The river was a little hazy but the view seems to go on forever. We could look north and south on the river, as well as, some distance to the west. I took many pictures from several different spots but didn't think they would come out very well. There were three other hikers at the top but I couldn't tell whether they had hiked a loop, were going to hike a loop or were satisfied with the trip up from the parking area. After taking our pictures, we headed on the trail toward South Beacon Mountain and the fire tower. This is a wide woods road that is rocky but easy to follow. There was some ice and some muddy spots as we hiked. At one point we heard the roar of engines and looked up to see three ATVs headed our way. I was surprised since I thought the trails were for hiking only! They slowed down to pass us as they went out to the lookout. We continued the hike and were almost at the right turn toward the tower on the ridge when they ATVs were back headed in the same direction we were going! We never saw them again but we HEARD them almost the entire day. I won't say that they spoiled the hike but they added nothing to the experience!

After making the turn, I watched for the trail up to the tower as I remember getting a little turned around last time. Within about .25 miles there was a wide road on the right which headed to the top but no markings. I thought this was pro ably the road marked on the map and it was as good a way as any to go up. Two hikers coming down the road confirmed my suspicions. The road had some large expanses of bare rock and I thought this might be interesting when the snow and ice really hits! The distance to the top is only .2 miles and just before the summit we stopped at a nice lookout. I took some pictures of the tower up ahead and a few over to Scofield Ridge. The views in this direction were a little less hazy than toward the river. We arrived at the tower at the summit just before noon after hiking a little over 2 miles. We took pictures from the open rock and then I decided to climb the tower. As I started up the steps I ran into a chain locked across the access. I could easily have stepped over the chain but remembered that the view from the top was not much better than from the bottom. In addition, although I think the tower is safe, climbing it in a stiff breeze is...exciting. We didn't stay too long at the top as the meaning of wind chill was really evident. We retraced our path back to the main trail and turned right. We ran into a little trouble here as the trails are not well marked but we soon found our way to the yellow/white trail up to and across the ridge. Another blue trail also cut up to the ridge but it did not look "official" and seemed to cut off a few of the lookouts. I remember4edd the trail as relatively flat but I was WRONG! There are actually four separate ascents and descents. None of these are very long or hard but together can be a little tiring. There are a few viewpoints along the way and we stopped a few times to take pictures. I did remember that the hike along the ridge seemed to take longer than I thought it should.

By 1:20 PM we had hiked 4 miles are were at the descent off the ridge that would lead to Dozer Junction and the trail over Lambs Hill. We dropped about 300 feet in elevation over the next .4 miles, found the next trail and then gained about 300 feet back to the top of Lambs Hill. On the way up we passed througnDozer Junction and made a left right after the bulldozer to climb Lams Hill. At the very top of Lambs Hill there is a limited view. As we started down the other side of the hill a clear spot opened up without any trees to Bo the view. We could see Beacon laid out below and the bridge from Beacon to Newburgh on the other side. The views over the Hudson had cleared some since the morning. We could also see the Beacon Reservoir perched in the hills beyond us to the south. There was a short, steep descent down Lambs Hill to Ana Rea with nice stone walls and then another short ascent. From that point the trail drops almost 800 feet over .8 miles. It crosses the access road for the reservoir and then parallels a stream as it the stream works its way down the mountain. We caught up to another couple that allowed us to pass. The trail had no snow or ice but was narrow and very muddy in spots. At one point I spied the waterfall on the stream that is the outlet to the reservoir. I stopped at the base of the falls before crossing the stream and once on the other side to take pictures. Then falls was frozen in places with water running in other spots. As we descended the trail a young man carrying a mountain bike came up the trail. I thought this was strange as the trails are "hiking only". We continued to walk down to the point where we would have to cut up over a hill back to the parking area. Suddenly Cindy yelled "Watch out!" I turned around to find the mountain biker coming full speed down the path toward Sheba and myself. I do not know how he missed us! He was not supposed to be on this trail! He did not have a bell or any sounding device! He was not smart enough or considerate enough to even yell to announce his presence! I was glad we did not see him again as I felt a rather nasty discussion might have ensued.

When we hit the yellow trail, we turned left and started to climb again around the side of a hill. Next was short ascent followed by another descent. The trail was more clearly marked this time and I knew we were headed back to the top of the steps which led back to the parking area. The trail follows along the side of the mounatain and cannot descend due to the private property below. We made one final short climb to the trail that leads down to the steps and then walked down the steps and back to the car. We had covered 7.3 miles in just under 5 hours. The surprising fact was that we had climbed a total of 2580 feet! I was more tired than I thought I would be and Cindy and Sheba were also glad to be done. We headed north on Route 9D to Wappinger's Falls to meet Kurt and Aimee at the Café Maya for a Mexican supper!

On Thursday, January 5th, I wanted to hike another 35 but I wanted the closest one I could find. I also wanted a rather straightforward hike without any bushwhacking or "detours" as I had a commitment in the aftrenoon. I decide to check out Slide from Route 47 as had not been that way in some time. I wasn't sure about the water crossing but I knew the road was passable from previous trips. Sheba and I arrived at the trailhead at about 10:30 AM to find two other cars in the lot. I checked the water crossing and found the water level was low and that the water was mostly frozen. There was some ice is the parking area but no snow. We got started right away with the temperature hovering in the mid to high 20's. The forecast indicated this would rise but I knew that the temperatures at higher elevations are always lower. I had decided not to rush the ascent but keep a nice steady pace. We hit the woods road at the top of the first climb and had to avoid only a few icy spots to get there. Along the road to the right tune up Slide were a few more posts but they were no problem. Even after making the turn there were only small patches of ice but the snow slowly began to increase from a dusting to a consistent cover. I could see two sets of foot prints with one looking a little older than the other. As we started the steeper climb toward the 3500 foot level, the patches of ice and packed snow began to increase. I stopped to get a drink and noticed a hiker a little bit ahead of us. The hiker was also stopped and we continued up the slope until we met him. I said "hello" as we passed and noticed he was younger and that he was well equipped. Being somewhat competitive, I sped up a little so that we could stay ahead of him. The ice increased and I thought about putting on some traction. After 3500 feet the trees had a slight icy or frosty covering and there was a "breeze". Although hiking always keeps me warm. I was a little cool on this hike.

Somewhere along the way, the other hiker caught up and we started to hike together. He was from Connecticut and had never hiked Slide before. We walked at talked and he said he wanted to summit and then return by the Curtiss-Ormsbee Trail. We were soon at the junction and I pointed it out to him. We continued together to the lookout on the right side of the trail. Despite the cloudy conditions, Giant Ledge and Panther were clearly visible. We both took off our packs to get a drink and to take some pictures. At first I declined the offer of hot tea but then accepted. The warm tea was much appreciated as my water was VERY cold. We shouldered our packs and walked to the summit where I pointed out the remaining anchors for the old tower. We walked to the viewpoint and stopped for more pictures at about noon. The Ashokan Reservoir, Cornell and Wittenberg were visible through the trees. The lighting was interesting so I took some more pictures. I then suggested we go down toward the spring to see what viewpoints were open. We started down but ran into slippery conditions with packed snow and ice right near the top. I didn't want to put on traction only to have to take it off and knew the conditions down would be more challenging. We returned to the top and walked back on the trail together to the junction. It was getting a little colder as we parted company and Sheba and I headed down the main trail. We had not met any other hikers and I assumed the others had camped overnight somewhere. As I headed back down I met two different pairs of hikers at different points headed up. I made it down the iciest spots without any spikes and after that the trip was an easy one. We were back at the car just after 1:30 PM having Aiken just over hours for the 5.5 miles hike.

On Monday, January 2nd, Cindy and I decided to get in the first hike of the New Year before the bitter cold weather arrived on Tuesday. Dry Brook Ridge sounded like a good idea since it was about the right length and difficulty. In addition, the hike from Hill Road has a nice view at the end. We arrived at the Hill, Road trail head just before 10:30 AM and started hiking a few minutes later. When we left the car, the temperature was in the low 30's with a stiff breeze and very little sun. The trail up through the pines is a wide woods road and there was very little snow. The trees are red pine that were planted as a CCC project. They are very sty aright and very tall. As we hiked through the switchbacks, the wind began to pick up and was howling through the crown of the forest. Many of the trees were bending back and forth and creaking as they did. This was a little eerie and a little scary but we decided we would continue. The higher we went the more snow we encountered on the trail. The snow made the hike even more beautiful and never got deep enough to hinder our progress. By 11:30 AM we had climbed to the ridge and the trail flattened to the trail junction with the trails from Margaret Ville and German Hollow. At the trail junction we had hiked 2.3 miles and gained 1140 feet in elevation in 1 hour and 15 minutes. The sign pointing back to the Hill Road parking area gave the distance as 1.7 miles which is clearly wrong! We didn't stop at the junction but turned right to continue toward the lookouts. It was 11:45 AM.

As we made the turn, I noticed the sign that stated that Ploutz Road was 3.5 miles from the junction. This seemed too far to me until I realized the distance was being measured down to the parking area and not to the trail junction! Ploutz Road was the trail head I had tried on Saturday and found that it was not easily accessible, at least with my car. The actual distance to the lookouts is about a mile and gains anther 235 feet in elevation in several short climbs. The trail was now covered in snow and was icy in spots while other places were soft and muddy. The wind continued to pick up in intensity until it was constant with no gusts. We arrived at the lookouts at 12:25 PM. Cindy estimated the temperature to be in the LOW 20's and the wind was at least 30 mph. The result was that my hands when exposed to take pictures were very cold as was my face. We only spent a few minutes on the expose lookout. This was long enough for me to take a short video to record the noise of the wind and a few still shots. We retreated to what cover we could find in the brush to get a drink and some lunch before starting back. On the return trip to the trail junction. some of the short descents were pretty slick. We were at the junction by 1:05 PM where we got another drink before turning left and heading back to the car. On the way down I debated taking some pictures but was more interested in getting back to the car. The trip down went quickly and we were treated to the sound of the wind in the trees. We were back at the car just after 2:00 PM having covered 6.6 miles in 3 hours and 35 minutes.

On Saturday, December 31st, I was ready to get in the last hike of 2011. I decided to hike Dry Brook Ridge from Hill Road. I thought I might even do the whole Huckleberry Loop but thought better of it when I looked at my notes and found it to be at least 12 miles! I headed for Hill Road and was about to pass by Millbrook Road when I decide to check out the Ploutz Road trail head. This is a shorter hike and I thought I might get Kelly Hollow in as well. I was concerned about the condition of Ploutz Road but it looked pretty good as I made the left turn and headed up the road. The dirt road was wet and muddy but smooth without obstructions until the last farm on the road. After the "seasonal maintenance" sign the roads was rutted and eroded with rocks and branches. I went as far as the first culvert and then back all the way out. I felt it was too late to go to Hill Road so I drove to Kelly Hollow. When I arrived, there were already four cars parked in the small lot and I had to squeeze in so I didn't block anybody. After the teens and twenties on Thursday the 45 degree weather seemed particularly warm. It was just after 12:30 PM as Sheba and I headed to the left up the more eastern trail toward the beaver pond. I intended to hike up the trail to the "short loop" crossover. We would take the crossover to the other side but head up to the pond and then come back down the other side and take the crossover again to do sort of a figure 8 just to get some mileage. The trail crosses a small stream and then passed through a gate as it follows an old woods road. The road was wide without obstructions but it was very rocky and very wet. Within a short distance, Sheba saw two hikers coming toward us with their dogs. One dog was pulling at the leash and was ghenerally...energetic. The other dog was the second biggest dog I had ever seen out hiking. I asked the owner the breed and he said it was a "Leonberger". I later found that these are European mountain dogs bred to look like lions. They did a good job! After only .3 miles a road head down toward the stream. It was not the marked trail I was looking for but my new plan was to go down to the stream and bushwhack up toward the pond. I had seen some waterfalls and, as always, was intrigued.

When we got down to the stream bed, we found paths on both sides of the stream. I would have crossed to the other side but the water was a little wider and faster than I would like. I decided to walk up the near side. We walked along the stream and I took some pictures as we went. In some places the path was almost blocked by trees and debris but we found a way around in each case. At about .8 miles, I could see a class ahead and one on a small tributary to the the left. We walked across the stream which was smaller now and then over to the tributary. I took some shots before walking a little further upstream to make sure there were no more falls. We walked back to the main stream where there was a lower, smaller drop and an upper, higher drop. I took some pictures from below and then climbed the bank to take more shots from above. Shortly after this we found the new bridge across the stream that is part of the short loop. We took the trail up to the western branch of the maintrail and started southwest and then south toward the beaver pond. The trail gains some elevation as it goes and along the way we met four or five more hikers and two dogs. Soon we were at the beaver pond and I took a few pictures. The pond had a covering of ice at the outlet in but the inlet was open. One beaver lodge was on the opposite shore. There were main signs of beaver activity including many fresh-cut trees and new material added to the dam. As we rounded the pond, we heard some voices and met another group of people at the lean-to. We greeted each other and Sheba and I passed by. I had been told that the privy by the lean-to had been vandalized but it seemed in good shape! We headed down the trail toward the parking area looking for the crossover trail to make the figure 8. As we walked I noticed that despite the "hollow" in the name, there was quiet a nice view to the west of the hills beyond. On the right a hill or ridge rose from the trail. I decided to do some climbing for the extra exercise and the possibility of a view. We were only about 2 miles into the hike at this point.

Down low on the trail there was no snow but I could see some in the woods ahead as we climbed. I could see a grove of trees ahead and the sun angle seemed to indicate that we were almost at the top. Boy was I wrong! Every time we seemed to be at the top of the climb, the ground flatten briefly and then there was another hill or set of ledges in front of us. Some of the woods were open but we did push through some thick brush at times. I must say the Mammut wool top I wore handled the bushwhacking nicely without snags or pulls. We kept running into more snow but I really wanted to get to the top. As time wore on I decided to find out where we were headed and how far we still had to go. I got out the map, my compass and GPS. I found we were headed to Millbrook Ridge to a point with an elevation of about 3150 feet. The total distance was a little over a mile but the elevation gain was 1050 feet! We pushed on and soon were Ta the top of the ridge. I found what I thought I would find...nothing. There was nothing but a big boulder at what I though was the highest point around. The Higgins point on the ridge is about 1.2 miles to the west where it tops out at about 3460 feet. I had no desire to go there as I had hiked that area several times and the sun was now obscured by dark clouds. After a few pictures, a snack and a drink, Sheba and I headed back. At first I though Sheba was not following our path back since I did not see my footprints in the snow. After I admonished her, I found that she had simply chosen an easier and more direct route that headed in the right direction. She did this several more times as we made our way down the mountain. We ended up at ECXACTLY the same location where we had started up. The trip down seemed much faster than the trip up but was only shorter by about 8 minutes. Back on the main trail we turned right and headed back to the car. The trail crossed the stream again and then passed through several groves of large evergreen trees. Along the way we met four more hikers and their dog. I decided to head directly back to the car as the prediction of rain showers seemed to be coming true. We were back at the car 3:40 PM having covered 5.6 miles in 3 hours. As we left the parking area a light rain began to fall.

On Thursday, December 29thnd, I had planned to hike with Jim Kennard as he finished his Winter 35s on Kaaterskill High Peak. The plan was to meet at 9:00 AM at the Gillespie Road parking area and bushwhack over Roundtop and then to Kaaterskill to finish his winter list. When I woke up in the early morning, the thermometer was registering in the single digits and I started to find ways to convince myself not to go. In the end I decided to make the trip but leave Sheba at home. Sheba goes ALMOST everywhere with me on hikes but I felt that the weather might be a little too cold in this case. It was supposed to warm up during the day but I had a felling that it would not get out of the 20s on the mountain. Meeting someone at a specific time got me out of the house early and as I drove toward Frost Valley the temperature on my car thermometer began to slowly climb. As I drove up Route 214 from Phoenicia toward Hunter. it began to drop again! I was concerned about being able to get to the parking area s Gillespie Road is a dirt Road and not maintained during the winter. As I drove out Platte Clove Road and turned onto Clum Hill Road it was clear that there was less snow in this area than at home. I made the right onto Gillespie and found it almost clear of snow with only a few ice patches. The road WAS rough but I made it to the parking are to find two other cars neither of which were Jim's. Jim arrived shortly with Connie from Saugerties and Andy from New York City. After getting acquainted, we got hiking to stay warm since the temperature was back to single digits. We headed northeast on a woods road and then continued to bushwhack in that direction for a total of .6 miles and a gain of 450 feet to the snowmobile trail. Here we turned right and stayed on the trail for a short distance before again heading into the woods to the northeast and up for about .2 miles. Jim had a track recorded in his GPS that he wanted to follow so at this point we turned southeast to head toward Round Top and to stay on a ridge line. We stayed on the ridge to about .54 miles and then turned directly south toward Round Top. At this point our route got much steeper. I fell that I am able to pick a good line on bushwhacks but Connie was also able to choose a good line so we took turns. We had to work our way around and through some cliffs until, at 1.8 miles overall, we were at the highest point we could find on Round Top. It was 10:50 AM and we had gained about 1150 feet to an elevation of just under 3500 feet.

After taking some group pictures on Round Top Connie and I wanted to head directly southeast toward Kaaterskill as we had both done before. Jim wanted to follow the GPS track and some suggestions he had found on a website and it was his hike. We followed our rout back down heading north. Once we got to a flat spot, we decided not to drop any more elevation and headed around Round Top in a clockwise direction. As we came to a point just southeast of where we had been on the summit, we spotted the land bridge to Kaaterskill AND a set of footprints headed in that direction. We followed the bridge and the footprints down through some small ledges and into the col between the two peaks. After about .4 miles, we began to climb up Kaaterskill. At points this was a steep hike through ledges but it was pleasant as we knew we were nearing our goal. We hiked another .7 miles and gained about 450 feet until we hit the path to Hurricane Ledge where we turned left to the summit. We arrived at 12:40 in the clearing that marks the summit. We took pictures and then I decided to go to Hurricane Ledge which the others decided to forego. I headed off to the Ledges and had to skirt some substantial ice flows on the way. The views from the Ledges were nice and I took some pictures before heading back to the summit. The others ahd decided to head to east to find the lookout in that direction. I had tried this before and always found only limited views. I headed in their direction along a path and continued on as they were standing at one viewpoint. I followed the path to a point where it started to descend steeply and then walked toward what looked like an opening. I found a small viewpoint with excellent views to the east. There was only room for one person but the views were great. I took pictures and called for the others to come to the sound of my voice. We all had a look and then headed back to the summit. At this point we had to decided whether to bushwhack back the way we had come or descend the herd path to the north and head back on the snowmobile trail.

We decided on the descent to the north on the heard path but knew it had the potential to be very icy. We all put on our traction devices before heading down. The ice I remembered from a few weeks before was even more pronounced with many sections of the path looking like a river of ice. I had no problems getting traction with the Yak Xtremes on the ice but found some even better going in the snow alongside the path. After a few slips and slides we were on the snowmobile trail where we turned left to head back to the parking area. the ,5 miles descent drops almost 700 feet and averages over a 25% grade! The snowmobile trail is virtually flat but has many areas that are rutted and muddy from illegal ATV use! It was tricky to walk then next 1.8 miles avoiding these areas. This walk also seems long and has little in the way of vies. We were able to see a ridge to our left which was where we had been on the way out. Eventually the snowmobile trail turns to the left where another trail heads out to Cortina Valley. We made this turn and headed into the woods shortly after to bushwhack back to the car. We headed to the southwest for the next .6 miles finding our path from earlier in the day and dropping another 400 feet. We arrived back in the parking area at 4:10 PM having covered 6.7 miles in 7 hours and 15 minutes. The other cars were gone and we never saw any other hikers the whole day. Jim had a bottle of sparkling wine and we took some time to celebrate his accomplishment. Jim has now finished the 35s and the 35s in winter so the CHH list will be next. I look forward to hiking some of these with him and hooking up with Connie on some more adventures!

On Tuesday, December 27th, I was a little tired from the nearly 14 mile hike. I also had some chores to do around the house in the morning. I did not plan on hiking since I had planned to0 hike with Jim at least one of the next two days as he completed his winter 35's. When I got home at around 11:00 AM my sister-in-law and niece were at the house and wanted to go for a short hike. I normally am not enthusiastic about anything under 6 miles but this day was an exception. We decided to go to Frick Pond and hike around the back of the pond and visit the Mange falls afterward. We took both dogs. This was Sheila's first hike other than walls around the block and the hill near our house. 'We arrived at the parking area just before noon and started out toward Frick Pond on the Quick lake Trail. The trail was wet but SHeila was good about avoiding the deepest water. The only problem was that she wanted to sniff EVERYTHING. The Lab in her gives her a great nose and I had to keep "encouraging" her to come along. WHen she did decide to get going, it was all I could do to keep up with her as she ran using her long legs. We stopped briefly at the pond under graying and overcast skies. The boardwalks around the back of the pond were not as slippery as I thought they might be but I did not have poles as I was "managing" the puppy on a leash. At Times Square I voted to continue up the Big Rock Trail to the Flynn Trail. I outvoted 3 to 1 and we continued around the pond and back to the car. As we left the parking area to drive down to the pulloff for the falls, a little precipitation began to hit the windshield. We parked and walked down to the falls which ahd a good flow of water. I took some pictures as the rain increased. Working my way down to the streambed was tricky as there was a lot of ice and frozen spray on the rocks. We headed back to the car as more rain began to fall. A nice excursion for the day after a long adventure.

On Monday, December 26th, I decided to hike somewhere near home. Later in the week I was going to hike some 3500 foot peaks with my friend Jim Kinard who was finishing his Catskill 3500 winter peaks so a "flatter" hike with some distance would be fine. I needed to get some exercise after the calories I loaded on during the holiday weekend. I decided to go to the area of the Frick Pond and hike to Quick Lake. This was a hike that I had wanted to do for some time but every time I started it something seemed to get in the way. I waited around the house while for the weather to clear as the forecast was for partly sunny skies. At about 10:30 AM I decided that I would not wait any longer and I drove to Frick Pond. On the drive, the thermometer in my car showed that the temperature was dropping. By the time we parked it was about 10:15 AM the temperature was 30 degrees with a stiff breeze blowing. Some of the wind gusts were up to 20 miles per hour. As I left the car I was a little bit cold but I knew that I would warm up as I hiked. I almost turned back because the wind was making the trees creak but I decided to continue anyway. We hiked out The Quick Lake Trail to Frick Pond. The wind off the pond was even stronger at the outlet bridge and since I had taken pictures there so many times before, I decided to simply continue without stopping. The Quick Lake Trail has a lot of blow-down on it which totally blocks many areas. Hikers are beginning to alter the path of the trail to avoid these areas which should be cleared. We made good time to Iron Wheel Junction covering the first 1.5 miles in just over 30 minutes. We turned left to stay on the Quick Lake Trail and started up toward Junkyard Junction. Shortly after the turn onto the Quick Lake Trail we made another left on the snowmobile trail toward Quick Lake. I had decided to use a combination of the Quick Lake Trail and the snowmobile trail to get the most direct route to Quick Lake. I estimated that the total round trip distance would be between 13 and 15 miles and due to our late start I needed to minimize the distance.

The snowmobile trail gains almost 400 feet in a little more than a half mile before making a right turn and losing as much elevation in the next .7 miles. There nare several switchbacks in the trail but eventually we made it to Coyote Junction after passing over the highest spot on the hike at 2745 feet. At Coyote Junction the snowmobile trail meets the Quick Lake Trail. It was 12:00 PM and we had hiked about 4.4 miles. We took a left on the Quick Lake Trail and headed toward Bobcat Junction. My intention was to us both of the trails to take the quickest path to Quick Lake. The trail rises and falls some along the way until it arrives at Bobcat Junction. Since the Quick Lake Trail and the snowmobile trail diverge at these three junctions there is an opportunity to "loop" at each junction. At Bobcat Junction we continued straight ahead on the Quick Lake Trail as the snowmobile trail headed a little to the north. We headed toward Quick Lake and arrived at Flatrock Junction where the snowmobile trail turns left and makes a more direct route to the lake than the Quick Lake Trail which heads north first. in the mile from Bobcat to Flatrock we had dropped 235 feet in elevation. The map on the back of the NYNJTC maps that show the Frick Pond area are not topo maps and I had not realized the drop in elevation would be quite so dramatic and I was about to get another surprise. At Flatrock Junction we took a left and headed down toward Quick Lake on the snowmobile trail. As we descended the snow on the trail all but disappeared and soon Quick Lake came into view. The lake is pretty small and not very remarkable. It is very secluded and has a nice leanto on the shore. It was 12:50 PM and we had hiked 6.9 miles. From Flatrock Junction we had dropped another 400 feet.

We stopped for a few moments to get lunch and a drink and for me to take some pictures. As we got ready to leave, I was a little concerned about the time and the distance we had to hike to return to the car. If we had gotten an earlier start, I might have followed some of the loops in the trail but now I just wanted to make sure we were back before I had to test my headlamp! I have decided to take exactly the same route backsince I knew exactly where I was going and so did Sheba. It was simply a matter of following Sheba and my footprints in any areas where I might miss a turn. We tackled the 600 foot elevation gain without a problem and were soon on the ridge. On the way up I noticed Sheba looking off into the woods several times. I tried to see what she saw but it wasn't until the third time that I caught sight of two coyotes in the woods on some rock ledges. I knew that many wild animals see you and that you never see them but the sight certainly buried me along! By 2:00 PM we had passed through Coyote Junction and were back at the highest point of the hike about 9.6 miles into the hike. From here it is downhill for the next mile with a drop of over 300 feet. Unfortunately, there was one more hill to climb and over the next .7 miles we regained most of that 2300 feet! From that point it WAS all downhill to Junkyard Junction, Frick Pond and the parking area. Just before Junkyard Junction we met a solo hiker headed out as we were headed in. We said"Hello" but I did not ask where he was going. We arrived at the car at 3:40 PM covering 13.7 miles in 5 hours and 20 minutes for an average speed of around 3 mph! What surprised me was the up and down nature of the hike led to a total elevation gain of 2400 feet. As we left the parking area the skies were getting ever darker and some precipitation was hitting the windshield.

On Thursday, December 22nd, I wanted to hike another 35 but I wanted the closest one I could find. I was surprised when I looked at my grid to find Graham available. I had several projects that kept me busy in the morning so we didn't get to the trailhead until 11:55 AM. One other car from New Jersey was in the lot as we started the hike. I had dressed for the 46 degree weather in town but it seemed much cooler in the parking lot. I knew that as we hiked I would get warmer. The forecast had called for partly sunny and the sun had peaked through the complete overcast once on the drive up the Beaverkill Road. As we hiked it was overcast with some pretty dark clouds. I wondered if the forecast for a 20% chance of showers would come true. It took us less than 20 minutes to hike to the first trail junction. Instead of turning left up to Balsam Lake Mountain, we continued straight ahead on the woods road to climb Graham. I had not gone this way in some time and the elevation gain was slightly more than I remembered. By 12:40 we were at the turn onto the herd path for Graham which meant we had covered over 2 miles in 40 minutes! The herd path looked at first as if someone had cleared it but that was not the case. For the first 1.1 miles on this path the trail is level or drops until the climb up Graham starts. I knew the trail would be wet since we had rain the night before. The trail was VERY wet with running water in many places and pools of water and mud in others. There is always blowdown on the path as it is not a maintained trail. By 1:00 PM we had covered slightly over 3 miles to the base of Graham Mountain. From here the trail starts to climb. There are no rock scrambles and the climb is steeper in places than others but overall the hike is long but fairly easy. There were more and more icy patches the higher we got and an increasing number of areas of snow especially off the trail.

As we started up the final section of the trail two hikers approached from Graham. They had hiked Balsam Lake Mountain and then Graham. We talked briefly and they said they had gotten some views from the firetower earlier when there was some sun. We continued in opposite directions and the rest of the climb to the top went quickly. We passed by the lookout on the left and ran into some more ice and patches of packed snow. As we approached the top the brush closed in on the trail but soon we were on the summit. It was not quite 1:30 PM and we had covered 3.95 miles. I took a few pictures but the view is mostly blocked by brush and the sky was overcast. The tower was clearly visible. We got a drink and a snack and I noticed I was getting cold. I decided not to visit the lookout at the summit since it would be wet and not offer much in the way of views. We headed down the mountain stopping at the lookout on the way down to take a few shots. About .35 miles from the summit the path turns to the right. At this point I noticed that a path also leads to the left. I had never noticed this before so we walked down that path into a large clearing. It seemed that the path continued on the other side and there was a lot of open woods. We didn't have the time to explore on this day but I will go back to wander around this area in the future. By 2:25 PM we had hiked 5.9 miles and were back at the main trail. We turned left and hiked toward the parking area. At the junction with the trail up Balsam Lake I stopped to consider climbing that mountain also. I decided that it was late and the views would not be good. In addition, the sky was getting much darker and I did not want to get wet with cold rain. We kept a quick as we hiked back to the parking area although descending over the numerous rolling stones on the upper part of the trail was tricky. We were back at the car by 3:10 PM having covered 7.9 miles in 3 hours and 15 minutes.

Fall 2011

On Tuesday, December 20th, I decided to keep my string of December 3500 hikes going. I looked at my grid and thought about the Blacks. I decided that I had been there in late November and the drive was a little more than I wanted to do. Westkill was available and I had not been there for some time due to the various road closures. I got out of town around 8:10 AM which was my original plan. I had heard that Route 47 was now open through to Big Indian on Route 28 and I decided to find out. The DeBruce Road was covered with a light coating of snow and was slippery in spots. When I turned right on to Route 47, the sign stating that the road was closed was gone. As I drove along the damage was obvious from the rough places to the new pavement in spots. The river appeared to have changed its course in several places and a lot of debris remained in place. We passed the parking areas for Slide and Panther Mountains without much problem. As I rounded a turn just after the Panther parking area I started to see construction equipment and the I saw what they were repairing. The road had simply disappeared leaving at least a 40 foot gap in the road. There was a single-lane bridge constructed on I beams and some decking spanning the stream below. To get across the bridge requires driving down a steep little hill to it and then up the other side. I did not stop to take pictures but thought I might on the return trip. At this point I was still considering a longer hike to include Hunter or a side trip to Prattsville. One I reached Big Indian I went straight across the intersection and took the "back way" to Route 42 toward Spruceton. Just before the Notch there was still a sign indicating that the road was closed 9 miles ahead. I knew from other trip reports that I could at least get to the Spruceton Road so I drove around the sign. I stopped briefly at the falls at the Halcott parking area and then drove on. Just after the parking area I noticed that the guardrail was missing and that one of the small "ponds" on the right of the road was filled with dirt and rocks. When I looked to my left, I saw that the entire hillside had slid and blocked the road. I did not stop nut though about taking pictures on the way back. As I got closer to Spruceton, there were several crews till doing road repair. Several of the bridges on the Spruceton Road showed signs of damage and one ha been reaplaced with a temporary structure. There were several areas of very rough road. Many of the bridges over the Westkill had been destroyed and a few replaced. We arrived at the trailhead at about 9:45 AM and started to hike almost immediately.

We hiked the mile to Diamond Notch Falls rather quickly. I took a look at the falls and decided to walk down to the stream bed to get some pictures. Once in the streambed, I dropped my pack and got out the camera. The sun was just coming out and I was careful to try to avoid the direct light into the lens. The falls were frozen in places and it seemed that the flow ahd changed some since the last time I was there. The largest volume of water was now coming from the left side of the falls rather than the right. After a few shots, I realized there was another difference. I could not see the bridge across the top of the falls! Sheba and I hiked up to the main trail and walked to the "bridge". All I found was the approach on both side and NOTHING else. The bridge was completely gone as if it had never been there! I guessed that I should have paid more attention to trip reports and the NYNJTC website. I considered altering my plans to do Hunter instead but I really wanted to go to Westkill. We walked back down into the streambed and I spent the next 15 minutes throwing large rocks into the deep water. Sheba was looking at me from the opposite shore! I was able to cross without a problem except for the icy rocks. We climbed up the bank to the Devil's Path and headed up the trail toward Westkill. For me this peak always hikes "long" no matter the season. The trail was covered with a thin layer of snow which increased in depth with altitude. Some of this snow hid patches of ice. I thought I was going to be overdressed but the temperature was 28 degrees at the trailhead and dropped steadily with altitude despite the sun. Even so the exercise began to generate some heat so I took the time to open the pitzips and front zippers.

After the falls, the trail begins a continuous ascent for some time. At one point the trail clings to a sidehill which as pretty easy to hike this day but can be much harder when covered with some snow. The trail levels some and actually descends a little before a second ascent to the Buck Ridge Lookouts. Along the way there are several steep climbs. One in particular is almost vertical and is always covered in ice. I have bushwhack around this part of the trail many times but decided to go straight up this time. Sheba was ahead of me and almost all the way to the top when she decided to turn around and fly past me on the way down. Once I was up I got her to the top and we continued the hike. It crossed my mind that putting on the Xtremes I had in my pack would be a good idea. As we approached the rock shelter there were several areas of blowdown. Some I remembered from a previous hike and some were new. The blowdown is large enough to require a chainsaw and the DEC has not gotten around to it yet. Hikers are beginning to reroute the trail around these areas. We walked passed the rock shelter and the 3500 foot sign just above it. After this, we covered the flat area and slight descent just before the last climb to the lookouts. Soon we were at the lookouts amd I knew I could take some good photographs. I decided to hike to the summit and back before taking pictures. We accomplished this quickly and were soon back at Buck Ridge. It was 11:50 AM and we had hiked 3.2 miles.

The sun was peaking in and out from behind the clouds and I took pictures from one side of the lookout and then from the other. We got lunch and a drink before starting back. I decided at this point to don my Xtremes and a warmer pair of gloves. I also was getting cold so I zipped up before starting the descent. The Xtremes were a good idea and I was able to almost run over the ice. I could hear the points digging into the ice. I consciously avoided the bare rocks and roots looking for ice and packed snow. I waited until there was almost no snow or ice to remove the spikes and put them in my pack. Soon we were at the crossing for the Westkill. I walked up to the site of the bridge and took some pictures before hiking back to the car. It was 1:45 PM and we had covered 6.3 miles in just under 4 hours. I decided to drive back the way I had come. On the way back I stopped to take pictures of the bridges on the Westkill and of the slide on Route 42. On Route 47 I stopped to take pictures of the missing part of the road before heading home.

On Saturday, December 17th, Karl was free to go on a hike. I asked him where he wanted to go and he listed a number of peaks. I decided that it would be a good idea to hike Bearpen and Vly since I needed them for the month on December. Karl was at the house early in the morning but I had a few chores to do before we left. By 9:15 Am I was ready to go and we left Livingston Manor to head toward Fleischmanns. Although both the Peekamoose Road and Route 47 assed Frost Valley were open, I decided it would be easiest to go through Roscoe and take Route 30 around the Pepacton Reservoir. When we got to Route 28, I turned right and drove through MargaretVille and Arkville to get to Fleischmanns. Once in town, I turned left to head toward Halcott Center. I sometimes have trouble remembering the various turns but not this day. At the final Y I stayed to the right on ROute 3 and drove to the end of the paved road. We arrived at trailhead around 10:30 AM and parked in the snowplow turnaround where there was one other car. The car had a New Jersey license plate and an ADK sticker so we were pretty sure it was another hiker. I had been a little reluctant to hike these two mountains as they are heavily hunted and black powder season did not end for a few days. We started to hike up the road which is the beginning of the trail at about 10:35 AM. Our two dogs, Maggie and Sheba, seemed very glad to be out of the house. As we walked up the road, I realized that it was a little steeper than I thought. After about .85 miles and 20 minutes, we were at the hunter's shack in the col between the two mountains. We decided that Vly was a bit harder and turned right onto the herd path.

We could see the footprints of a solo hiker in the light snow as we followed the yellow and blue markers up the mountain. The paint markers used to mark the property boundaries before the state purchased both Bearpen and Vly. It was snowing lightly and this would continue for most of the day. There was some ice along the way which made several of the sections of the trail a little tricky. I had a pair of Yak Extremes with me and considered putting them in but decided to leave them for the trip down. We made our way through a few rock scrambles and reached the flatter section before the final climb. We continued to follow the footprints although I had done this before and found that not everyone knows where they are going! This section of the path becomes a little less distinct with several paths crossing the main Ione. As we hiked, we saw another hiker coming toward us. When we met, he introduced himself as Rockysummit from the ADK Forum and asked if I was Ralph. I am sure that he must have recognized Sheba! We talked for a few minutes and he said that the trail up ahead was not particularly icy. I did notice that he had his MicroSpikes on. Karl and I continued along and started up the final climb to Vly. We had talked for almost the entire hike as we walked along and I was surprised at how quickly we reached the flat part of the summit. We reached top and walked a short distance to the canister. It was 11:37 AM and we had covered about 1.65 miles.

I reached up and got the book out of the canister and signed our names. We had been working hard on the way up and I was sweating. I had opened my pitzips to vent some heat but now I was getting chilly. There was a slight wind blowing that made it a little bit cooler at the top. We decided not to stay very long. We walked out of the small boulder that serves as a lookout but the view was blocked by the trees and the fog on the peaks. In addition, the rock was covered in ice. I decided not to jump up on it to take pictures and we headed back to the canister. We decided not to stay any longer but did get a drink and a snack before heading down the mountain. I considered putting my spikes on to make the trip down but decided I would try the descent without them. The trip down actually went very quickly although there were a few slips and slides. We made it down the mountain by 12:25 PM after covering about 2.45 miles. When we reached the hunting shack, we went straight across and started on the woods road that leads to the summit of Bearpen. Actually it is a series of roads and snowmobile that can be confusing. We were still following Rockysummit's steps most of the way. The first part of the trail is flat but then we made a left turn where the road quickly gets steeper. The trail continues to follows mostly woods roads and the hike is much easier than it was in the past. There are also some snowmobile trails that cut through some of the worst parts of the brush and briars. Again we talked as we hiked and time passed quickly. There was some snow on the trail but nothing very deep as we approached the final climb to the summit. Along the way we again met Rockysummit. After a brief conversation, we went our separate ways.

We continued to follow the footprints and at one point I noticed that we had turned on a slightly different path than I had taken before. I decided that we would continue to follow his footsteps and soon we were on the woods road that leads directly to the summit. As we walked along, we could see down into the valley and it seemed that the fog had cleared. When we finally did reach the first lookout it was 1:15 PM and we had hiked about 4 miles. The fog had closed in again obscuring all of the landmarks to the north. I did take some pictures but it was hard to see anything distinctly. The Schoharie Reservoir was visible as were the outlines of Huntersfield and Richmond. I wanted to walk over to the next lookout to show Karl the old rope tow for the ski area. Here again most of the views were blocked. I did take some pictures of some of the interesting trees at the summit. We got lunch and then decided that we would turn around and start back and following the same path. The hike back went very quickly and we managed to avoid all the icy spots. We arrived back oat the shack in the Col at 2:00 PM about 5.5 miles into the hike. We turned right down the road and hiked the .85 miles back to the car. The hike back to the car seemed to go very quickly and we arrived in the parking area at 2:20 PM. We completed the 6.4 mile hike in about three hours and 45 min. Although the forecast was for temperatures high 30s, I don't think that they ever were above freezing for the entire day.

On Wednesday, December 14th I wanted to again hike some of the Catskill 3500 foot peaks. The weather forecast for Thursday was poor so I decided to head for Peekamoose and Table and hike them from the Sundown-West Shokan Road. When I got to Sundown just before 9:00 AM, there was no sign warning that the road was closed. I knew that it was supposed to be repaired and took this as a good sign. As I drove toward the trailhead, there were only a few rough spots in the road. We arrived at the parking area just before 9:00 AM and got hiking almost immediately. The temperature still seemed cold and it did not occur to me that this was because the trailhead is shaded and by the river. At the start of the hike the trail gains elevation almost immediately and between the exertion and the sun starting to hit the trail I got warm quickly. After a short distance I stopped briefly to open the pitzips and neck zippers on my jacket and tops. The first part of the trail looked like late fall with only a light coating of snow or frost on the leaves. We walked up the woods about .8 miles until the trail turned right away from the road. A little further along there were several large trees blown down across the trail. Someone had cut a notch in the low tree and left the chuck cut out as a step. The trail continues to gain elevation and at several different places there are steeper rock outcrops to negotiate. After 1.5 miles, we stopped so that I could remove a layer of clothing before I was completely soaked in sweat. I decided that since the wind was not blowing, I would take off my Mammut hoodie and hike in my long sleeved Icebreaker GT200 Chase. This was good choiceand I never put the jacket on again! At 2.2 miles we arrived at Reconnointer Rock and stopped to take some pictures. This rock is a glacial erratic precariously balanced on other rocks. I took some pictures with and without Sheba before moving on.

We had been making good time but there always seems to be a change in conditions after Reconnointer Rock and this day was no exception. We began to run into around 6 inches of snow and quite a bit of ice on the trail. The snow was packed down by previous hikers and the ice in most spots could be avoided. At about 3.0 miles we reached the flat plateau before the final climb up Peekamosoe. Just at the to of this climb is a nice lookout to the east. Despite some haze the views were good and I stopped to take pictures. The sun was now out from behind the clouds and it seemed warm even though there was quite a bit of snow and ice on the trail. We continued toward the summit without stopping at some of the other viewpoints which are not as open as the first. From the viewpoints to the summit is about .8 miles with a gain of 350 feet. The first part is flatter with a steeper ascent as you approach the summit. On the steeper part we met two young men coming down. They had spent the night at the lean-to and were headed back down. They aid there was snow and ice between the peaks but nothing too bad. I still had not put on any traction device out of pure stubbornness. We said goodbye to the two descending hikers and headed toward the summit. Soon we were at the large rock that marks the summit. It was 11:15 AM and we had covered 3.75 miles. We stopped to take some pictures and then headed for table.

The distance between the summits of the two mountains is less than a mile and the drop into the col is just over 200 feet. I was feeling good and never gave a second thought to heading for Table. There was a lot of snow going down Peekamoose and several steep and slippery parts. I don't like putting on the spikes since they WILL stop you short as you descend and I like to slide down. When we started to ascend Table, I found most of the snow had melted as it was exposed to the sun. There were some icy patches on the steeper ascent to the flat summit of Table. Once on the top we continued to walk through the highest point and down the other side. Sheba gave me an "Are you are look?" but I wanted to go to the lookout on the left side of the trail just as it starts down toward the lean-to. This lookout is to the south and west and has completely different viewsthan the one before the Peekamosse summit. When we got to the rock that makes up the viewpoint, I found it covered in ice and snow. I took pictures but was sure to watch my footing as I did so. It was still sunny but not so much so that in ruined the shots. After taking pictures we got a drink and ate lunch before starting back. It was just before noon and we had hiked 4.6 miles. The trip back went quickly as we descended Table and climbed through the col to Peekamoose. Somewhere along the way I checked my GPS and found it turned off. I turned it back on an waited for it to go off again suspecting a malfunction. The unit continued to function properly which led me to believe the malfunction was mine. As we passed the rock at the summit I noticed footprints and a trail to the left. I had not seen this on the way up. We walked out to another viewpoint that someone had obviously cut out. It offered a very nice view to the east and north. None of the cuts looked new so I was surprised I could not remember being here before. I have mixed feelings about these "new" viewpoints that are springing up. They certainly allow better views from the peaks but they are NOT natural. After visiting the viewpoint and taking pictures, we headed back to the main trail and down Peekamoose. As we started to descend I finally decided to put on my Yak Xtremes to handles the ice and packed snow. They really did make a difference and allowed me to hike much more quickly than without them. I did have to remember to step ON the snow and ice and not on therocks and dirt! I finally took them off just after Reconnoiter Rock. We continued to set a fast pace back down the mountain. This is a longer hike than I remember but we were back t the car by 2:15 PM covering 9.1 miles in just over 5 hours.

On Monday, December 12th I got up early as I planned to hike Peekamoose and Table. The temperature was 14 degrees and I knew I would have to wait a bit since numbers that low are hard on Sheba's feet! Around 7:15 AM, as we were getting ready to leave, the ambulance pager sent me to the school. I got back home just after 9:00 AM which was, I felt, a little late to start on two 3500 foot peaks. I decided instead to go somewhere that had a view since the sun was out and the skies clear despite the 20 degree temperatures. After I twisted here arm Cindy agreed that Sams Point near Ellenville was a nice place to visit. By the time we finished some errands, it was after 11:00 AM and the temperature had crept to near 30 degrees. We arrived at the Conservation Center at about 12:00 PM. I have to say that the numerous signs posted around the Center seemed unfriendly and almost hostile. I know that many people probably violate the rules but we don't. One sign told us that we would be locked in if we did not leave by 5:00 PM. Another told us that the Ice Caves and Greater Ice Caves were closed. Despite the closings, the parking fee was still $10. There was no one at the Center to ask about a yearly pass and the fee payment was on the "honor system". A sign by the book warned about the consequences of not paying! By 12:15 PM we were headed up the loop road to Sams Point. The road was very icy and Cindy decided to don her Stabilicers which she wore for the rest of the hike. This was a good decision. We stopped at the lookout below Sams Point and I took some pictures. There was some haze hanging over the valley but several of the pictures had an interesting quality. I was warm despite the cool temperatures and decided to take off my outer layer and stow it in the pack. We walked up the main trail and decided to go out to Sams Point even though the view from there isn't too different than the one from below. I too some more shots before we headed back to the loop road. After a short walk, we turned right on the road down to the ice caves and then left on the trail to the falls. This trail had obviously been traveled but was sill icy in places. We passed through the scrub pine and low shrubs. At different points we could see nice views to the east of Lake Awosting, Castle Point and Hamilton Point.

In a little less than an hour we had hiked 1,8 miles. At this point we passed through an area where there still was some snow. The snow on the high grasses and the twisted dwarf pines was beautiful. I took some pictures before we crossed the outlet stream from Lake Maratanza and headed on toward the falls. This walk is always a little longer than I remember but was made more exciting this time by the numerous patches of ice and several areas where water had accumulated on the trail! At one point we looked up to see a man and a woman headed toward us. I asked them how the falls was and they replied that they hadn't made it that far. I told them it was less than a mile and was worth the walk but they decided to leave it for another time. Cindy and I continued on working our way down the last rocky section of trail to the falls. As we approached I was surprised that I did not hear a louder roar from the falls which I expected to have the kind of volume I had found two days before at Minnewaska. I took the little side trail out to the viewpoint on the near side and dropped my pack to take pictures. It was almost 2:00 PM and we had walked 3 miles. One glance at the falls left me a little disappointed. The water flow was adequate but no where near the volume of Awosting Falls. As I was stetting up to take a few photographs, the couple that had turned around showed up. They had changed their minds and hiked to the falls. I hoped that they would not be disappointed. I finished taking my pictures and went to find Cindy.

Cindy was waiting by the stream as she had decided not to come down to the viewpoint. Since the other hikers had crossed with only one fall, we decided to go over to the other side. Crossing above the falls was no problem and soon we were at the viewpoint on the other side. I got out something to drink and our lunch. As we were eating, I took some shots of the falls and the surrounding cliffs. There was a rather nice rainbow near the bottom of the falls but it was much more impressive in person than on the photographs. Cindy and I discussed our next move and agreed that we could make it around the entire escarpment loop but did not want to have to race back as we have done before. We decided to head back the way we came with a possible loop around Maratanza or a side trip to Indian Rock. We stayed at the falls for about 15 minutes and then headed back the way we had come. On the trip back we talked and walked and time passed quickly. By 3:10 PM we had hiked 4.8 miles and were back at the road. We decided we would walk back to the car as it was growing late and our hike ahd been very enjoyable. As we walked back, the sun disappeared behind some clouds and the temperature dropped noticeably. We were back at the car by 3:40 PM having covered 6 miles in 3 hours and 20 minutes.

On Saturday, December 10th I knew that I wanted to do a LONG hike. I had been thinking of hiking over Acra Point and then the Blacks but had recently been there. Table and Peekamoose seemed like a good idea but Karl wants to hike there soon. I also was not thrilled with the hassle of carrying snowshoes and another traction device as I was not sure what conditions would be like at the summits. I decided that I would go to Minnewaska and do some long loop around Awosting and Minnewaska and maybe even out to Gertrude's Nose. I roughly calculated about 15 miles which would suit me just fine. As we left the house the sun was coming out and there was a slight wind. The weather forecast was for the temperature to rise into the low 40's at Monnweska and I was prepared with lighter gloves and hat in the pack. We arrived at the gatehouse and I paid the $8 fee and another $5 for a new map. I didn't need the map but I collect maps and the money support the park. The attendant informed me that the Lower Awosting Carriageway was still closed as the causeway that was washed out during Irene and Lee was still a gaping hole. She said I could get on the Mossy Glen Trail so I didn't see a problem in changing my route a little. Sheba and I started out on the carriageway just after a pack of trail runners. They went down the carriageway and we turned left almost immediately onto the Mossy Glen Trail. At the beginning of the trail was a sign that stated that the bridge over the Peter's Kill was out. This was something the attendant had failed to mention! I decided that we would hike the trail which parallels the carriageway and take a look at crossing without the bridge. There was only a sprinkling of snow on the trail and in the woods but it was still cold. We hiked for abut .6 miles until we were at the site of the former bridge. NOTHING was left of the bridge which had been swept cleanly away. In addition, the Peter's Kill was too high to cross. One of the reason's I had come to Minnewaska was to see what the falls looked like after the rain of the previous week and now that rain was working against us. We walked back up to the top of the hill and out to the carriageway. After a little more than a mile of uphill walking, we came to the spot where the Huckleberry Run Trail leaves the carriageway. The beginning of this trail also had a sign indicating the bridge was out. We walked down to find almost exactly the same situation son the Mossy Glen Trail. It was as if the bridge had never existed. At this point there were only two choices. We could turn around and walk back to the car and start gain on the Upper Carriageway or we could continue and see if we could ford the stream at the site of the destroyed causeway. I decided on the later and in another mile we were at the causeway. This was truly an impressive site as there is a gaping hole about 40 feet wide where the earthen causeway used to be. The source of the destruction, the Peter's Kill, lies placidly below. We walked to the right of the causeway and down to the stream. It was fairly easy to cross on some rocks and get to the other side. Climbing the snow-covered bank was a little harder but soon we were at the top. I stopped to take some pictures before moving on. It was clear that the amount of snow was directly dependent on the exposure with the south of things being clear and the north side covered with snow.

Just on the other side of the causeway is a turn to the left for the Long Path. My plan was to cut across to the Upper Carriageway and pass by Rainbow Falls. This falls is impressive but only after a good rainfall so this was a good time to go there. Since the bridges were out on the other two trails, this was the next best choice.We turned and walked down to the streamside so that I could take some pictures of the breach in the causeway from that side. We went back to the Long Path and started to walk through the brush and then up an exposed rock face gaining a little elevation as we went. The rock appeared wet and I was trying to be careful when my feet went out from under me and I took hard fall. The "wet" was actually some VERY slick ice on the rock. I picked myself up and, not having the good sense to turn around, continued up the Long Path. Once again I carefully approached an area that looked wet, and once again I fell. I knew it couldn't happen three times Ina row and I could here the stream just ahead. Fortunately I did not fall again but unfortunately the Peters Kill flowing out of Lake Awosting was a raging torrent. The water was deep, moving swiftly and spears out over an large area. We turned around and managed NOT to fall on the way back to the carriageway. We did meet tow trail runners and we spoke briefly as I warned that about what was ahead. They decided to see for themselves. Back of the carriageway Sheba and I climbed the short hill to the shores of the lake. At this point I had to decide what route to take. My original plan was to take the trail on the other side of the lake so that we could visit Murray Hill, Margaret Cliffs, the Wolf's Jaw and the Tunnel. After slipping and falling, I decided staying on the carriageways and off the open rock faces was the best idea. We turned right and started to head around the lake when the two trail runners appeared. They, too, had decided to play it safe and we parted ways as they ran ahead. As we started around the lake the sun was high in the sky and the lake was blue and beautiful. Near the far end of the lake we stopped so that I could get some pictures. Two women ran by conforming that this was definitely the day for trail running! I was around 11:00 AM and we were 4.7 miles into our hike.

As we contineud around the lake, the loop trail was shadowed from the sun and the Surat's became icy and covered in snow. Recently, I had walked around the lake and had been surprised by how far it was so I was prepared for the long walk. We stopped several times on peninsulas that stick out into the lake. From these vantage points IZ was able to take pictures up and down the lake and of the cliffs at The Battlements and Castle Point. Soon we were at the beach on the other side of the lake. I was dreading this moment as the beach is a rocky slab that is often covered with layers of ice. On this day there was almost no ice and we made it across without mishap. We continued to walk around the lake and I got a few shots from high up. When the loop trail intersected the yellow Hamilton Point Carriageway, I decide to forgo the lookouts to the left and turned right to head toward Castle Point. Soon the impressive cliffs loomed before us. We walked out to a lookout where I took some photographs of Lake Awosting. The best pictures from this viewpoint however were of the cliffs. At the junction with the Castle Point Carriageway we turned left and headed up to the Battlements. I usually turn right and then take the steep section of the Long Path up to Castle Point but this was not a good day to that route! We passed under massive, overhanging structures that I had not seen for some time as I had taken the other route. Soon we rounded the switchback and were on top of the cliffs with some nice views toward the lake, the cliffs below and the Catskills to the north. The rocks there were covered in ice and the trail was much the same. I took pictures but knew the best views were from castle Point just beyond. In a few minutes we were at Castle Point and I dropped my pack to get a snack and a drink. I took many pictures before putting the camera away and starting down the carriageway toward Lake Minnewaska. It was about 12:30 Pm and we had hiked 7.8 miles already. My feet were beginning to get irritated at the heel and on the ball of the foot. Winter always seemed to do this and I have to remember to tape my feet and use liner socks!

We walked along the carriageway and I looked for other spots to take photos. There were some but the views were not too different than from Castle Point and I just didn't see the need to stop at every gap in the trees. As we approached Kempton Ledge I decided to stop and take some pictures of the Palmaghatt Ravine and the cliffs on the other side. I also took some shots of Patterson's Pellet,, a large glacial erratic on the other side of the ravine. I had already decided that a trip to Gertrude's Nose would be too far. The possibility of an icy path also helped make this decision easier. The new plan was to hike to Minnewaska and then down the Sunset Carriageway to Awosting Falls and then to the car. I decided to take the time to tape my feet as the sun was shining on the ledge. This was a little aggravating but proved to be the decision as it improved my mood greatly. We continued our walk toward the lake and made only one stop. An open field was covered in snow and gave a great views of the mountains to the north. When we got to the loop trail around the lake, we turned left and then walked down to the beach. From the beach I took pictures down the lake. I also took some shots of the cliffs and the cliff house on the other side. The sun was at an angle that flooded one side with light while the other was in shadow. We walked up the loop trail and started down the Sunset Carriageway at about 2:00 PM 11.4 miles into the hike. The walk down to the Peters Kill went quickly and we turned right to head to the bottom of the falls. I was tempted to stop and take pictures of the stream and the upper part of the falls but knew that better things awaited below. When we arrived at the base of the falls, there was more water going over the falls than I had ever seen before. There was also a fence across the rest of the trail since much of that trail no longer existed! I took many pictures of the falls from different angles before I was able top drag myself away. Sheba and I walked back up the trail to the gatehouse and then out the road to the far parking field where the car was waiting. It was 2:35 PM and we had covered 13 miles in 5 hours and 20 minutes. My GPS calculated a moving average of 3 mph and an overall of 2.5 mph. My feet were happy to be back in the car!

On Thursday, December 8th we woke up to find that the prediction of 6 to 10 inches of snow resulted in about 4 inches of rather wet snow at our house. Since the roads had been warm, they were mostly clear. I decided not to press my luck since the forecast for the northern Catskills was for more snow and I didn't know how much had fallen there. I knew the recent rains would have made the creeks high and the waterfalls beautiful so the Trout Pond loop with Russell Brook Falls was a natural choice. Cindy decided to go with us and we headed out just after 9:20 AM. The road s were good until Morton Hill Road which did not look like it had been plowed more than once. We parked in a few inches of snow t the top of Russell Brook Road to start our hike at about 9:45 AM. The snow on the trees was SO BEUATIFUL we been took some pictures from the parking lot! As we walked down Russell Brook Road, I knew I was going to have trouble keeping the camera in my pack for any length of time! All the way down the road we could hear Russell Brook and, as we approached the upper falls it got even louder. I wasn't going to go down the bank to the area above the falls since it looked slippery but I carefully worked my way down the the vantage point opposite the cascading water, I took many pictures before working my way back up the bank. We walked down to the parking lot and found one pickup truck there. We took more pictures and then headed down the trail to the bridge and the lower falls. I worked my way down the short but steep path to the stream bed. I again took many shots of the falls and surroundings covered in snow. I have seen the falls with a greater volume but this water was clear. Back on the main trail, we met a hunter walking back from the pond. He asked "Do you have a gun?" I wasn't sure how to respond but said I did not. He told us he had seen a bear and that we should be careful. I thanked him and continued up the trail. I didn't want to tell him how many bears I had seen on the trails and how many bears had probably seen me!

The scenery up to the pond continued to be beautiful although the woods road itself was rather wet in places. As we approached the pond, the wind began to pickup and I zipped up some of the layers that I had unzipped to dump heat. At the outlet end of the pond we stopped to take some pictures. The sky was bright in some places and covered with dark clouds in others. This made for some interesting effects as the light kept changing. The trail from the outlet to the leantos had several large puddles that we had to negotiate around. Ruts from the state pickups that had been used to install the new bridge didn't help. Several places along the trail we noticed paths in the snow perpendicular to the trail. It seems the beavers are still active as I found a tree with some signs of teeth marks at the end of one of the Se paths. We stopped at the inlet where I took some pictures and Cindy had a bite to eat at the leanto. We crossed the new bridge to find a stream on the other side! This seemed to be a "branch" of the stream that flows under the bridge. There was also water flowing down the trail. We started up the trail to Cherry Ridge and encountered low hanging branches all along the route. I led the way and tapped most of the branches to remove the snow at which point they snapped up to clear the trail. More than once I was a little close and was hit my the snow. Working our way up and over the ridge proved tiring. On the other side of the highest point the trail was again obstructed by standing and flowing water. It was odd to see so much water surrounded by the snow. In this area the direction of the snowfall was evident as the north sides of the trees were covered and the south sides ahd almost no snow. We finally made it down to the woods road that heads back to the area of the falls. There was water on this road in many places and I was surprised to find that there were still many low hanging branches. Going downhill was a little easier than going up and we were soon back at the trail junction. From there we walked back to the lower parking and up the road to the car. The sun was still peeking in and out from behind the clouds and the temperature was in the mid to high 30's. It was 12:45 PM and we had taken about 3 hours to cover the 5.1 mile route.

On Monday, December 5th I wanted to hike off some of the calories I had taken in over the weekend. Hiking burns the calories and it also removes me from sources of food. I wanted to go to the Blackheads again to hike over Acra Point and then up to Blackhead. I then could decide how much further I wanted to go. My list for December is wide open so hitting three peaks was attractive even though I had been in the area last month. I got up early and was on schedule to leave at 6:00 AM when the ambulance pager went off and I was headed out the door on a call. My the time I got back I had decided that I did not have enough time to be able to drive two hours to the Blackhead Range. This didn't bother me too much as the skies were completely overcast and I was interested in taking pictures on the hike. I thought about peaks WITHOUT great views. Immediately Eagle and Balsam came to mind! These are two of my least favorite peaks especially Eagle with a long walk to a flat summit with no view. I decided to head o Rider Hollow since the Segar trail head is fine for Eagle but makes Balsam a long walk. In addition, I remembered that the Segar trail crosses and recrosses Shandaken Brook and I did not want to deal it. I REALLY hate water crossings even small ones and will do almost anything to get out of them, I headed to Route 30 around the Paepacton Reservoir and made a right on the Millbrook Road. I drove all the way to the end and turned left on Dry Brook Road, right on Todd Mountain Road and then right again on Rider Hollow Road. These roads still showed the damage from Hurricanes Irene and Lee especially the Rider Hollow Road. We arrived in the parking area at 9:30 AM to find no other cars. The temperature had risen on the drive and it was already in the low 40's. I removed my midlayer and We immediately hit the trail.

We walked along the trail as it paralleled the brook and within a short distance there was...a water crossing. It all came back to me that this trail was as bad as the Segar Trail in this aspect. The streams were high from recent rains but we found a spot where someone had placed several logs across. As I stepped on the logs they became submerged in the stream but I made it across, Sheba took a little dip and was soon on the other side. We walked along the trail until...the trail disappeared. It took me a minute to understand that the stream had simply cut a new channel and obliterated the trail! The best option, although not a great one, was to sidehill along the left bank to get around the most eroded area. The loose dirt and slippery leaves made this an adventure! We picked up the trail on the other side and I noticed a "no camping" sign on a tree that was now in the middle of the widened stream channel. When we came to the trail junction between the Rider Hollow and Mine Hollow Trails, we stayed to the right on the red Rider Hollow Trail. I thought we might come back by way of the other trail. At least the water crossing here had a bridge. This odd bridge has a steel frame and the wooden decking had recently been replaced. We walked up the trail to the lento. The trail is more eroded and rockier than ever. Just passed the leanto, I lost the trail again on the right bank of the stream. A path seemed to follow the right bank but I saw no blazes. I finally picked up the blazes...on the other side of the wide stream. I was able to find a fallen tree to get me across and SHeba ahd no problem making it to the other side. The trail on the other side follows a woods road and begins to gain elevation as it moves away from the main stream. On the way to the col between Eagle and Balsam, we made four more stream crossings but these were easy. At about 1.23 miles into the hike, the trail becomes steeper and remains that way to the col gaining 750 feet in .7 miles. We were at the col by 10:30 AM.

When we reached the blue Pine Hill-West Branch Trail we turned right and headed for Eagle. There is another ascent over the next .7 miles which gains around 400 feet to the top of Haynes Mountain. Haynes tops out at just less than 3500 feet and once at the top the tail descends before climbing Eagle. The weather was now sunny at times and then the sun would hide behind some clouds. There was a slight breeze and overall the hiking was enjoyable. Some volunteers had worked on the trail in this area over the summer and fall and it showed as the trail was wide and easy to walk. As we started to descend Haynes, I looked ahead to see Eagle, It looked high. Once in the col we started up Eagle. The climb is more of a walk with no rock scrambles and a rather gentle ascent. Over .7 miles the elevation gain is about 340 feet. The highest point on Eagle is not on the trail and usually I don't really care. There is a well-defined path with a cairn on the flat part of the trail near the summit and we turned to the right on this path. After a short walk, we found a larger cairn which someone had erected presumably to mark the summit. I thought I could see higher ground slightly north and west so we headed off in that direction. When I could see no higher ground, I resalable course back to the cairn. I took some pictures and I broke out lunch even though it was still before noon. We walked back out to the main trail and started back to the col. We arrived at the trail junction at 12:30 PM with 6.3 miles already hiked.

From the Col the summit of Balsam is only .7 miles with a gain of 560 feet in elevation. Here, again, there are no rock scrambles but there area few interesting ascent through some ledges. This part went quickly and the only problem was that I forgot that the viewpoint is on the other side of the summit as you begin your descent. We stopped at the viewpoint and I took some pictures before going back to the main trail. The trail now descends over 700 feet in the next .7 miles to the junction with the yellow Mine Hollow Trail. Several switchbacks along the way make the slope seem less steep. We turned left on the yellow Mine Hollow Trail and continued going down dropping another 750 feet over .9 miles. The trail follows a wide woods road down to and then along the brook. Near the bridge, the trail again disappeared into the stream. We bushwhack over some blowdown and side-hilled briefly before ZI decided to cross the creek. This was fairly easy at this point as we picked up the red Rider Hollow Trail on the other side and crossed the bride. Of course, we still had to deal with the "missing" part of the trail and the final water crossing. By 2:30 PM we were back at the car having covered 9.7 miles in under 5 hours. On the way back I decided to take the Dry Brook Road into Arkville and pick up Route 28. This was a BAD decision as the bridge is still out. I backtracked to Todd Mountain Road and used that to get to Route 28.

On Thursday, December 1st I was in the mood to bag another 3500 foot peak...or two. When I looked at my grid, December was nearly bare so I decided to go to Tannersville and hike Indian Head and Twin. I had thoughts of including Sugarloaf in the hike but I knew that probably wouldn't happen. I had just done Sugarloaf in November and I had some things to take care of at home. I did get started a little earlier this time and decided to take the route I had taken previously through Grand Gorge. It turns out that this is a nice alternative but it is further and takes longer than other routes. We arrived at the Prediger Road trail head just before 9:30 AM to find only one car. The temperature was in the mid 30's and a slight wind was blowing. It wasn't long before we were on the trail and I started to warm up. I have never liked the trail to Jimmy Dolan Notch but this time it didn't seem to bad. It IS rough and eroded with many roots to step around and over on the lower part. There was a lot of standing water but the stream crossing was easy. The mud in many places was frozen and there were opportunities to walk around the worst sections. It seemed that we were soon on the steeper section which has many more rocks and requires some care. The problem was the ice on the rocks! This ice was not the friable kind that crunches under foot. This was hard ice that varied from a spot here and there to large sheets. I was careful not to repeat my performance from Sugarloaf several weeks earlier. This ice was to be avoided. Any type of traction device would be useless as the ice patches were so spotty. The trail did not have a lot of blowdown and soon we were on the flat portion of the trail just before the notch. We arrived at the notch at 10:30 AM. This meant we had hiked 2 miles in about and hour with a gain of 1100 feet! I was felling great but had to make some choices. I decided to head up Indian Head first and then Twin. This is the way I almost always go but it left open the possibility of doing Sugarloaf after Twin.

We turned left and started up the Devil's Path to Indian Head. The climb up Indian Head mixes some flatter spots with a few steeper areas. There was some water on the lower areas and then ice. In one spot a scramble up and over some rocks was covered in ice and looked a little too hard to negotiate. I decided to look for a way around. We bushwhacked to the right of the rock and found a way up and around the ice. After this point we walked to the rock that most consider the summit and then passed it until we started to go down. At this point, we turned around and started back just before 11:00 AM. The return to the Col went faster than I expected and we were soon headed up Twin. The wind was still blowing but the sun was out. I had expected to find little or no ice on the approach to Twin but the trail swings to the north. The exposure meant there was some ice. I always seem to remember the glorious view from Twin but not the ascent. Climbing up to the first lookout is a workout with some nasty little climbs. Many of these have workarounds but several were icy. One little ledge proved to be particularly challenging but I made it without a problem. We stopped at the lookout to Indian Head and I took some pictures. Back on the trail we climbed the last section and walked to the open rock face that forms the lookout from the east peak of Twin. This is one of the nicest spots in the Catskills. The sun was in the south where I wanted to photograph but it was almost noon and it was high in the sky. The wind was still blowing and I was getting a little cool. I took some shots and then we headed for the western peak which is the higher of the two.

To get to the higher peak there is a descent to a col and then a longer ascent up the other side. At one point I caught glimpse of the western peak and thought it looked pretty high. Actually the distance between the two peaks is only .6 miles with a drop of 100 feet and a gain of 155 ft. We arrived at the western peak at 12:05 PM about 3.9 miles into the hike. I took some pictures and we had some water as I looked over at Sugarloaf and decided it would wait for another day! We had a snack before heading back. Again, going down was easier than I thought it might be and we were approaching Jimmy Dolan Notch when I heard voices. Two young men from Connecticut were relaxing at the Notch. They had parked at Spruceton and taken a cab to Prediger Road. They wanted to hike the Devil's path from end to end with an overnight stay. Unfortunately, they had come up to Jimmy Dolan Notch on the BLUE trail. This meant they had missed the start of the Devil's Path and the summit of Indian Head. I left them mulling over what they should do next. Even though I dislike the hike to this notch, the trip back was downhill and we were able to avoid most of the ice. The ground was still frozen which kept the mud under control. We kept a good pace back to the parking area and I thought about taking a trip to Kaaterskill Falls to take pictures. Along the way we met only one other hiker. We were back at the car by 1:55 PM having covered the 6.8 mile trek in 4 hours and 20 minutes. I was ready to return home and I am sure Kaaterskill Falls will be there the next time I visit.

On Monday, November 28th the skies were overcast and there was a hint of mist in the air. The good news was that the temperature was almost 60 degrees. As I was about to leave for Frick Pond an ambulance call came in and by the time I returned it was about 10:15 AM. I decided to head up to Frick Pond since it is close and I knew I could finish before I had to be at school to time basketball games. Sheba and I arrived at the parking area just before 11:00 Am to find two pickup trucks already parked. I thought that it was likely that the belonged to hunters so I knew we would have to be careful. By 11:00 AM we were crossing the road and heading up the Flynn Trail. The last time I was hiking at Frick Pond it was October and I was on snowshoes! This day I was wearing a short sleeved shirt and was still sweating as we climbed the 1.7 miles on the Flynn Trail to the junction with the Big Rock Trail. I checked my GPS ant this point and found we were averaging over 3 mph. It was then that I decided to see how fast we could finish without stopping but without jogging! I decided to head out the woods road that goes to the old boy scout camp and then cut down the hill and around the back of Hodge Pond. On the other side of the pond we picked up the Flynn Trail again and headed toward Junkyard Junction. The Flynn Trail in this area is almost flat but that means it is usually wet and on this day there was plenty of water and black mud. At Junkyard I thought about extending the hike out toward Quick Lake but decided to stick to my plan. We turned right and headed down the Quick Lake Trail toward Frick Pond. At some point I looked up to see a hunter sitting by the side of the trail. We said a brief "Hello" and I continued on. After a short distance, there was another hunter on the left side of the trail. As we approached Wagon Wheel Junction, the was another hunter sitting on the right side of the trail. This hunter told me that some others were "driving" toward us. I excused myself and Sheba and I hurried to the trail junction where we turned right. This section of the Quick Lake trail is in poor shape. There are many trees blocking the trail and forcing hikers to make new trails around them. In addition, there are few markers along the way. Soon SHeba and I were approaching Frick Pond and then we were headed back to the car. We arrived back in the parking lot at 12:59 PM. We had covered 6.45 miles in 1 hour and 58 minutes with a total stopped time of 1 minute!

On Saturday, November 26th Karl wanted to hike and he was able to bring Bryce along with him. Having the 8 month old grandson along is fun but it means a shorter hike since he and his carrier now weigh right around 30 pounds! By the time Karl arrived and we decide to go it was 10:00 AM. The weather was beautiful and I wanted to go somewhere with a view and where we would not be interfering with too many hunters. Giant Ledge certainly fit the bill but Route 47 that goes to Frost Valley still had a ROAD CLOSED sign. We decided to try it anyway since the breech in the road seemed to be passed the parking area on the hairpin turn. We took two cars since 3 adults, 2 dogs, Bryce and his "equipment" were too much for one vehicle! When we made the left turn from Pole Road onto Route 47, it was the first time I had been on the road since Hurricanes Irene and Lee. As we drove along the road it was obvious that the Neversink had destroyed the road in several places. It was also obvious that the road crews had done a great job of reconstructing it so quickly. In some places it was not the river but small tributaries that did the damage. We drove passed Frost Valley without a problem. There were no cars at the Biscuit Brook parking area but there were about eight at Slide Mountain. The road down from Winisook showed the damage from the storm but was entirely passable. We arrived at the parking are at 11;30 AM to find a couple cars. Getting ready to go with Bryce takes a few minutes extra but we were hiking across the road by 11:40 AM.

The bridge across the stream right after the register box is still missing. Several large steel I-beams were lying on the ground ready to form the support for a new bridge. The stream was easy to cross and we made our way up the trail. Bryce was having a great time as was everybody else. Maggie, Karl's dog, doesn't get out as much as she would like and Sheba seemed pleased to be away ROM the new puppy. Within half a mile I stopped to take off my jacket and hat. For the rest of the hike I wore just a light long sleeved Mammut shirt. Although Giant Ledge is not a 3500 foot peek it is on the CHH list and the hike is short but not easy. There are several short ascents with flatter areas in between. We were keeping up a good pace and made the trail junction by 12:10 PM. As we made the left turn to head up to Giant Ledge we met two people coming back from the ledges. The rest of the hike to the ledges went quickly with a few muddy areas to avoid and a few climbs along the way. By the time we got to the last climb, Karl was beginning to feel the weight on his back. We hit the top of the climb and relaxed a little as we approached the first viewpoint. There were three hikers there enjoying the view. They had come up from Brooklyn to hike Slide but decided on Giant Ledge instead. I took some pictures from the viewpoint of the Burroughs Range, Panther Mountain, the hills beyond and the valley below. The shots were pretty good but despite the sunny day and blue sky there is a certain bleakness to the landscape.

I decide to walk a little further to some of the other lookouts while Karl and Cindy relaxed and fed Bryce. Sheba and I hit several more of the viewpoints and I took some more shots. Each lookout has as lightly different angle on the scenery but after a while the view isn't all that different. I returned to the rest of the family and paused to get a drink. Two hikers coming back from Panther walked passed us but seemed very confused about where the trail went. It almost seemed to me that they didn't know about the blazes that mark the trail! Soon we were headed back down. Even before we got to the first descent we met several groups of hikers headed up on this beautiful day. We passed the group of three on the way down the first steep descent and as we continued down Bryce began to cry. He stopped at the bottom which made us speculate that he was a little scared of the steep descent. From that point on it we just continued at a comfortable pace back to the trail junction and then to the parking area. We met several groups along the way. Even when we got to the car there were two people walking up the road from the direction of Oliveria. It was about 2:00 Pm and we all thought it a little late to start up to Giant Ledge. We finished the 3.3 mile hike in just under 2.5 hours and had great fun doing it.

On Friday, November 25th I was in the mood to bag another 3500 foot peak after the Thanksgiving holiday and a large Thanksgiving meal. I wanted to do Kaaterskill from Palenville butwas not sure whether or not Route 23 was closed. Rather than driving there to find I would have to drive back, I decided to climb the peak from Platte Clove.I thought I got up early enough but didn't leave town until after 8:15 AM. I CANNOT convince myself that the road closures and longer route require an earlier start. I am beginning to think that this is simply me not wanting to get up earlier and I guess I am OK with that. I made pretty good time driving and we were at the parking area just before 9:35 AM. There were no other cars in the lot but the gate was open. There are a couple of private inholdings in this area and I was concerned about hunters. I don't like to disturb others in the pursuit of hat they like to do but I felt that if we stayed on the trails we would be OK. We started hiking right away be walking up the dirt road. I was surprised to find some dry spots on the road! This road and trail are always wet even when it is dry elsewhere! The stream to the right of the trail was swollen with water from the recent rains and I could hear the water flowing over the rocks. I walked up the bank that lines the road and looked down at the stream. I could see some small falls and rapids and made a note to investigate at some time. The walk on the road was not unpleasant and I was already getting warm by the time we reached the yellow trail to Huckleberry Point. We had hiked a mile and gained 500 feet. I took off my midlayer but again kept on the orange jacket. The road continues passed this point but eventually turns into more of a trail. As we gained elevation the trail became drier but there were still areas of running water where the trail looked more like a stream bed. There were also some muddy places and spots where there was standing water. All of these were easily avoided and we where moving along very nicely.

At about 2 miles into the hike the water began to show up in earnest. At 2.25 miles we passed the cairn that marks the bushwhack up to the snowmobile trail that runs around the base of the peak. For a moment I though about taking the path and using the snowmobile trail to pick up the path to the summit from the south. I had never used that approach and really wanted to try it. I decided not to bushwhack since it was hunting season and I had found it difficult to follow the path last time I used it. From this point the trail actually flattens some and descends. This allows water to accumulate and we went through almost half a mile of ponds and streams on the trail! Some of these areas were deep with no way to get through them so we found ways around them which looked as if they had been used by others. This section of the trail is over a mile long and seemed longer and very tedious. At about 3.3 miles the hiking trail continued straight ahead toward the waterfalls and Poet's Ledge. We turned left and walked up the snowmobile trail to the loop trail around the peak. After a short climb to the loop trail, we turned right on the loop, walked a short distance and turned left on the herd path that leads up to the peak. Technically, Kaaterskill is a trailless peak since there is no maintained or blazed trail to the summit. The herd path is very clear in most places although more than once I had to rely on Sheba to stay on it. As we made the turn, we were on the north side of the peak and the mountain blocked the sun. It did seem colder here and there was some snow and ice on the rocks. I climbed carefully as I had made up my mind to take it easy and stay in one piece.

The path to the top is less than half a mile but it took us over 40 minutes to climb it. It IS steep in places but what really slowed us down was the snow and ice. Sheba, of course, had no problems but there were places where I almost turned back. One section required a steep little scramble over some rocks and then a walk along a narrow, snow-covered ledge! Just after this the trail leveled out some and the snow cover abated. There were a few more little climbs but soon we were at the summit. It was 11:55 AM and we had taken an hour and 10 minutes to hike the 4 miles. Since the summit has no view, we continued on to Hurricane Ledge which has a great view! It is only about .25 miles to the ledges but always seems longer to me. I dropped my pack and got out the camera. Unfortunately, due to my late start, it was hard to get good pictures of the Devil's Path to the south. The sun was high in the sky but was a little too bright. We walked around the various different ledges and I took a few shots from each as they have different views. It was warm in the sun and the wasn't a hint of any snow. We stayed around for some time as I took photographs and we got a drink and snack. I was not looking forward to the trip back but by 12:15 Pm we were on the way back to the summit and down the other side. I tried to find a viewpoint OT the north but there were none worth stopping to take pictures. I descended across the little ledge slipping and sliding along! At that point I decided to don my Yak XTRs to get down the next section. They worked well and I chose a line that was more snow on dirt than rock. At the bottom of that short section I took them off and carried them briefly before towing them in the pack. There was more ice and snow ahead but I made it down without mishap. At the bottom of the path we made the right onto the loop and then a left down the snowmobile trail to the Long Path.

The hike back seemed to go quickly despite the need to again walk around the water. In a few places I simply used stepping stones and walked through. I still felt fresh and knew the hike would be about 8 miles. I wanted more! By 2:00 PM we were back at the trail to Huckleberry Point after completing about 7.3 miles. I decided to hike out to Huckleberry Point to get the view and to add some miles. I remembered that the hike seemed long for 1.4 miles but that it was mostly flat with a "roll" or two. I was right on the first count and dead wrong on the second. This trail started out relatively flat and then began to roll up and down. The trail was also wet in places and muddy in others. As we neared the end of the trail I heard voices and a few hikers showed up and then a few more. I assumed they were with a club or group hike and we talked briefly. We continued in our separate directions and SHeba and I were soon at the viewpoint. Again, the sun was in the wrong spot for pictures but I managed to get a few good shots. As we got ready to start back, I remembered the group and decided that I would challenge myself to catch them. Sheba and I started off at a breathtaking pace and with half a mile we caught up to them. I struck up a conversation with two of the hikers and found that they were 11 members of a family. They were gathered in Delmar for the holidays and decided to come down to the Catskills to hike! I walked along with the group for a while and talked to them about other places to hike and some of the interesting attractions. When we reached the main trail again, they waited for the group and SHeba and I struck off on our own. I wanted to get back to Livingston Manor to go to Morgan Outdoors so Sheba and I hurried down the trail to the car. We arrived back at 3:35 PM having taken just under 6 hours to hike 11 miles!

On Monday, November 22nd I was in the mood to bag another 3500 foot peak after a long weekend off. I decided to go to the Big Hollow Valley and hike Windham since I had not done that approach very many times. I thought that I might hike over Acra Point and Burnt Knob on the way to Windham but was willing to wait until I arrived to make that decision. As has been the case lately, I got a late start and did not leave town until about 8:45 Am. Somehow I always forget that it was always a long ride to the northern Catskills and is now even longer due to the remaining road closures. When I got to Margaret Ville, I decided to take Route 30 north to Grand Gorge rather than once again go through Phoenicia. My plan was to take Route 23 to Route 23C and head over toward Maplecrest. In Grand Gorge I picked up Route 23 and headed toward Prattsville. As I approached the town, I saw that the road had been recently patched and that the bed of the Schohaire Creek was much wider and had numerous areas filled with debris. As I drive into Prattsville, the destruction that I had heard about became obvious. Words and even pictures can not adequately describe the destruction in the town. One building looked intact until I realized it was sitting on the ground NEXt to its foundation. Other homes and businesses were obviously destroyed. There were no lawns to speak of only patches of dirt. The buildings that survived like the post office are constructed of stone. Many buildings have red X's to mark them for demolition. I drove through slowly out of awe and respect. On the other side of town Route 23 makes a left hand turn while Route 23A to Hunter continues straight ahead. Route 23 was closed at this point due to a missing bridge so I continued into Hunter on Route 23A and then turned north on Route 296. At the four corners I turned right on Route 23C and then made a left on Maplecrest Road. I drove out the Big Hollow Valley on a road that still showed signs of the flooding. By the time I parked at the Batavia Kill parking area it was nearing 11:00 Am. There were several other cars in the lot and I wondered how many were hiking and how many were hunting. I could hear the creek and it sounded loud. ZI remembered that the water crossing can be difficult. I decided that I would hike up the Black Dome Trail to the Escarpment Trail and turn left. This would take us over Burnt Knob and then to Windham. The round trip to the car would still be over 7 miles. I though that I might still do Acra Point on the way back if I had time. As we started out the temperature was about 37 degrees but the skies were partly sunny with a light breeze. The forecast was for sunnier skies as the day went on and I felt strong and ready to hike.

We walked own the road to the beginning of the Black Dome Trail and crossed the Batavia Kill on a new bridge. The crossing of the next stream does not have a bridge but the water level was low and we had no problem. The first part of the trail is somewhat flat and it was wet and very muddy. As we gained elevation the trail dried out and the biggest problem was a think carpet of slippery oak leaves! The trail was clear of any blowdown and we made good time. On our way up the trail, we met one hiker headed back toward the parking area. We hit the Escarpment Trail after about a mile of hiking at 11:20 AM. I stopped to take off my midlayer leaving only my baselayer and light softshell on. I considered taking off the jacket but it was the only orange thing I had on! We made the turn and began the climb up Burnt Knob. The climb is only about .35 miles but it does gain 260 feet. There are a few rocks to climb through and in places the trail is barely cut into the side of the hill. Part way up the trail makes an almost 170 degree turn and then continues on up to the flatter part near the viewpoint. Cindy and I tried to negotiate this part of snowshoes one winter and found out the difference "mountain" snowshoes can make. I had my new pair of MSR Lightning Ascents while Cindy had a pair of Tubs meant to stay on flat or rolling terrain. We turned back that day and I ordered her a pair of more aggressive shoes. Sheba and I stopped at the viewpoint and I took a few shots. Since I had gotten such a late start the sun was almost directly above the Blacks just to the south. The position of the sun made taking pictures very difficult. We got back on the trail and headed across Burnt Knob and down the other side. The walk across Burnt Knob is almost .5 miles and then there is a descent to a nice lookout at about 2 miles into the hike. We stopped and I took a few pictures. There was a lot of hazed and low clouds in the distance to the north and I knew that a clear view of Albany was out of the question on this day. The conditions in the northwest were a little better and I took a few more pictures before we got back on the trail. From this point the trail rolls up and down enough to make me think that the summit is near. This happens two or three times. From the viewpoint the trail skirts a hill and descends more than 100 feet on the other side only to climb again. I don't like to DESCEND when I am trying to CLIMB a mountain!

At about 3.1 miles the final climb up Windham starts. There are no really steep places but there are a few rocks to climb over and around. About two-thirds of the way up I looked ahead to see a hiker and his dog coming our way, I recognized the dog and THEN the hiker. Shiloh was out for a hike and brought Bill along. We talked briefly before continuing in our opposite directions which made both of our dogs happy. By 12:50 PM we had made the 400 foot climb over about .5 miles to the viewpoint. We continued on passing through the summit to the viewpoint that looks south to the Blacks. The light conditioned were still not optimal but the sun ha disappeared behind the clouds so I took some shots. I did notice that contrary to the forecast the skies were growing more cloudy NOT more sunny! Back on the main trail we stopped at another viewpoint facing north before continuing back to the open rock face that makes up the best viewpoint on Windham We stopped so that I could take some photographs and to get a drink and a snack. It was 1:00 PM and we were 3.85 miles into the hike. I began to think that hiking over Acra Point would have to wait but decided to wait until we were back at the trail junction to finalize that decision. On the way back we simply hiked at a steady, fast pace and did not stop. We arrived back at the trail junction by 2:20 PM after hiking 6.3 miles. I wasn't sure exactly of the distance of the loop over Acra Point. I though about hiking the .7 miles up to the viewpoint and then returning. In the end, I decided to turn right and head back to the car. It was cloudy and the sun was in the west. Both of these factors would make taking good pictures from the viewpoint impossible. I also was not too keen on hiking with a headlamp should the distance prove longer than I thought. On the way back down we met one more hiker just before the stream crossings. We were back at the car at 2:50 PM having covered 7.4 miles in just under 4 hours.

On Thursday, November 17th I was itching to get out after three days of rain and work and a weekend of work coming up. I wanted to go back to Plateau and "bag" the mountain I had missed TWICE on the weekend. I decided to do it from the Notch Lake approach which is one of the steepest climbs around. I had to do some chores in the morning so I got a later start but the skies were supposed to clear by late morning so I thought I would be OK. I again had to take the route through Margaretville and Phoenicia due to the ongoing road closures and repairs. As I drove, I though about bagging Indian Head after Plateau but knew that I would have a hard time motivating myself to do it. We arrived at he parking area to find no other cars and were on the trail by 10:40 AM. After the first 2. miles the entire hike to the Plateau lookout and the plateau is all up. There are a few switchbacks but they don't do much to help. There isn't much of a view on the way up except in two or three areas where there are slides and I was committed to making the fastest possible time up to the lookout. Sheba and I set a fast pace and I only stopped once to open up the zippers on my tops to vent some heat. There wasn't much of a breeze and the skies did not seem to be clearing. We made the lookout by 11:30 AM which meant we spent 50 minutes hiking 1.2 miles with a 1700 foot elevation gain! I had hoped for a little faster time but the climb is not easy. We stopped for a minute to get a drink and I took some pictures from the lookout. We got back on the trail and headed along the plateau which is very flat. IN around 5 minutes we were at the next lookout where I took some more shots. Katterskill High Peak and Round Top are visible from this spot but the skies were still cloudy and everything had a haze over it. The trail was a little muddy as we walked toward the summit. My intent was to walk passed the Warner Creek Trail and over the summit to the viewpoint toward Sugarloaf. From here we would turn around and retrace our route.

After walking about 1.5 miles from the lookout, we came to the Warner Creek Trail on the right. One sign said "Mount Tremper Fire Tower 10.4 miles". I decided this might an interesting car shuttle at some point since the trail head for Mount Tremper is just outside Phoenicia! We passed the turn off and continued about .5 miles to the highest point on the trail and another .1 miles to the lookout.The last part is a short descent and it was very wet with some large pools of standing water. We arrived at the lookout about 12:30 PM and 3.3 miles into the hike. The viewpoint was a little disappointing since the skies had not changed. We got a drink and a snack. I took a few pictures and we left. On the way back I noticed the temperature seemed colder and that a few snowflakes were falling. On the way back we simply hiked as fast as we could. Sheba was full of energy often charging ahead so that I had to call her back. When we got o the lookout, we did not bushwhack around the rock scrambled but jumped down. From there we hurried down the steep descent just because there isn't much to see. I was in no real hurry but a quick descent seemed to be the best amusement. A few times my right knee let me know that I should be careful about my foot placement but otherwise the descent seemed to go quickly. We crossed the road and were back at the car by 2:30 PM having covered 6.6 miles in 3 hours and 45 minutes. It was too late to start for Indian Head and I was glad as I didn't think I had it in me.'

On Sunday, November 13th I wanted to go back to Plateau and "bag" the mountain I had not done the day before. I decided to do it from the Notch Lake approach which is one of the steepest climbs around. I asked Cindy if she would like to go almost without thinking and she responded "Yes" in the same way. Cindy really doesn't like climbs so I don't know what either of us was thinking! We got going as soon after church as possible but due to the road closures we did not arrive until 12:40 PM. The hike started innocently enough as we crossed the road and started up. The problem is that after the first 2. miles the entire hike to the Plateau lookout and the plateau is all up. There are a few switchbacks but they don't do much to help. There isn't much of a view on the way up except in two or three areas where there are slides. We met one other hiker on the way up as he was coming down. Our going was very slow and I knew we were probably not going to get to do the loop using the Warner Creek trail. I had wanted to do the loop as my right knee was still painful from the beating it took the day before. About two-thirds of the way up I asked Cindy if she would like to go back but she insisted on at least getting to the top. The wind was picking up as we ascended and it was looking like a storm might be blowing in early. We finally reached the area just below the lookout just before 2:00 PM. We took some pictures in the protected area there and then bushwhacked around the lookout to get to the top. The wind was howling with gust up to 40 mph and it was cold. I took some pictures from the viewpoint and many had a dark, ominous feeling to them. We decided to go back down which, at this point, was the only choice! A young couple was headed up as we started down. They didn't seem to know much about the route and we helped them out. The loose rock and slippery leaves made descending on the steep return "exciting". We were being "chased" by the other couple and I think neither of us wanted them to pass. We were back at the car at 3:00 PM having taken 2 hours and 15 minutes to cover the 2.4 miles. This meant we took about a hour and 15 minutes up and 45 minutes down. We climbed over 100 feet in the 1.2 mile ascent with an average grade of 30% and grades approaching 40% in spots. Back at the lake I took some pictures of the lake and the dam. There was evidence of recent beaver activity but no sign of the beavers or their lodge. I vowed to return and defeat Plateau!

On Saturday, November 12th I was ready to hike some more 35's and after looking at my grid chose Sugarloaf and Plateau. My plan was to park at Roaring Kill and hike up the eastern side of Sugarloaf. After hiking over the summit and down the western slope to Mink Hollow, I could decide whether or not I wanted to try Plateau. The weather report was for temperatures in the 50's with partly cloudy skies. I, as usual, delayed my start since it was so foggy at home. I started out at about 8:30 Am and remembered that I would have to again take the long way around. So it was Roscoe to Downsville to Margaretville and the Route 28 all the way to Phoenicia. The main Route 30 bridge in Margretville had been repaired but work was still being down all along Route 28. Heading north through Chichester on Route 214 there was a lot of road work including several places where the road was down to one lane. By 9:50 AM I was at the trailhead with a few other cars. Sheba and I were on the trail by (;55 AM and set out at a good pace. The first part of the trail to Pecoy Notch was muddy but mostly frozen. At about 10:10 AM we had hiked the 1 mile to the viewpoint to Kaaterskill High Peak. We stopped so that I could take some shots of KHP and Roundtop. I also took pictures of the Catskill Community and the rest of the valley. Sheba sat on one of the stone chairs and I took some photographs of her and the stonework before continuing. I knew that the beaver pond was not too far along and we arrived there at 10:45 Am about 1.5 miles into the hike. There was evidence the beavers had been at work recently. I stopped to get some pictures. It was difficult to get pictures of the whole pond and impossible to shoot Twin because of the position of the sun. I did get some nice photographs of Sugarloaf before attempting to cross the area below the dam. Since the dam had been reinforced, the stream below it had little water and crossing was easy. We continued on our way and arrived at the notch at 11:05 Am. Getting there was a little difficult as the upper part of the trail had some major blowdowns to negotiate. The trees across the trail all but obliterated it in spots and it was difficult to find trail markers. The trail will probably have to be rerouted and remarked since these are very large trees. At the notch we met a lone hiker who is the volunteer trail maintainer for part of the trail on Sugarloaf. He is from Ravena and had come down to continue is work clearing the trail. I thanked him and we made a right turn on the Devil's Path to continue up to the summit.

After making the turn, we began to encounter a thin layer of snow and ice on the rocks. This is due partly to elevation but also to the fact that the trail at this point has a northern exposure. As I was hiking along, I was thinking of other things and was not paying attention to the trail. I slipped, bumped my right knew and as I tried to right myself slipped again and managed to hit my forehead on a rock. The "blow" was just a tap but could have been much worse. This was not to be my last mishap on the day. Sugarloaf is one of the mountains that I always underestimate despite my checkered history on its slopes. I always think of it as a relatively easy hike and it is until the turn on the Devil's Path. After that turn, the next .5 miles average a 26% grade with some places being nearly vertical. Sheba was scampering ahead of me and doing a good jib in most places of showing me a good line. As we climbed I though back to the previous winter when we had done this route out and back on snowshoes. We were breaking trail in 3 feet of snow which seems almost impossible! At around 11:20 AM we made it to a lookout toward Twin and I took pictures through the trees of the mountain and the talus slope on the western side. At this point some hikers from Hudson Valley Hikers appeared and we spoke briefly. They had parked at Devil's Tombstone (Notch Lake) at 8:30 Am and were headed over Indian Head. They told me that a larger group was behind but that some might chose an "early out". Sheba and I continued through some more steep places and then the trail leveled slightly as we approached the summit. We met two more groups of two from HVH before passing the summit at 12:05 PM at about 3 miles. There was about an inch of snow in places and some ice but it was all manageable on the fairly level areas near the top.

We started to head down the other side and I noticed that going down was VERY slippery. Just a few hundred feet passed the summit is a spur trail to the right which gives views to the south. I was disappointed when we arrived as the views were mostly blocked by trees. Anything that was visible was obscured by a haze. I took only a few shots before we continued on. Standing on the open stone ledge was very cold as the air temperature had dropped and the wind was howling. Back on the Devil's Path we turned left and continued our descent...into the abyss. Around 12:20 PM we arrived at the lookout to Plateau about 3.3 miles into the hike. There was a lot of ice around the rocks that make up the viewpoint continuing on around the corner. I took some pictures and then decided to don my Yak XTRs for the trip down. I got them out and pout the first one on. I was unimpressed by the fit and wondered if O had gotten the right size. The second one fit much better and after I turned the first around it also fit nicely! In the middle of all of this the last four people from HVH arrived with a large dog. This French Mastiff was well-behaved and after greeting Sheba returned to his hike. I spoke to the other hikers and they assured me the conditions got better below the viewpoint. We parted and SHeba and I started down. The XTRs are like MicroSpikes but the spike are a little longer with antisnow plates. Below the viewpoint the ice became intermittent but there was plenty of snow and wet rocks. The spikes are a liability unless they have something to bite into so I took them off. I had to walk very carefully down the trail watching each step and using the sides of the trail where I could. I wondered why the other hikers had felt the conditions were better but then I remembered up and down are very different directions! There are several nearly vertical spots on the descent which require rock scrambling and holding on to the available trees. Sheba was doing fine but I was taking a mental and, sometimes, physical beating. We finally got to a spot that requires you to step across a gap in the rock and then negotiate a 10 or 15 foot drop. Sheba jumped own to the first level and I began to think about how I would get her down the rest of the way. I didn't have to worry as she launched herself off the icy rock shelf, ran down the rocks and stood below looking up at me. I made it down and we continued our hike passing cliffs with loads of icicles. In one pot there is a walk along a narrow cliff and then there is a short "tunnel" to get through. At around 3000 feet I noticed that the snow was gone and hiking was fun again!

At 1:30 Pm we arrived at the junction with the blue Mink Hollow trail about 4 miles into the hike. I contemplated hiking up Plateau and back down. The summit of Plateau was only 1.2 miles ahead but there was over 1200 feet of climbing. This was one time my body said "We can do this!" and my mind said "You have got to be kidding!" The slipping and sliding down Sugarloaf made we want to go back to the car and try Plateau another day! We turned right on the Mink Hollow trail and started back. I remembered that I didn't like this trail back to the parking area very much but on this day it seemed great. Along the way I met three hikers heading out and we talked briefly. The trail was muddy in places but not as bad as I have seen it. We stopped so Sheba could drink out of a small stream. I remember thinking that the water over the rocks and the algae looked very slippery. I guess I thought it would be a good idea to teat my theory so I stepped onto the rocks and...promptly fell on my back. I got right up but was pretty wet with some mud thrown in. All I could do was laugh since the temperature was in the high 40's and I knew I was nearing the car. The Mink Hollow Trail is 2.6 miles long from the Devil's Path back to the Roaring Kill Trail. It mostly follows the contours along the shoulder of Sugarloaf. In places it descends to avoid cliff bands but then ascend back to the same elevation. In one place the ascent is over 200 feet. By 2:45 Pm we were back at the Roaring Kill Trail where we turned left and walked the last .25 miles out to the parking area. The parking area was overflowing with cars! We were at the car by 2:50 PM having covered 6.8 miles in just under 5 hours. As I have said before, climbing the 35's can be a humbling experience.

On Friday, November 11th we wanted to do a "family" hike so that Karl and Kathleen could bring Bryce along. We decided that Red Hill was close enough and about the right length. At about 9:00 AM Karl and I decided we would meet at the trailhead around 10:15 AM. In retrospect, this was a bad idea since Karl and Kathleen had never driven to the trail head and we did not add "baby time". Cindy and I got ready almost immediately and were out of the house by 9:20 AM. I decided to drive out DeBrice Road and through Claryville to get to Red Hill Road that way. For us this is shorter than going through Grahamsville.Once on Red Hill Road there is a long uphill drive since Coons/Dinch Road is almost at the other end of the road where it meets Sugarloaf Road. We turned up the road and drove to the DEAD END/SEASONAL ROAD sign. From that point to the trailhead is about a mile and the road is a little rougher. We parked at the trailhead around 9:45 AM to wait for the rest of the family. Of course, this area had no cell phone coverage, so when they had not arrived by 10:30 AM we drove back out to Red Hill Road and waited at the intersection. Within a few minutes they arrived and we headed back to the trail head. By the time we had Bryce in his carrier and were ready to head out it was about 11:00 AM. The trail was only a little damp with a few muddy spots but otherwise it was in good shape. We walked along at a good pace as the trail ascends but not steeply over the first mile.

The trail starts by heading almost northwest out of the parking area but gradually turns west and then southwest. At about 1.0 mile it turns south and then southeast and begins to get steeper. There are no rock scrambles or anything extreme along the way and the grade is seldom over 20%. The length and the grade make it a good choice for a beginner or family hike. The reward for the hike is the well-maintained fire tower at the top of the hill. A group of volunteers has done a Loy of work to restore the tower and the cabin and to keep it open during the summer months. We arrived at the top at 11:40 PM. There was some snow sprinkled around and the temperature was definitely lower than at the trailhead. With the temperature in the mid-40's and a 20 mph wind it seemed pretty cold.I started up the tower and the wind velocity increased. As soon as I was above the treetops the wind really kicked in. I took a few shots on the way up but wanted to wait until the top to take most of my pictures. As I started to take photographs from the landing just under the cab my camera batteries died! I always try to wring the last little bit out of the batteries but the cold has a very negative effect. I had not brought the case with extra batteries so it was back down the tower to change them and then back up for more pictures! The bleak landscape is interesting especially with some of the trees that grow at the top. I took pictures from 360 degrees before descending back to the bottom of the tower. I took a few family photos and then we decided to get going again. On the way down the noon whistle blew and Bryce decided it was time to eat. We stopped as he was very insistent and continued after he had "lunch. We were back at the car by 12:40 PM having covered 2,6 miles in 1 hour and 44 minutes. We decided that the adults needed lunch also and headed for Yiasou Café in Liberty. I have tried to eat there several times and each time it was closed. Cindy eats there regulaly and highly recommended it. She was right! The Greek food is very good and the owner frequents the dining room to check up on how things are going.

On Wednesday, November 9th I wasn't sure I was ready to hike a third day in a row but the weather report was for a gorgeous day so I wanted to try. I knew that bad weather was rolling in for the end of the week and decided I needed a challenge if I might have to take a day off. I looked at my grid and found Wittenberg and Cornell available for November. I hung around the house a little too long since there was heavy fog even though the temperatures were warm. I finally got moving and realized when Pulled out of the driveway that I would have to go the long way around since Route 47 was still close. I headed off toward Roscoe to take Route 206 to the Pepacton Reservoir and then Route 30 and the city roads to Route 28. The trip seemed to be taking longer than I thought it would. As I passed Margaretville, I noticed the main bridge was open. Soon I was passing through Arkville and Big Indian on my way to the Woodland Valley Road. I turned onto the road and began to see some of the remaining signs of destruction from the flood. The road surveillance was in pretty good shape but the creek showed just how bad the flood had been. I parked the car at 9;25 AM and we were ready to cross the road at about 9:30 AM. A large piece of construction equipment was being maneuvered into place and for a moment I though the footbridge was out! The bridge was in great shape but the approach was littered with trees and rocks. Sheba and I worked our way over and around these and were soon climbing up toward the trail register. I have made this hike enough times to remember most parts including the brutal climb right at the start! What I tend to forget is that the approach to Wittenberg is LONG. After the initial climb the trail levels out some and alternates between some steep, rocky areas and wide trails that follow woods roads. Along the way I found a few lookouts I had not seen before but only one offered any opportunity for pictures. I was getting so warm that I took off my softshell and was going to hike in short sleeves. I though better of that and put on a light windbreaker but stowed the hat and gloves for the rest of the hike.

At about 1 mile into the hike, the trail turns sharply left and begins to climb a rocky path. These rocks are the WORST part of the hike and they persist in one form or the other over a good part of the trail. From here the trail rolls a bit but generally gains elevation until 2.5 miles where the trail to Terrace Mountain cuts off to the left. I had thoughts of hiking this trail on the way back. After the turn the trail passes along a woods road which was very muddy in several spots. The trail goes through a few switchbacks but then hits a series of ledges where the fun really begins! For the next .8 miles to the summit there are rock scrambles and boulders to climb over. Some of these a short but almost vertical and I helped Sheba in a few places. The last part after the 3500 foot sign was wet as always. We passed by the spot where you can bushwhack to the cave or rock shelter and I though about doing this on the way back. At 11:45 AM about 3.75 miles into the hike we broke out onto the rock outcrop at the top of Wittenberg. The view is always breathtaking but I was a little disappointed today as there was still some haze and the sun's angle was not the best. We had a snack and a drink and I took some pictures. Even though I had an evening commitment, I was confident we could make Cornell so we headed that way. The .8 miles between the two mountains is one of the most interesting in the Catskills. First, there is a 320 foot descent into the col between the two mountains and then a 350 ascent up Cornell. Of course, this is repeated on the way back! On the ascent of Cornell there are at least three "interesting" areas which are nearly vertical ending with the "Cornell Crack". When we got to the Crack, it was wet and slippery and I decided to see if I could find the workaround. This was partly due to the fact that my only companion was Sheba and partly because I wanted to see if I could find it. We walked around to the left of the cliffs and found a narrow path leading up along the edge. At the top of this path there was actually a viewpoint over the Ashokan and I took a few shots. From there it was only a short distance out to the trail. We turned right and walked to the ledge above the Crack. I took some photographs of Wittenberg and the reservoir before we turned around and headed toward the summit of Cornell.

At 12:30 PM we were 4.6 miles into the hike and standing in the clearing near the summit. The view was almost completely blocked by trees and I didn't even stop to take pictures. Back on the main trail we turned left to walk toward Slide. I wanted to get a few pictures and we soon were at a viewpoint toward Slide. The pictures I took here were some of the best of the day since the haze had cleared amd the sun was behind me. Now it was time to head back to the car as fast as possible. We worked our way back down around the crack and headed toward Wittenberg. I was feeling a little tired but I only noticed it on the ups and most of what was ahead was down! We stopped briefly again on Wittenberg and then headed down at 1:05 PM. It is hard to make good time down near the top since there are so many scrambles with we rocks. Further down there are many areas with rocks strewn across the trail which also make keeping a fast pace difficult. I walked right by the bushwhack to the cave and had already decided Terrace Mountain would have to wait. We met another hiker coming up part of the way down from the top of Wittenberg. Once we got on the woods road we sped up some and made the turn at the Terrace Junction at 1:50 PM. I kept up as fast a pace as possible over the rocky portions. We met a couple and some kind of "toy" dog sitting on a rock. It didn't look like to dog or the people were going to make it up the mountain. On the footbridge, we stopped a minute so I could take some shots and then headed back to the car. We arrived at the car at 3:10 PM having covered 9.2 mountainous miles in 5 hours and 45 minutes. The total elevation gain was 3650 feet!

On Tuesday, November 8th it was such a beautiful day that Cindy and I wanted to get out for a short hike. We had some chores to do around the house but headed out right around noon. I thought about investigate the woods road near Alder Lake but the maps showed it was barely .5 miles long. I thought about the Mongaup Hardenburgh Trail so we headed in that direction. When we got to Lew Beach, I suggested going to Little Pond to see if it was open so that we could park and hike over Touch-Me-Not Mountain to the vista on Cabot Mountain. The gates were open but when we arrived at the gatehouse we were told we would have to park down by the main road and walk in. This didn't appeal to either of use so we headed for the parking area on Beech Hill Road.I knew that the hike to the viewpoint and back would only be about 3 miles but that the first part was very steep. We arrived at about 12:45 PM and found only a pickup truck parked in the lot. The bowhunter was just leaving as we parked. We immediately got on the trail to start the hike. I was wearing short sleeves and had brought along a light windbreaker, hat and gloves which I was sure I would not need. The temperature was in the mid 50's and still climbing. The first part of the trail is flat and actually descends a little and it was very wet as it had been last time I was here. At about .25 miles into the hike the trail starts the ascent and gains 575 feet over the next .5 miles. The grade is around 25% in most places! At this point the trail flattens out and rolls a little along the way to the viewpoint. At .85 miles I noticed what looked like a road off the trail on the left. I walked up to that area and it did look very much like a road. Back on the main trail we continued twithout much change in elevation to 1.25 miles where the trail ascended again and then dropped a little to the vista at 1.6 miles. We stopped at 1:55 PM and took a few pictures before turning around to retrace our steps. The challenge on the way back was to descend safely on the steeper slopes through clouds of slippery leaves. We were back at the car by 2:40 PM having covered 3.2 miles in just under 2 hours. The trip up took 1 hour and 10 minutes. The return journey was completed in 45 minutes.

On Monday, November 7th I wanted to hike somewhere nearer to home. Cindy was not interested so I chose the hike from Alder Lake to the viewpoint over Beecher Lake on Millbrook Ridge. I seemed to recall this being a little over 6 miles so it was a good length. I had heard that the bridge on the trail around the left side of Alder Lake was out from the flooding so I planned to go around the right side by crossing the dam. Alder Creek Road was in pretty good shape as was the road in to Alder Lake. The access road has been difficult in the past but was now smoothed out with the holes filled in. I drove into the first parking area to investigate a possible trail that parallels Cross Mountain Road. I had seen this from the road but never investigated it before. A rather wide and open woods road leaves the parking area and I thought I might investigate this after my planned hike. I drove out to the main parking area where there were two other vehicles parked. We wasted no time getting ready to hike. I took my camera out since I knew I wanted to take some pictures of the Coykenadall Mansion ruins. The temperature was still in the 40's but the sun was coming out and the day seemed like it would be bright and beautiful. I took some shots of the stonework that is the remains of the mansion. We walked around front and I took some more shots before turning my attention to the lake. The water was a deep blue with some green grass in the foreground. Although the hills were mostly gray since the leaves were off the trees, the scene was still very beautiful. After taking some pictures, we started down to the dam and crossed to the other side. I took a few more photographs of the lake from this different angle and a few more of the frost and snow on the ground. I put the camera away as we started to walk around the lake. I chose to walk the lower unmarked oath as it is closer to the water than the higher, marked hiking trail. We stopped several times for me to get the camera out to take some more pictures. Eventually the path became less distinct and we walked on an angle up the hill to the hiking trail. Once on the trail it was only a short walk to the bridge over the inlet stream where I got my first surprise. THIS bridge was destroyed and was pushed onto the opposite bank of the creek. It took a little work but I crosses some debris to get to the other side where Sheba was ready waiting. By 9:25 AM we had managed to get to the turn for the rail to Millbrook Ridge and headed right on the trail. I though that we might return around the other side of the lake to see how the bridges on that side had faired during the floods.

The trail begins to climb almost immediately as it parallels the stream but the grade is minimal. There are at least three beaver meadows along the way and I stopped at them all! The first beaver meadow is just off the trail at 1.85 miles and we stopped there briefly at 9:45 AM. I took only a few shots and then moved on. After gaining about 200 feet over the next .4 miles the trail levels and there are two more beaver meadows. The first in this pair was a lean-to at one end but the sun was at the wrong angle for pictures from that location. I walked out to the other end of the meadow and took a few shots before going back to the trail and walking passed the lean-to. The final beaver meadow may be my favorite. It is practically on the trail and was pointed away from the sun at this time of day. I took pictures of the meadow and the hill behind it. Some areas were still covered with snow. Just after the meadow the trail begins a more serious ascent. The highest point on the ridge is around 3480 feet meaning that only 20 more feet of elevation would make it a contender for the Catskill 3500 list. This part of the trail was a little longer than I remembered with several different climbs making me think we were at the top. After 1.2 miles and over 700 feet of ascent we were at the highest point on the ridge! It was 10:45 Am at we had hiked a total of 3.65 miles. We began the descent down the other side of the hill and ran into 6 to 8 inches of snow on the northern exposure. It was surprising but lasted only a few hundred feet. The descent was much greater than I remembered and the walk a little longer. We lost 350 feet over the next .5 miles until the trail began to climb again. I already knew that my second mistake was the length of the hike. I wasn't tired but was again disgusted that I had not checked my own website! The trail began to ascend at this point and along the way there were several interesting rock formations. Again both the ascent and the distance were a little more than I remembered. The trail meandered back and forth until I was almost convinced I had somehow missed the viewpoint. After regaining 250 feet over .5 miles we were at the lookout. It was 11:15 AM and we had covered 4.8 miles!

Somewhere along the way the sunny skies had given away to overcast and then clouds. The wind had come up a little and the whole change gave a sinister look to the landscape. Beecher LAke and the monastery were visible below since most of the leaves were off the trees. I took pictures down to the lake and across at the hills both near and far. After a drink and a snack, Sheba and I began a rapid return to the car. The only ascent on the way back is the one up to the highest point on Millbrook Ridge and we made short work of that. We did not stop along the way at any time and by 12:50 PM we had made the 3.8 miles back to the red Alder Lake Loop Trail. We turned right to go around the lake. As we approached the first bridge, three bow hunters emerged from the woods and headed away from us. Both bridges were in good shape and Sheba and I kept up our pace. I tried to slow down a little so that we would not overtake the hunters but they gave up and stepped aside as we walked passed them. Back at the "lawn" of the mansion I had Sheba wade in the water to wash her muddy feet and then it was back to the car. It was 1:05 PM and we had covered 9.3 miles and climbed 2100 feet in just over 4 hours. I decided to save the exploration of the road for another day.

On Saturday, November 5th Kurt wanted to hike somewhere near the Hudson since the trip from LaGrangeville would be shorter. There were several choices of places that Cindy and I had been that Kurt would enjoy but I wanted to go somewhere that I had not been before. I looked at the maps and thought that The Canada Hill area of the Hudson Highlands park looked interesting. I planned to park on South Mountain Pass Road and hike the AT out over Canada Hill to White Rock. To make a loop we would use other trails to return with a side trip to Sugarloaf Hill. I had no idea of the exact length of the hike but calculated that it would be around 8 miles. There seemed to be several short and steep climbs but lots of latter hiking along the ridges with some rolling terrain in between. We agreed to meet Kurt at the parking area on South Mountain Pass Road at about 9:30 AM> Although I had never parked there,. I had walked out to the parking area when I was hiking all the approaches to ANthony's Nose. The Phelps Mine is very close to this parking area s well. Cindy and I got a late start and had to stop for fuel. I called Kurt as we were ready to get on Route 6 and he was already in the area. I told him we would be there soon. It didn't take us long to cross the Bear Mountain Bridge and turn north on Route 9D. Manitou Road or South Mountain Pass Road are both right tturns of the main road.The roads meet and continue up the hill as South Mountain PAss Road. The road is narrow and has a rough dirt surface but the trip is short. We parked at 9:40 AM and found Kurt waiting. After a short greeting, we walked up the road and turned left into the woods to begin hiking on the AT. The .2 miles of the trail was a little steep going about 60 feet. There was also several areas of blowdowns to work around. The AT turned right and continued to climb steeply for another .2 miles gaining around 300 feet from the start of the hike. In several places the trail blazes all but disappeared so that staying on the trail was difficult. Once we were up on the ridge the trail became a wide woods road for some distance. Although the temp was in the mid 40's and headed up a slight breeze kept things cool. There weren't too many views from the ridge but the open forest especially near the top of Canada Hill was very pretty. There were still a lot of leaves on the trees although the colors were muted. We passed by Canada Hill at about .8 miles and continued toward the northeast.

Around .9 miles, the Osborn Loop Trail appeared on the right but we struck with the plan to stay on the AT. At 1.3 miles, a yellow trail came in from the left but we continued on the AT. Along the way there seemed to be the possibility of some viewpoints but all were blocked by the trees. At 2,4 miles, the blue trail appeared straight ahead and the AT turned right. We turned and started down off the ridge looking for the yellow Carriage Connector Trail. After a short walk, I checked the GPS and saw we were approaching a road. Assuming we had missed the yellow trail we headed back up the the junction with the blue trail. At the junction I walked out the blue trail a short distance and then came back. We voted and decided to continue down the AT since we thought we had simply not gone far enough! We made the turn and started down and down an down and did not fond the yellow trail. We stopped to reassess our decision and met a couple and their dog hiking up toward us. They assured us that the yellow trail did exist and was just down the hill. ON this stretch of the AT we found a metal AT marker which looked a little like a USGS elevation marker. I had never seen one before and then we found another not much further along! We continued on down and picked up the yellow trail on the "road" that was marked on the GPS. This was a wide woods road and I was disgusted that I had AGAIN let the GPS display fool me. The map showed a path or unmarked trail from the yellow trail up to a looked out labeled White Rock. The problem was that we would have to hike more than a half mile north to pick up the path and then back a half mile on the path to the viewpoint. Since the viewpoint seemed to be just above us, we decided to take the more direct route and bushwhack up. We turned right off the trail and began a rather steep ascent through some brush that was thick at times, After hitting the top of the first climb, a band of cliffs showed a less promising ascent. Fortunately the path on the map lay between us and the cliffs. We turned right on the path and were soon at the top. The viewpoint looked south across Camp Smith and Anthony's Nose. The Hudson was visible. The only problem was that the sun was sitting to the south making photography difficult. I took some pictures and we grabbed a snack and a drink before heading around the top of the hill on the path. When the path gave out, we bushwhacked down the hill and picked up the path again. We followed the path which followed a road back to the yellow trail

As we walked along the yellow trail, we noticed that the road was supported by a stone wall on the right side. The construction was old but had stood the test of time. Further along the stone wall support changed to the left side of the trail where a stream would have cut into the road. The wall was higher and much more impressive here. The yellow trail ended and at about 4.3 miles around 12:35 PM we continued straight ahead on the blue trail. Almost immediately we could see stone pillars with pipe railing on the left side of the road near a 90 degree turn. The pillars had depressions on top that acted as planters and flowers had been planted earlier in the season. On a small hill to the right of the trail was a wooden gazebo with a stone foundation. It seems that the east side of the Hudson always "had money". As we continued the hike we came to a junction with the red trail to Sugarloaf Hill. I wanted to see what the viewpoint at the end of this long hill.ridge looked like. The problem was that the trail is a dead end and the climb looked steep! Kurt and Cindy reluctantly agreed and we started the 200 foot cliMB over .2 miles. After the climb, the trail flattened and it was another .25 miles to the end of the hill and the viewpoint. The lookout pointed south and the sun was again a factor. There were a few annoying trees in the way but I thought the effort worthwhile. The Bear Mountain Bridge was visible but it seemed pretty far away!. After a few pictures we headed back down the hill. At the trail junction, we looked around for the blue trail back toward the car. The trail was not easy to find as there were few blazes and a lot of blowdown obscured the trail. We did find the right turn and headed out on the trail at around 1:20 PM and 5.5 miles into the hike. The blue trail ran between the hills and along a brook but at about 6 miles it started to climb the ridge again. At 7.0 miles we continued on the yellow trail toward Curry Pond.

Curry Pond was small but pretty with some ducks swimming around. My bad lick with the angle of the sun continued and pictures were difficult to get. I didn't mind too much as the pond was nice but nothing too special. All three of us were now anxious to get back to the car so we walked around the pond and followed the yellow trail as it started the final ascent back to the AT on the ridge. The trail passed through some dense laurel and blowdowns continued to be a problem. We crossed small stream and then the trail made a short but steep ascent through a cleft in the rock ledge. It flattened at the top and at 7.8 miles around 2:40 PM we were back on the AT. There was about 1.3 miles of hiking left. Since we knew where we were going and had no reason to stop we quickened our pace and climbed over Canada Hill. From here it was all downhill to the car. The AT was better marked in this direction and we had an idea where it went from the trip out. We were back at the car by 3:20 PM having taken 5.5 hours to cover 9.3 miles and a surprising 2130 feet of vertical gain. Some of the other attractions in the area would have to wait until next time!

On Thursday, November 3rd I decided I wanted a real challenge which almost always means a 3500 foot peak! Since the Slide Mountain trail head on Route 47 is officially closed, I decided to take the opportunity to hike in from the Denning trailhead and up the Curtis-Ormsbee Trail. I had all day so the 10+ mile distance didn't bother me. I waited a little while in the morning until the temperature rose and then got Sheba and headed out DeBriuce Road. The sign on Route 47 was still there and still confuses me. "Road closed!" "Open for guests of Frost Valley." "Local traffic only. No through traffic." How can a road be open for some and not others? I turned right and headed to the Claryville Road where I turned left toward the Denning trailhead. The road past the Frost Valley farm still shows the effects of the flooding. Actually, the road is in pretty good shape but both side have major damage. We arrived to find no other cars in the lot. The temperature was in the high 40's with a slight breeze and overcast skies. I looked around and saw only a faint covering of snow and decided to leave the snowshoes in the car but keep the Yaks in the pack. We were on the trail and hiking by 9:40 AM. The first part of the trail is an old woods road and it is wide with very few rocks. Some of the blowdown that was present last time had been cleared and the walk to the Table Mountain Trail went quickly. There was no snow in the woods and hardly any under the trees. We made the 1.2 mile trip in about 20 minutes. It was 10:00 AM. We continued to make good time after passing the turnoff. The road began to get steeper and much rockier in places. There was still almost no snow but the wet leaves provided plenty of excitement. Along the way the road begins to hug the side of a hill with ledges to the left and a dropoff to the river on the right. The trees had very few leaves left and it was easy to see down into the river valley and across at the other hills. At one point there was a nice view of our detsination!

As we approached the turn for the Curtis-Otrmsbee Trail, I began to second guess my snowshoe decision. There was some snow on the trail and a lot more in the woods. It seemed that the exposure to the sun made the most difference. We made the turn at 10:50 AM about 3 miles and only 1 hour and 10 minutes into the hike. The trail changed dramatically from the wide and gently sloping woods road free of snow to a steeper, narrower trail with snow cover. Almost immediately we ran into the first set of ledges which I remembered from previous hikes. The trail leads up through the ledges and we stopped so that I could take some pictures. On up we went with the trail presenting a series of climbs through ledges interspersed with flatter sections. The snow made it important to pay attention to your footing but never got never got too deep. At about 11:15 AM we walked up through a set of ledges and to a nice lookout to the west. I stopped for some pictures before continuing on to the next lookout just .15 miles further on. This viewpoint was to the south and was a little more blocked by trees than the previous one. We were right at the 3500 foot elevation and the trees began to change to evergreens. The ground flattened some here and we had to walk around several large puddles of water. Eventually the trail began to climb again along the edge of the mountain and through some beautiful evergreens. At 4.5 miles into the hike around 11:50 AM we turned right on the main Slide Mountain Trail. As we walked the .7 miles to the summit, I took a few pictures of the quartz sand that makes up the base of much of the trail. Just before the summit rock, we stopped at the viewpoint over Giant Ledge and Panther so that I could take some photographs. It was still overcast but the pictures were good. We arrived at the top of Slide at 12:10 PM. I took a few pictures and we had some lunch. I realized how very still and peaceful it was at the top.

We started down the other side of the mountain toward the spring since I wanted to get a shot toward Cornell. I had considered hiking over at least that far but thought better of it. The rock scrambles down to the spring were all wet, icy or snow covered. Sheba showed me a few easier routes and soon we were at the top of the first ladder. I got my picture of Cornell and one of the snow covered ladder. We turned around and headed back to the top. From the top it was just a matter of retracing our steps without the breaks for photography. As always, going down the steeper portions was harder than climbing up.Even places that seemed dry were covered with a thin film of water and my boots also wet. We were at the woods road by 1:50 PM at about 7.7 miles into the hike. I figured we had about 3 more miles to go and we quickened our pace. I wanted a 2.0 mph overall speed and we were close to it. The rocky part of the road went unappreciated but soon we hit the cutoff to Table. From this point on the trail has fewer rocks and is a breeze despite the fact that it is always longer than I anticipate. We were back at the car by 2:55 PM. There were two other vehicles in the parking lot although we had seen no one on the trails. We had covered 10.6 miles in 5 hours and 15 minutes.

On Tuesday, November 1st I was looking for something close to home to get in a hike before practice. I have been doing this so much lately that I have begun to run out of places to go! I decided to head toward Downsville on Route 206 and park where the Campbell Mountain Trail crosses the road. From there I planned to hike to Campbell Mountain Road, pick up the Trout Pond Trail and hike to Campbell Brook Road. From there I could hike back on the trail or walk the roads to the car. I did not know whether snowshoes would be necessary since the snow had begun to melt but I took them with me anyway. I parked at the pulloff and we were on the trail by 9:45 AM. I had decided to leave the snowshoes in the car but take my Yak Extremes in case I needed some traction. There was some snow on the ground as we walked down to the brook and there was quiet a bit of water. We walked passed the foundations and, as I looked over in the woods to my right, I saw another foundation I had never seen before. There were tracks from some other people who had walked on the trail after the snowfall. We crossed the bridge and began the walk up Campbell Mountain. The snow began to get deeper with the increased elevation but the amount of snow seemed to be controlled more by the exposure. Snow on the south and east sides of the hills was all but gone. The areas on the north and west still had 6 or 8 inches of snow. We arrived at the leant at around 0:15 AM about 1.25 miles into the hike. That meant our pace was 2.5 mph uphill. Not bad! We went through the next ,6 miles in less than 30 minutes and arrived at the highest point on the trail at 10:45 AM with 1.85 miles behind us.

From this highest point we walked down to Campbell Mountain Road and crossed over to get on the Trout Pond Trail to Campbell Brook Road. At this point it was 11:00 Am and I debated whether to cut the hike short since I had a 2:00 PM meeting. I decided to stick to the original plan and walk back on the roads. We had been moving quickly but as we started out on the Trout Pond Trail I increased our pace even more! We immediately ran into deeper snow but not so deep that snowshoes were needed. The tracks we had been following stopped at the deeper snow. We crossed Campbell Brook on the bridge and began a 1 mile climb to the highest point on the Trout Pond Trail at 2510 feet. We made it over the hill at 11:30 AM and stared down the other side through more snow. The conditions were almost like spring except for the leaves still on the trees. we hit Campbell Brook Road at 11;45 AM and 4.3 miles into the hike. I knew at that point that we would easily make it back to the car in time. I am not fond of walking on roads instead of trails but these roads are pretty deserted. Most of the building along this route are hunting camps or summer homes with only a few permanent residences. Only one car passed us on the 2.5 mile walk out to Route 206. The walk on 206 was all downhill for .7 miles. We were back at the car by 12:40 PM covering 7.5 miles in under 3 hours.

On Sunday, October 30th 8 inches of snow covered our lawn in Livingston Manor. Cindy and I decided to go to hike at Frick and Hodge Ponds since the roads were good and hiking in a heavy October snow seemed like something we did not want to miss. I knew there would be more snow at the higher elevation so I threw our snowshoes in the car just in case. Cindy dressed warmly while I was still in my fall attire. We did both wear our Salomon boots which are warmer and fit the snowshoes well. DeBruce Road was still covered in snow and ice but at least Mongaup Road was plowed as was the Beech Mountain Road to the trailhead. We parked just before 9:30 Am and took a few minutes to assess the situation. We decided that snowshoes would definitely be OK by the looks of the conditions in the parking lot. They might even be necessary at the higher elevations on the Flynn Trail! BY the time I had my snowshoes on I was feeling a little cold and considered putting something else on. I decided against it as I always get warmer as we hike. We headed out on the Quick Lake Trail toward Frick Pond in about 8 inches of snow. Along the trail there was open water in places and our snowshoes quickly became caked with wet snow. It took about 20 minutes to get to the pond since we kept stopping to take pictures. There were no other cars, no other tracks and no other people! The view at Frick Pond was interesting since there was so much snow and NO ICE on the pond! I took shots of the pond and some of the trees with snow and leaves. I took some pictures of Beech Mountain from the bridge and then some photographs of Cindy and Sheba on the bridge. I noticed that the wind off the pond was really cold so we packed up and started back up the Quick Lake Trail. The snowshoeing was fun but NOT EASY. Even when the shoes weren't wet the snow was wet and heavy and clung to the bottom and laid on top of the shoes.

It wasn't long before we were marching through the stretch of pines on the trail trying not to get too snowy as we were bombarded by snow from the tree. We worked through or around several blowdowns on the trail, crossed the stream and headed into a small clearing. A tree here still had some colorful leaves and we took pictures before continuing to Iron Wheel Junction. We were at Iron Wheel by 10:30 AM which was much slower than our normal hiking pace. At the junction we turned left to stay on the Quick Lake Trail to Junkyard Junction and the Flynn Trail. Just before the junction where the snowmobile trail heads to Quick Lake, I noticed small large footprints in the snow. They might have been from a bear but the snow on the tress and brush did not seem very disturbed. We continued up the trail. The snow was beautiful but there were some areas of open water to try to avoid. We stopped several times to use the camera. The last time I hiked this which was only a few weeks before I remember thinking that the section of trail from Iron Wheel to Junkyard is much longer than I thought. This day, with the heavy snow, emphasized this fact. We arrived at Junkyard Junction at 11:45 AM which meant the 1.6 mile section from Iron Wheel had taken almost an hour and 15 minutes. Along the way my legs really began to hurt especially my quads and inner thighs. I found that taking exaggerated steps and not shuffling I could make the going easier and get some of the snow off the shoes. We turned right on the Flynn Trail to head toward Hodge Pond. The slight downhills felt great and did not bother my sore legs. Soon we were at the gate and then near the shores of the pond. Neither of us wanted to extend the hike by going around the back of the pond, so we turned right and walked toward the outlet. More water wet the snowshoes again and Sheba had HUGE snowballs clinging to her fur from the deeper snow on the Flynn Trail. I stopped at the shore of the pond at 12:20 PM to take a few pictures before starting back to the car. I was struck by the deep blue color of the open water.

As we started up the Flynn Trail to the junction with the Big Rock Trail, the snow got deeper and my legs more tired. I tried "high stepping" again which worked to some extent. I knew that once we hit the top of the Flynn Trail there would be no more climbing and I put that in my mind and pressed on. Soon the trail leveled and we were at the junction. I had though about going down the Big Rock Trail and around the back of Frick Pond. I love the big downhill and the walk around Frick is pretty. This route would add almost mile to the hike so we continued straight ahead and down the Flynn Trail to the car. I thought about stopping at the open area near the top of the Flynn Trail but opted to just get back as soon a s possible! At least the 1.7 mile march down the Flynn Trail had no uphills but it did seem long.I was very happy to see the gate and even more pleased when I was at the car removing the snowshoes. The 6.5 mile trek had taken 4.5 hours. Two weeks before the same hike was just over 2 hours and 15 minutes!

On Sunday, October 30th I got up early to shovel around the house and then head across the street to shovel out the church. The walks around the house had very little snow as they had been warm when it first started to fall. My car had about 6 inches on it and the the Alawn maybe inches. I shoveled the walks at the church but the parking lot was another matter. It has a thick layer of ice over water and was unusable. After making some calls, we decided to cancel services and I headed home. Once home I grabbed my camera and headed back over to the hill behind the church to take some picture of snow-covered Livingston Manor. The sun was just rising and I walk around the cemetery on the hill taking pictures. I walked back to the church and took a few shots before returning home. I decided the day was too nice to waste and that the roads were in decent condition. I asked Cindy if she would like to snowshoe in October and she said "Yes". We decided on Frick and Hodge Ponds.

On Tuesday, October 25th I decided to head for Bear Spring Wildlife Management Area between Downsville and Walton. I have hiked almost all the trails in this area multiple times but I had an idea for a new loop and wanted to try it out. The weather report was for cloudy skies but there was no mention of rain. As we left Livingston Manor, the sun was actually beginning to peek through and I hoped for a good day. My plan was to park on East Trout Brook Road at Middle Pond and hike up to the Ridge on Trail 4. From here I wanted to head north to the main parking area just off route 206. I planned to hike over to Wilson Hollow Road and then use Trail 11 to go down to Launt Pond. Another trail would take us from the pond, along the creek and back to the car. All of the trails at Bear Spring are constructed with horses and snowmobiles in mind. This means there are NO BRIDGES so some water crossing can be tricky. It also means that the trail are wide and well maintained but without the traditional hiking blazes. There is an overview map at the main parking area at the top o Bear Spring Mountain and there may be maps in holders along the way at trail junctions. We arrived at the small parking area at about 8:35 AM and were on the trail by 8:40 AM. We crossed the road and started up Trail 4. The trail rises 750 feet from the road to the ridge over 1.2 miles. At the top of the ridge we turned right or northwest to hike along the Fork Mountain ridge. At about 9:30 AM and a little more than 2 miles into the hike we were at the first of three clear cut areas on the hike. No one has been able to tell me the reason for theses clear cuts but they are all done with state approval. There were still some leaves on the trees and the skies was overcast with patches of blue. I took some pictures before we started to hike again and headed back to the shelter of the tress.

The trail continued northwest over a few bumps but the pace was quick. By 9:50 AM we were 3.3 miles into the hike and crossed West Trout Brook Road to continue on the trail. Up to this point there had been some muddy and wet areas but the next section of the trail was especially boggy. We continued almost directly north now toward Route 206 working our way around the puddles and mud pits. At 10:15 AM we crossed the road again and walked to the main parking area. From here we followed the very familiar trail that parallels Route 206, crosses East Trout Brook Road an t hen ascends slightly before dropping to Wilson Hollow Road. This woods road is a grassy track and has never been paved but shows up on many maps with the same prominence as Route 206! At this point we were at the second and largest clear cut area. The skies were still a strange mix of dark clouds, puffy white clouds and patches of blue.I decided to get a different view by walking down to the edge of the cut rather than staying on the road. I ended up on a road through the cut. We walked and I took pictures for some distance. We finally ran across a road that took us almost all the way back up to Wilson Hollow Road. The last few feet were rough as the road ended and some very nasty briars began. Back on the road we continued the hike and I took a few more shots before the road entered the woods. I was looking for Trail 11 which I had missed several times before. At some point I decided that I had missed it again when it appeared on the right at about 6.8 miles into the hike. It was 11:10 AM and I decided that we would continue along the ridge and use another trail to get back down to the car.

The next trail down was within .6 miles of Trail 11 but I had been on this trail several times recently so we continued to the McCoy Hill Shortcut at 7.7 miles. This trail turns right and runs along the edge of a field before descending through the forest to the last clear cut. The walk down was a little better than I expected and the view from the top of the cut a little worse. We walked out into a small field and I took some photographs before returning to the trail. At 11:45 AM we hit another trail junction and we stopped so that I could take a few more shots. From here it was only .6 miles back to the car. We stopped at the bridge at the outlet of Middle Pond before returning to the car at noon. We covered 9.3 miles in 3 hours and 20 minutes. Before returning home I decided to drive up East Trout Brook Road and stop at Launt Pond. I parked by the exit near the dam and grabbed the camera to take some photographs. The colors were muted and most of the leaves were gone but there was a nice quality to the pictures. I drove up to Route 206 and turned left to go to West Trout Brook Road. After turning and passing the main parking area I turned right on Beers Brook Road and drove down to Russ Gray Pond. The road is unpaved but well maintained. I parked at the pulloff by the pond and got out to take some pictures. I walked over to the small dam and took some pictures of the water as it cascaded over the dam. Back in the car I drove down Beers Brook Road to Route 10. After determining that left was the WRONG direction to turn I headed the other way into Walton and then back home.

On Friday, October 21st I had canceled XC practice after school to give the runners a little time to "heal". Since I had all day to hike, I decided I wanted to do some Catskill 35 peaks and preferably several at one time. I looked at my grid and was surprised to see it very open. I knew that it might be hard to get to some peaks so I chose the Blackheads from the Batvaia Kill parking area. All that I had read indicated the Road from Maplecrest to the parking area was open. Sheba and I left Livingston Manor at about 8:20 AM anticipating a 10:00 AM start. I knew that Route 47 passed Frost Valley was closed as was the Peekamoose-West Shokan Road so I headed for Route 30 around the Pepacton Reservoir. Things went well but, as I passed through Margaretville, Arkville and Fleischmanns, I was reminded that people in this area are still impacted by the floods from Irene and Lee. There are detours on many roads and I saw many road crews at work. The main bridge into Margaretville is closed and the train tracks in Arkville are undermined and twisted. Driving along Route 28, we finally got to Route 42 which I always take north from Shandaken to Lexington. I made the turn knowing that the Spuceton Road was closed but not suspecting what I would find ahead. Just before the Halcott parking area was a sign announcing the road ahead was closed to through traffic. I always obey these signs but questioned why another sign at the run off Route 28 was not in place! I drove back to Route 28 and headed for Phoenecia to take Route 214 north through the Notch to Hunter. It was obvious that Phoenicia still had problems from the flooding as I turned on Route 214. This road was a mass of dips and potholes. In several places there were barriers on the stream side while in others crews had the road down to one lane as they worked to repair the damage. The road improved as I approached Notch Lake and I had no trouble from there to Maplecrest. Crews were working on the road to the Batavia Kill parking area. The stream here is normally pretty tame but the damage it did during the floods was evident. In particular, the lake at the small park on the left was gone. We finally arrived at the parking area at around 10:30 AM. We were the only car and we got started right away. My plan was to hike Black Dome and Thomas Cole first and then hike over Blackhead and down the steep eastern side. I thought if I had enough time I might also go on over Acra Point. I was concerned about the status of the bridges along the way. On the way in I saw that the bridge to Acra Point and Burnt Knob had been replaced.

As we began our hike along the Batavia Kill, it was clear that the recent rain had again swollen the creek. The water was roaring down the mountain. At the first bridge crossing, we found a brand new bridge to replace the other that was washed out. I took a few shots and then we continued. I stopped a few places along the way just to take some photographs of the creek at the same "waterfalls" that had developed. The second bridge was not completely new but had been extensively repaired. We reached the trail junction at about 10:50 AM only .65 miles into the hike. I decided to head right toward Lockwood Gap and Black Dome which was my original plan. I looked at the water crossing we would have to make on the way back and knew that it was possible and that by that time we would be close to the car. The walk up the trail was pleasant and I removed my softshell in favor of a light windbreaker. The climb begins to get steeper at about 1.15 miles and continues to the col at 2.0 miles. There are several switchbacks and both Black Dome and Blackhead are visible. Each time I hike this route I am impressed by these mountains. Depsite the fact that I have done them many times, it always seems impossible until I am on the top or back in the car! With the leaves off the trees, the site was even more impressive. We hit the col at 11:40 AM and just made the right turn and continued to climb. I was feeling very fit at this point! We stopped after the one rock scramble at the rock shelf that looks over at Blackhead. The skies were cloudy but there was some sun and the conditions seemed just right for some good shots. After getting the pack back on we headed up the trail to the summit and stopped at the open rock that acts as a lookout to the south at about 12:10 PM. We had a drink and a bite to eat. The sun's angle made taking pictures difficult but I took some anyway.

We left for Thomas Cole at about 12:15 Pm and arrived there at 12:40 PM. There isn't too much to see along the way but there are a few rock scrambles. An occasional view of Cole through the trees reminded me that it IS a 3Catskill 3500 foot peak! The distance is about .8 miles and the drop is just over 200 feet. We turned around once the trail started to descend on the other side of Cole and headed back for the Lockwood Gap without stopping. We were there by 1:30 Pm at about 4.6 miles into the hike. Up Blackhead we went stopping twice for pictures back to Black Dome and out across the valleys. The distance to the summit is only about .6 miles but the elevation gain is over 500 feet. The trail flattens some after the climb and then leads to the large flat rock that marks the summit. Here we intersected the blue Escarpment Trail and started down the steep, eatern side of Blackhead. There are no views from the summit but there are limited views on the way down. Two different stops allow views north and west toward Acra Point and Burnt Knob and east and south toward Arizona. The descent is open rock in some cases and in other places there is loose rock. Everything was wet and covered with a layer of wet leaves. We were careful and did stop for pictures but made it down by 2:45 Pm. This was .8 miles and over 1650 feet of vertical drop. On the way down I was still feeling remarkably good but knew that the extra trip over Acra Point would be about 3 miles more. I decided to save this for another day and head back to the car. At the trail junction we met the only people we would see all day. These two artists from New York City were enjoying there first trip to the Catskills and had just come over Acra Point! We talked some before parting and I hope they have many more hikes. From the trail junction we descended another 500 feet over the next mile to the trail junction. Along the way we passed the Batavia Kill lento. At the trail junction we had to walk upstream a little before I could find a place to cross. It wasn't all that bad but slipping on the wet rocks would have been a very wet and cold experience. From here it was just another .7 miles back to the car. We arrived at 3:35 PM having taken just 5 hours for the 7.8 mile trip.

On Wednesday, October 19th I wanted to get in a "fitness hike" before going to school and cross country practice. It was raining on and off and the forecast did not promise any improvement. I decided to head toward Trout Pond and see what the weather looked like there. As I parked the car at about 10:30 AM it was still raining but only lightly. I donned my Outdoor Research Revel jacket and Sheba and I started down Russell Brook Road at about 10:35 AM. There was only a slight mist in the air and I soon was becoming wet from the sweat inside the jacket. I had decided NOT to stop by the falls but couldn't help myself. I walked across the bridge and then took the path to the falls. I walked down into the stream bed to take some pictures and then returned to the trail. We walked straight ahead up to Trout Pond as I had taken the loop the other way the last time we hiked. As we hiked I alternated between looking at the beauty around me and my own inner thoughts. We stopped at the outlet end if the pond so that I could get some pictures. I have taken these pictures so many times but they always seem a little different. Back on the main trail I started to notice some deep, muddy ruts on the trail. On the way up to the pond I had seen tracks but the trail was much firmer in that location. I inwardly cursed the people who can't read the signs and stay off the trail with their ATVs. As we approached the inlet end of the pond, I began to here some noise and looked ahead to see two pickup trucks. It took a moment for the scene to register. The pickups belonged to a DEC crew from Walton who were replacing the bridge across the inlet. I apologized for my "evil" thoughts and we talked for a few moments. They were putting in a rather substantial snowmobile bridge which would be more than enough to serve hikers. I walked to the edge of the pond to take more pictures.

After taking some shots, Sheba and I walked upstream a little and crossed over to the other side. It was about 11:35 AM and blacker clouds were starting to gather over the pond. We set a good pace on the way up to Cherry Ridge. Somewhere along the way the moisture changed from mist to sprinkle. I tried to ignore this until the sprinkle changed to rain and I decided to get out the rain jacket again and put the camera in a plastic bag. As we continued to walk the rain never got worse but continued to come down. We made the turn to the left at Mud Pond and headed down the wide woods road that is also a snowmobile trail. The trail was soft and muddy but worst spots could be avoided. Soon we were back down at the trail junction near the falls. To complete the hike we walked back up Russell Brook Road to the car on Morton HillRoad. The 5.6 mile hike took at 2.5 hours and we were back just after 1:00 PM.

On Sunday, October 16th I wanted to get out to hike but I also wanted to be with my family. I solved the problem by calling Karl and Kathleen and asking them if they would like to hike at the Neversink Unique area in Rock Hill. Of course, they were to bring Bryce (grandson) and Maggie (dog). They agreed to meet us and I called after church to confirm that we would meet at the parking area at the end of Katrina Falls Road. The hike almost had to be canceled since Bryce's Merrells went missing but since he is only 7 months old we decided to take a chance. Cindy, Sheba and I arrived first but the rest of the party was right behind. There was only one car parked in the lot but we had seen some hunters on the way down Katrina Falls Road. Bryce need a snack before we started and then we were off at right around noon! Bryce has his own pack to ride on Karl's back and seemed very happy since he gave his father directions several times. The temperature was cool and a slight breezy was blowing. The skies were variable on the way down with some areas of blue with clouds and other, more ominous areas. My plan was to walk directly to Denton Falls on the Neversink and then to Mullet Falls on Mullet Brook. From here we would complete the loop back to the main trail and the car. Wolf Brook was high as we stopped to take some pictures. We bypassed the two side trails down to the river in favor of the direct route to the falls. The walk seemed a little longer and a little steeper than I remembered.

We turned right at the top of a small climb to head down to the falls at about 12:45 PM and 1.35 miles into the hike. The trail is still new and not "worn in" in all spots. It was a little wet and does get narrow in places. It only rook about 10 minutes to negotiate the .3 mile distanced own to the river. There was a lot of water going over the falls making for a pleasant visual and auditory experience. These "falls" are not very high, perhaps three or four feet, and are more of a rapids but they are still pretty. There was some color to the leaves and I took pictures of the falls and the river in both directions. I decided to bushwhack a little upstream while the rest of the family walked the trail back to the main trail. Sheba and I found a path that ran along the shore of the river and we were soon at the point where Mullet Brook enters the river. The high water made the crossing look difficult but I knew I could find a place to cross if I really wanted. I decided to stay on the near bank of the creek and follow it upstream. There were some nice points along the stream and I even took a few shots. I found a steep bank to climb back to the trail and met the rest of the family just as they were coming up the trail. We all walked out the trail to the main trail and turned right to start our loop toward Mullet Falls. I remembered that this climb was the hardest of all even though it did not compare to any that ascend the mountains in the Catskills. I was wondering how Karl was doing with baby and pack but he said he was Ok.

Soon we were at the left turn that goes down to Mullet Falls. We turned and walked along the path until the falls came into view at 1:30 PM or about 2.4 miles into the hike. These falls can be reduced to only a trickle when there hasn't been much rain but this day they were magnificent. The water drops 20 feet into a small pool below. From the pool and other small falls carries the water over some large walks to the streambed below. I dropped my pack and walked out onto the slippery rocks. I took many pictures from this spot and then moved in closer to capture the plunge pool. I also recorded a video for the sound. After this, I crossed over to the side of the falls to take some photographs at another angle. Now it was time to go back to the main trail and complete the loop to get back to the car. On our way out we met a man carrying a short step ladder. He was placing official NYNJTC markers on the trail. We turned left at the main trail and continued to ascend. The gain in elevation from the river to the highest point on the trail is 500 feet! Near the top the trail leveled off and we crossed Mullet Brook again on a bridge. Just upstream from the bridge was an interesting area of pooled water. The water drains a swamp and is dark brown due to the tannins from the evergreens. The trail after this is mostly flat and then start downhill. Just before the downhill portion is the right turn to the Wolf lake parking area. We stayed to the right and down to the trail we had come in on earlier. It was about 2:30 and it had taken a little less than an hour to walk the 1.7 miles from the falls trail. As we approached that trail we met two dogs with their owners trailing farther behind. The dogs seemed friendly and we do let our own dogs run but we always call them when approaching other hikers and other dogs. These owners did not seemed concerned so we made the best of thins. We were back at the car at 2:50 PM having covered about 4.8 enjoyable miles in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Bryce did not see the last part of the hike as he was asleep.

On Wednesday, October 14th I wanted to get in some more hiking after the short walk around Bear Hole Brook. The day had been sort of a disappointment and a successful trip to Vernooy Kill Falls was just what I needed. The problem was that I was not sure if I could remember how to get there and I had not brought a map since this trip was not in my plans. I headed away from Ellenville on Route 209 and drove through Kerhonksen. Just outside of town I drove up a hill and turned left on Samsonville Road. After 1.3 miles, I turned left on Cherrytown Road. I drove 3.5 miles and took the left onto Upper Cherrytown Road. In about 3.0 miles I saw the parking area on the right and pulled in at 12:45 PM. The trail is just across the road. The trail is a wide woods road almost all the way to the falls. It is marked as a snowmobile trail, a hiking trail and the Long Path. The problem is that the markings are very few and far between. In fact, the ONLY blaze I saw for the Long Path was the one at the beginning of the trail just off the road. This has been a recurring theme for many of the trails I have been hiking recently especially those that do not access the 3500 foot peaks. I had not been to Vernooy Kill Falls in some time and the trail gains much more elevation than I remember. In about a mile it gains over 500 feet which is by no means excessive and at no time is the trail steep. A ggod part of the trail is covered in loose rock which always makes the hiking more difficult. After about a mile the trail is almost level and the highest point is at about 1.3 miles. From that point the trail drops slightly to the falls at 1.7 miles. The stream crossing near the falls was easy due to some stepping stones.

We arrived at the falls around 1:30 PM. I was a little worried about rattlesnakes at the falls but thought that the colder temperatures at night may have caused them to "den up". By the time we reached the falls the temperature had risen but the skies were still cloudy. It seemed very humid but there was no rain. before we ever got to the falls< I could hear the thunderous roar of the water. I dropped my pack and poles by the register box and grabbed my camera. I stood on the bridge to take shots of the falls upstream. After taking some shots, I headed downstream from the bridge to stand on some rocks to take pictures of the bridge and the falls beneath it. The rocks were wet and slippery and covered with leaves. After returning to the bridge, I walked upstream along a well-defined path. There were several side paths down to the stream and I stopped at each to take pictures of the individual falls and rapids along the way. There was a lot of interesting foam on the water. A few trees had some colorful leaves but in general most of the leaves were on then ground. At about 1:50 PM we started back toward the car. There was a little sun out by now and it was even warmer. The return trip is mostly downhill and we were back in the parking area before 2:30 PM. The hike is about 3.5 miles and it took us a little over 1.5 hours including the time at the falls for pictures.

On Friday, October 14th I decided to go out on a hike despite the weather forecast of rain and thunderstorms. I though I might hike to Giant Ledge and on the way inspect the damage to Route 47. I knew the bridge to Giant Ledge had been reported as missing but thought I could get across that stream without a problem. At the end of Pole Road, I started to turn onto Route 47 and saw a ROAD CLOSED sign. Since it also indicated that Frost Valley "guests" could proceed I decided I would also. Within a hundred feet I saw that there was heavy equipment working on trying to reconstruct the road. I thought to myself that even "Frost Valley guests" would have a hard time getting through the mess. It was raining lightly but I decided to head to Claryville and over Red Hill Road to check out a hike to the fire tower. I turned right on Red Hill Road and began the climb to Coons Road. It was like driving into a cloud! By the time I got to the turn to the fire tower I WAS in a cloud and it was time to change plans again. I headed down Sugarloaf Road toward the road to Sundown. When I got to Sundown, I intended to drive up the Peekamoose Road to photograph some waterfalls. This road also had a ROAD CLOSED sign but I decided to go as far as I could. As I drove along the road the damage from the storms was still very evident. In every spot where there was a small stream it was clear that the road had been washed away. All the campsites near Peekamoose were marked NO CAMPING. At about 11:30 AM I stopped at Bear Hole Brook and Sheba and I walked to the falls. I took some pictures and then walked back to the car. I donned my pack and we hiked up the far side of the stream until the next small falls came into view. I took some more pictures and then returned to the car. The high water made going further upstream unsafe if not impossible. I rove passed the Peekamoose trailhead and just around the bend again ran into road construction. I deiced to drive back to Sundown and out the the reservoir through Yagerville. When I got to Yagerville, I decided it was too early to end the day and got the idea I would head to Vernooy Kill Falls by way of Upper Cherrytown Road.

On Wednesday, October 12th I needed to get out for a quick hike for some exercise. The weather forecast was for showers early and then showers late with a break in between. The early showers did not develop but I decided to stay close to home by heading to Frick and Hodge Ponds. Although this is ppro ably he hike I have done the most, I had not been there in some time. I was hoping for some fall leaf color and thought I might try to find the waterfalls on the outlet stream from Mongaup Pond. We arrived at 9:00 AM and headed out the Quick Lake Trail to Frick Pond. The trail was wet and muddy all the way to the pond. I was disappointed as We got to the bridge at the outlet. There weren't many leaves left on the trees and those that remained were dull. The skies were overcast but the temperature was about 60 degrees. I was warm in my light windbreaker even though I had short sleeves on underneath. I only took a few pictures before continuing on the Quick Lake Trail. The blowdowns on this trail are multiplying each time I hike it. Most will require a good sized chainsaw and a "crew" of more than one to clear! The trail was damp in places but not too bad as we made Wagon Wheel Junction by 9:40 after covering 1.5 miles. We turned left to stay on the Quick Lake Trail which is also a snowmobile trail at this point. The trail gains some elevation and was not as wet as the lower part. It was longer than I remember but the sun came out a little along the way which always raises my spirits.

By 10:00 AM we were at Junkyard Junction having covered around 2.7 miles. Our quick pace was enjoyable and I took it as a challenge to keep it up.We tuned right on the Flynn Trail and immediately ran back into a wet and muddy trail. In addition, there was more blowdown on this trail than I have seen before. As we dropped down from the gate on the Flynn Trail to Hodge Pond, I decided to go right and go around the front of the pond for a change. After 4 miles of hiking, we arrived at Hodge Pond at 10:30 AM. The leaves around the pond were no better than at Frick but I took pictures anyway. We turned around and headed up the Flynn Trail to Big Rock Junction and then down the Flynn Trail to the parking area. Even this part of the Flynn Trail has several trees down which make hiking less enjoyable than before. Back at the car I decided that I had enough time to search for the water falls. It was 11:20 AM and we had finished the 6.7 mile hike in 2 hours and 20 minutes!

I drove down the Beech Mountain Road to the intersection with the Mongaup Pond Road. I parked on the side of the road and found the Old Hunter Road that runs down to the stream. We walked down to the bridge over the stream and I could hear the rushing water. I was disappointed to find water rushing under the bridge but no real falls. I could see a path along the far side of the stream and decided to follow it downstream. After only a short distance I found the falls! The falls have two nice drops and there was enough water to make them interesting. I took shots of the upper falls from the bank and then from a flat rock in the stream bed. I worked my way downstream and down a bank to an area below the lower falls. This allowed me to get more pictures from almost directly in front of the falls. This is a very nice place to visit and popular during warmer weather.

On Sunday, October 9th Cindy and I wanted to hike somewhere since is was such a gorgeous day. I was planning to hike Rusk with Doug Garrity and a few others on Monday and wanted an easy route. We decided that this was the day to go to the Basha Kill. Cindy and I had lived most of our lives in Sullivan County and had never visited this 2400 acre wildlife preserve in the southern part of the county. I knew that a rail trail ran along the eastern shore. It is all that remains of the Port Jervis toKingston branch of the O&W. On the western shore are the remains of the D&H Canal and its towpath. The two can be combined for a loop using Haven Road to cross the marsh on the northern end and Otisville Road to swing around the southern end. We drove down Route 17 after church and got off at exit 113 heading south on Route 209. After about 1.7 miles Haven Road appears on the left. I was not sure where the towpath was SOS we drove down Haven road and passed the parking area. Once we got to the bridge it was clear we had gone too far so we headed back to the parking area on the north side of Haven Road and parked there. The only trails I could find were NOT the towpath so we drove back out toward Route 209. Towpath Road was on the left almost all the way back out to the main road. We returned to the parking area and parked the car to begin our hike. We were both wearing light jackets but left them in the car as the temperature was in the high 60's or low 70's. At around 12:20 PM we started our hike by walking east on Haven Road through the marsh toward the rail trail on the eastern shore. We stopped on Haven Road to take some pictures of the marsh to the north and south. There was some color on the trees but not too much. There was evidence that the road had been flooded during the last storms. After saying "Hello" to someone fishing from the bridge, we continued to the rail trail and turned left or north. Within a few hundred feet we met some women from the Sullivan County Audubon Society. They knew my father and we talked. They were observing birds and migration patterns by sitting in the same spot for 24 hours. We thought it strange that they had seen over 40 species of birds but no eagles! One of the women told us that there was an observation "tower" to the north on the trail and we headed in that direction. The trail was relatively dry and the leaves were pretty in this area. After about a mile, we were at the trail to the tower and we turned left. Within .1 miles we were at the tower which was more of an observation platform. There we nice views over the marsh to the north and west. After taking some pictures, we walked a short loop back to the rail trail and headed back to Haven Road.

At Haven Road we crossed to the other side and tried to follow the rail trail south. The trail was completely covered with water for more than a quarter mile and we had to cross from one side to the other and use the banks to make it through this area. The banks were covered in barberry and some other thorny brush making the progress slow and painful. At some point I asked Cindy if she wanted to try to make the loop around the Basha Kill or return the way we came. We decided to go on around and walk the canal towpath back to the car. The rail trail dried out some with only a few muddy spots along the way. There were views of the marsh all along the way with some color. The trail is extremely straight which is not surprising given that it is the old railroad bed. At 3.7 miles we were at one of the larger parking areas just off South Road and near the Basha Kill Winery. There were quite a few people here and we stopped to take some pictures. The water is more open in this area and three or four kayaks were completing a trip and returning to shore. We left the parking area and continued on the trail which soon became wetter and muddier. In about .4 miles the Long Path markings appeared to head to the right off the rail trail so we followed them through a very muddy stretch. Another hiker, coming from the opposite direction, told us that the trail was a dead end the way we were going. We turned around and headed south on the rail trail again finding a sign that said "Long Path" at one point. At about 4.3 miles the trail again became impossibly wet and muddy so we backtracked and walked out to South Road to continue the hike.

At 4.5 miles we were about to cross a small stream on the road when I looked to the left and saw a waterfall. We walked to the base of the falls and it was even better than it appeared from the road. The water was flowing down over a wall of rock and was very pretty. I took some pictures before we walked back out to the road to continue. Walking on the road went quickly and in about another mile at 5.5 miles into the hike there was a small parking area on the right. We stopped and walked down to an observation deck. The deck gave a nice view of a stream flowing out of the Basha Kill. I noticed a road bridge just downstream and we headed in that direction after a few photographs. We turned right onto Otisville Road which, according to the map I had, runs out to Route 209. We began to look for some sign of the D&H towpath that the map showed turning off the road just before Route 209. We got to the main road after walking after walking almost .5 miles without seeing the towpath. We decided to walk down to the Stonefield Parking Area where we knew we could get on the towpath. After only .2 miles on the road, I saw a sign for the Basha Kill and we turned right and headed down this dirt road. As we approached a flat area a path turn left and I could see a car a short distance into the field. When we got to the car, I asked the couple who were there about the towpath. They were very familiar with the area and said we were headed in the right direction. In just a few hundred feet we entered the woods and climbed onto an wide, elevated "road".

The canal and the towpath have an interesting history and I am sorry to say I don't know enough about it. The canal ran to the left or west of the towpath and in many places the canal was very obvious. There are still stone walls on either side of the canal and even the trees that now grow in it cannot hide it. We headed north and then east to get around a hill before heading north for most of the rest of the trip. The canal is now dry in most places but in some areas there is water which hints at the original purpose. In a few places we found bridges of rock built across the canal. After the canal was no longer in use, these bridges were built across it to reach the towpath and the Basha Kill. At 7.5 miles we reached the road that runs down to the Stonfield parking area and this continued for about .35 miles. We continued on the towpath and at 8.25 miles came across a bridge that was built over the canal. The span of the bridge no longer exists but the stonework that made up the abutments is still there. Also present are the stone walls that lined the lane that leads up to the bridge. A little further on the trail crosses a chasm on a wood bridge. Just to the left is another stone bridge that crossed the canal. By this time we both realized that the trip was a lot longer than we had expected. Despite the fact that the terrain was pretty flat we were a little tired. Finally at 10.1 miles we came to a gate which led out onto Towpath Road. This short road soon intersected Haven Road and we walked the .3 miles back to the car. What had started as a short stroll turned into a 10.4 mile hike lasting 4 hours! This was a fast pace especially since we were hindered by the wet, muddy and poorly marked trails. Despite the pace we got to see some scenic and historical points of interest along the way.

On Thursday, October 6th I wanted to get in another hike before at least two days of commitments that would not leave time for my favorite hobby! I was a little sore after the forced march from the day before and wanted to stay close to home. I decided to go to Long Pond and park at the trailhead on Flugertown Road to hike the loop using Basily Road. Sheba and I arrived at the parking area at 9:45 AM and started out right away. The temperature was in the mid 50's and the sun was out. I had on my light softshell, gloves and hat but knew I would be taking them off shortly after beginning the hike. The first part of the hike is THE uphill and after that it is relatively flat. On the way up the first hill there was a very large evergreen tree across the path. This one is going to take a crew to remove and a trail is already developing around it. After .7 miles of hiking we had gained 360 feet to an elevation of about 2210 feet which is the highest point on the hike. By 1.1 miles we were at he turn down to Long Pond. I wanted to take some pictures from the shores of the pond but it was hard to get close because of the high water from the rain. After taking some shots, I removed jacket, hat and gloves and we walked back out to the main trail. At 1.4 miles we passed by the trail junction which allows a "shortcut" out to Flugertown Road. We turned right and headed out for the longer loop. The next section of trail was wet in places with a few new ponds developing. At 1.8 mile we passed the spur trail to the leanto.

We continued to walk on almost flat trail through some muddy areas and passed a few woods roads that crossed the trail. At 2.9 miles the trail met Basily Road and we turned left to head back to Flugertown Road and the car. A right here leads to Black Bear Road and Round Pond. After a short walk we were at the beaver pond, which was high. Crossing would have been difficult but the addition of a footbridge has made the crossing easier. I took some pictures and was again surprised at the almost total lack of leaf color! We crossed the brook and headed back to the car on Flugertown Road. I stopped a few times to take pictures of the stream and soon we were on a paved surface. We were back at the car just before noon having covered the 6.1 mile hike in a little more than 2 hours for an overall pace of 3 mph.

On Wednesday, October 5th Karl and I decided to get in a hike before my cross country practice. I was thinking about Slide from the Denning trailhead using the Curtis-Ormsbee Trail but the 10 mile distance was a little longer than we could comfortably hike in the time we had. We settled on hiking to the Penguin Rocks on the Dry Brook Ridge Trail from the Millbrook trailhead. I though this would be challenging but short enough so that we could easily finish before my practice started at 3:00 PM. Although I thought we got an early start, the drive was longer than I remembered particularly the distance along Millbrook Road. At one point we were stopped by road repair near the Grants Mills covered Bridge. I was glad to see the bridge seemed undamaged but the low-lying areas of the road took a hit. The temperature was in the low 50's which was an improvement over the high 30's in Livingston manor early in the morning! The skies were blue with a few clouds. We did see some leaf color on the drive but nothing spectacular. We arrived at the parking area just before 9:30 AM and started our hike immediately. The climbing gets started right away with the first .8 miles gaining 450 feet to an elevation over 3000 feet. There are some impressive ledges along the way but the trail skillfully passes through them. Most of the rocks had a nice green, mossy covering and the walk was very pleasant. Karl and I were both glad to be out and the dogs were obviously having a good time. Sheba ignores all wildlife but Maggie has to investigate every chipmunk. After the initial climb there is a drop over the next .5 miles to the lean-to where the trail turns slightly right and heads north. Over the next mile there is a 700 foot gain to about 3430 feet making Dry Brook Ridge #37 on the Catskill Highest Hundred list.

Once we were on the ridge the trail flattened some with a few ups and downs here and there. The woods were pretty open and the trail had a few prickers but nothing very extraordinary. There wasn't much blowdown and the walking was easy enough that we kept up a good pace. As we approached 3.2 miles I began to have some questions. From my previous trip report we should be getting near the viewpoints but from the surroundings I knew we weren't even close! At about 3.3 miles we were at the trail junction with the Huckleberry Loop Trail coming up from Ploutz Road and I knew something was wrong. To make matters worse I had left both map and compass on my desk. It was 11:15 AM which meant we had already spent an hour and 45 minutes hiking. This was a good pace and I knew that going back would be quicker but I was worried about getting to practice on time. I reasoned that the viewpoints couldn't be that far ahead and I didn't want to hike over 6 miles without reaching my goal. We stepped up our pace even more as we headed for the Penguin Rocks! The trail now had a lot more brush and areas of prickers. At times it would wander very close to the edge of the ridge and I would think we were approaching our destination. I had only been to the viewpoints two or three times from this direction and that didn't help any. After teasing us a little, the trail would head back toward the jungle at the middle of the ridge. As it got later and later I began to second guess my decision and I know Karl was questioning my sanity!

Finally, things began to look familiar and we arrived at a viewpoint...but not the one I wanted. I thought the main lookout couldn't be too much further so I upped the pace to a trail jog. Another viewpoint appeared and I kept going. I passed by another viewpoint which I KNEW was the last one before the main lookout that I wanted. This time I was right and we were at the lookout. It was 1.4 miles from the trail junction to the lookouts and it was 11:45 AM. We had avearge almost 3 miles per hour over difficult terrain. The trip up had taken two hours and 15 minutes and I knew we would have to be quick on the way back for me to make my commitment in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the leaf colors from the viewpoint were almost absent. A few yellows here and there with some reds but not what I had hoped for. The best colors were the bushes right near the viewpoints! I took some shots of the scenery including the Pepacton Reservoir since there was very little haze. I also shot some photographs of Karl and the dogs. After a brief stay, we packed up and got ready to hurry back to the car. There were a few places I would have stopped along the way but the time constraint made that impossible. We started back at 11:55 AM and were back at the car at 1:55 PM making the return trek 15 minutes shorter. It seemed like we were going even faster but some of the steeper descents slowed us down. We covered 9.4 miles in 4.5 hours. I saved some time by driving back on the Barkaboom Road and made practice on time, barely. I still wondered why the hike was almost 3 miles longer than my previous trip report. After I cam back from school, I reread my report more carefully. It clearly stated that the description was for a hike that stopped at the trail junction and that the lookouts were about 1.4 miles beyond. I just hadn't read what I had written carefully the first time!

On Monday, October 3rd Cindy and I were ready to get out of the house after a week of rain and family commitments that kept us out of the woods. We decided to hike to look for some fall colors which are nonexistent in Livingston Manor. We discussed and debated until it was getting late and we decided to stay as close to home as possible by hiking from Mary Smith Road over Mary Smith hill to Holiday Brook Road and back. A previous trip report showed about a 5.4 mile hike and I didn't remember it being more than a little hilly. The weather forecast was for cloudy skies with showers on and off throughout the day. We arrived at the trail head just before 10:00 AM and got started quickly. The temperature in town in the morning was a bout 40 degrees. It had warmed slightly but I wore a light softshell, hat and gloves! My trip report said :be ready for some climbing in the first half mile!" I was right! the trail starts up an unnamed hill which is part of the Middle Mountain "range". In the first .45 miles the trail gains just less than 500 feet. As I had suspected the trail had recently been cleared which is what we found on the other end when we came in from Route 206. We did find some large trees down across the trail in places and some smaller ones that seemed new. After a little more than 15 minutes of hiking our blood was pumping and I was sweating. The trail leveled briefly and we stopped at the Middle Mountain lookout. This is a fairly open viewpoint and offers nice views to the east and south. On this day there wasn't much to see as the skies were overcast and the leaves had no color!

From the lookout the trail continued to rise to 2910 feet at .9 miles. This is the highest point on the hike and has more elevation than Mary Smith Hill! From this high point the trail descends about 240 feet over the next 1.0 miles. At this point there is another lookout through the trees to the south and west. Again, there wasn't much to see since the leaves had no color. After the viewpoint, the trail drops slightly into an area with a LOT of prickers. We were particularly thankful that someone had taken the time to beat back the brush. From here we started up Mary Smith hill but the climb was not as steep as the one from the car up the first climb. The top of the hill was only .25 miles and 120 vertical feet from the Col. We then dropped down the other side and headed toward the turn around point on Holiday Brook Road. At about 2.7 miles into the hike there was a large tree blocking the trail. I had to take off my pack and shimmy under the blowdown since working around it would have meant a trek through some mean looking briars! Cindy decided she did not want to make the attempt and would wait until Sheba and I returned. It was also clear that my previous GPS track was wrong since we were not at the road as the track indicated. Sheba and I started down the hill to the road which I estimated was a little less than .5 miles. The descent was steep and covered with wet and slippery leaves making speed...dangerous. The trail passed through and around several mossy green ledges but I just wanted to get down and back as soon as possible. There were several more areas of blowdowns that required detours until the trail leveled near the bottom, passed the edge of a field and ended up at the parking area and road. We had made the descent of in about 18 minutes. We turned around and had to face the return ascent. I did stop once to take some pictures of the ledges. We were back with Cindy at around 12:25 PM which meant we had gone UP faster than we had gone DOWN especially considering the stop for photos. Cindy was rested and I was tired but we started out at a fast pace back to the car. I did not want to be late for practice! I took off my jacket as I was VERY warm. We did not stop on the way back and arrived at the car at 1:40 PM. We had taken 2 hours to get to the point where Cindy stopped and an hour and 15 minutes to get back! We covered the 6.3 mile hike in 3.5 hours.

On Monday, September 26th Cindy and I decided to hike to look for some fall colors. After some of the colors I found the day before at Balsam Lake Mountain and Vly Pond, I was anxious to find some ore. We decided to go to Bear Spring where we saw some of the best falls colors last year. I thought that we would be early but that it would be interesting to get some pictures before peak colors and make a comparison. Bear Spring is pretty close to Livingston Manor and doesn't have to much elevation change which pleases Cindy. My plan was to park at the main lot and hike east to a wide woods road that overlooks a clearcut area. We would then follow this road south to a trail that would take us north to Launt Pond. From there East Trout Brook Road would get us back to the trail to the car. On the way to Bear Spring there was a lot of fog and low hanging clouds and I began to wonder if we would get the chance to see anything on the hike. As we climbed Bear Spring Mountain from Downsville, the fog began to disappear and my mood improved. I parked in the lot and we were on the trail by 9:30 AM. The grass was very wet with dew and there was standing water on the trail. The trails at Bear Spring are designed for horses and there was ample evidence that they had been ridden recently! This also means the trails aren't marked for hiking and few maps exist.

We hiked east and crossed a field before heading down to a trail that crossed East Trout Brook Road. After crossing the road, we stayed to the left and hiked up a hill on the trail that parallels Route 206/7. At the next T junction we turned left and headed down to the wide woods road. I could see that up ahead there was some color and some interesting low hanging clouds in the valleys. Once we got to the road, we both began taking pictures as we walked. It was walk a short distance, take a picture and repeat for almost half a mile. As we walked our angle kept changing as did the angle of the sun.The fall colors were not quite ready in this area but we both felt they would be there in a week or 10 days. After about .5 miles, we entered the woods and the views disappeared. We hiked up a small hill and at about 2.85 miles we turned right on another woods road that we had hiked the last time we were at Bear Spring. This trail drops almost 550 feet over the next 1.4 miles. At 3 miles into the hike the trail turns nearly 180 degrees changing direction from southeast to northwest. Along the way there is a break in the trees that reveals another clearcut area. The trail ends at a parking area on East Trout Brook Road just south of Launt Pond. We made a right and walked .3 miles up to the pond. Last year the trees around the pond were on fire with color. On this day the colors were starting to change but were not quite there. After a few pictures we headed back out to the road. I had used East Trout Brook Road to hike a loop before but I had walked down it! This time we had to walk back up the road. The walk was about a mile but gained around 300 feet. When we reached the trail, we turned left and followed our path from earlier back to the car. We were back by 12:00 PM having covered 6 miles in 2.5 hours.

On Sunday, September 25th I was very depressed when I awoke to find a beautiful fall day reminiscent of "Indian summer" and not the rain that was predicted. One look at weather only made things worse since no rain was approaching and only a few clouds seemed to be on the way. My anxiety stemmed from the fact that I was scheduled to instruct a CPR class ALL AFTERNOON after church. When I got home from church, I gathered my materials and met the other instructor at the firehouse. I was supposed to be a small class and by the appointed time only two people had appeared. We decided to try another day and I was very happy! After considering some options I remembered that two friends, Cindy and Brian. were supposed to be at the Balsam Lake fire tower and I decided to head that way. I knew they might have to leave early so I drove quickly up the Beaverkill Road to the trailhead. The leaves were already beginning to change and so far they were not the bright colors we hope for. By the time we arrived at the parking area the temper Aure was in the 70's and it was more humid than I had expected. The road was passable but still showed some damaged from the flooding. There was only one other car in the lot when we headed out on the trail at 1:20 PM. The first part of the trail was wet and muddy and I hoped this would not continue for the entire hike. There was no register in the trail box. This situation is now common place and I still wonder whose responsibility it is to collect the old registers and place new ones. I know they have never been used for missing persons but they are important in determining trail usage! There continued to be some water on the trail and a few blowdowns but otherwise it was in good shape. Sheba and I kept up a good pace and we made the first turn at 1:42 PM taking about 20 minutes for the .9 mile walk.

The trail up the mountain was not wet except for the part by the spring. We kept a good pace up the trail as I wanted to try to get their while the tower was still open. We were soon on the summit plateau. The leaves near the top were already starting to change colors and the smell of the balsam fir was very strong. As we approached the tower we heard voices. We entered the clearing at 2:10 PM covering the 1.75 miles in 50 minutes. I talked to the two couples who had hiked in from Millbrook but the tower was closed! The other hikers had a husky with them that they put on a leash. I regretted nit brining a leash for Sheba but she was not interested in the other dog. I took her to the first landing on the tower and then headed up. The skies were still partly sunny but the clouds were starting to roll in. The leaves were already changing in most places I could see. I took some pictures, checked to see that Sheba was where I told her to stay and took some more pictures. After that, I headed down the tower and we were on the trail down the other side of the mountain by 2:20 PM. This trail was wet and muddy in several spots especially were it leveled off. I walked around the muddiest places carefully and by 2:35 PM we made the right turn on the trail back to the car. The trail was still clear of most brush but all the rocks were wet and slippery. I tried to get some views down into the Gulf of Mexico or across to the next set of hills but there were no good ones and the sky was now almost completely overcast. We arrived at the lower trail junction at 3:00 PM and were at the car by 3:20 PM. We had covered about 4.3 miles in 2 hours. At this point I was still fresh and it was still early. Although the skies we cloudy, I did not think it would rain so I decided to hike to Vly Pond.

Vly Pond is just a few hundred feet of bushwhacking off the trail and the backdrop is Graham Mountain. As we started out on the trail, I stopped in the field to take some pictures. The colors here were more vibrant than anywhere else and Balsam Lake Mountain was in the background. After taking several pictures from different angles, we continued on our way. The trail descends along a woods road and there was a LOT of new and some old blowdown that should be cleared. The descent is about .5 miles to where the trail crosses Black Brook on a bridge. The bridge was in good shape with no signs of damage from the flooding. Over the next ,4 miles the trail ascends and then moves up and down while heading generally east northeast. As we hiked I began to recall that the majority of the hike to the two ponds, Vly and Tunis, was the distance from the trail head to Vly! at 5.7 miles we we at the bridge across the Gulf of Mexico Brook which also was in good shape. It was missing one side rail which has been gone for over a year! Just after a short uphill we were at the outlet brook for Vly Pond. I decided to stay on the near side and Sheba and I bushwhacked up to the shore of the pond near the beaver dam. We arrived at about 4:05 PM and I was surprised that with all the rain the beaver pond was not overflowing. The dam was intact but the water looked a little stagnant. The colors around the pond were excellent and reflected nicely in the water. The mountains formed a perfect backdrop. The only problem was the now nearly complete overcast. I would have preferred some blue sky and clouds but took a number of pictures anyway. We didn't stay long and were soon on our way back. The trip back went quickly. At one point I thought I might try walking out to the Beaverkill Road on a woods road that crosses the trail. I looked at my map and noticed the enormous bow in the road that would add miles to the trip which was not what I was looking for! We followed the trail back to the car and were in the parking area just before 5:00 PM having covered 7.6 miles in 3.5 hours including a number of photographic stops.

Summer 2011

On Monday, September 19th I decided to hike from Route 206 to Berry Brook Road over the Campbell Mountain, Pelnor Hollow and Mary Smith Trails. These are all part of the Finger Lakes Trail system and I had just bought the maps for the entire trail. Cindy and I have hike from Route 206 in the opposite direction many times but I had hiked over Brock Mountain only once. I decided that the it was most appropriate to hike through as I wanted to do the entire route and the return trip would add nothing to the experience. In addition, I calculated the one way distance to be about 6 miles and I did not have the time for a 12 mile hike! We drove both cars up Berry Brook Road from Roscoe. Along the way the condition of the road reminded USA of the destruction from the recent flooding. A town of Rockland DPW crew was working to repair one culvert and the road around it. The rest of the road surface had potholes where there was pavement and reverted to gravel in many places. We parked one car where the Mary Smith Trail crosses and then drove out the other end of Berry Brook Road to Route 30. The drive along the Pepacton Reservoir to Route 206 seemed to be both shorter and have better road then the drive up Berry Brook Road! We parked at the pulloff on Route 206 where the Campbell Mountain Trail crosses and crossed the road to begin our hike by 10:00 AM. The trail is a wide woods road at the beginning and stays this way for most of its length. We immediately began an ascent through hardwood forest that seemed exceptionally green. The trail was wet in places but these spots were easily avoided and this was the case for most of the hike. What also became evident as we hiked was that someone had recently been through to clean up the trail. All but the largest blowdowns were cut with a chainsaw and all the prickers and nettles were cut back a good distance. Hiking this trail can be a real pain but the work of the trail maintainers made it a real pleasure! For the first .5 miles the trail gains 450 feet with a few short but steep climbs. After that, the trail goes through the first of several switchbacks to give hikers a rest before gaining another 230 feet over the next .4 miles.

At about 1 mile we reached the false summit of Brock Mountain which, on many maps and GPS units, is marked as Brock Mountain. I began to notice piles of rock that did not look natural and I knew there was a quarry in this area. I walked up one pile of rock and began to look around. Nothing looked too extraordinary at first but my persistence paid off! Soon I saw a large and deep pit and was able to walk down into it. After taking a few pictures, I came up out of the pit and worked my way back to the trail. There were several other smaller but still impressive pits along the way. Back on the trail it was time to tackle the rest of the ascent up the "real" Brock Mountain. After a slight descent from the false summit the trail ascends about 300 feet to the top of Brock Mountain at about 1.9 miles into the hike. We arrived at just after 11:00 AM and I knew I had to watch the time to get to XC practice without being late. The trail does not actually pass over the highest point on the mountain where there is purported to be a USGS benchmark but we did top out at about 2440 feet. I did not worry about this as we descended the other side of Brock Mountain. As we started down what turned out to be a steep descent, there was an area where many of the trees were dead. I assumed this was from a forest fire. This did allow for some interesting views of the valley with another ridge beyond. After that, we continued the hike over the well-maintained but poorly marked trail. I guess whoever was doing the cleaning and clearing had not been given trail markers as they were very few and far between!

At about 2.4 miles the trail headed north and then southeast after a short distance. This prominent switchback is not shown on the NYNJTC maps and was a little confusing. We had to be careful to keep watching for blazes since they are few and far between in places and there area lot of old roads and snowmobile trails. At 3 miles the trail turns almost 90 degrees to the right and heads northeast. Shortly, at 3.3 miles, we again turned 90 degrees to the right and headed southeast. In both cases there were snowmobile trails or woods roads in the area of the turns. There are really no views along the way but the woods are pretty. In some places there are stone walls and the hint of a foundation. At 3.85 we made another 90 degree turn to the right onto an old road which was eroded but very recognizable with stone walls on both sides. The was a slight uphill but the trail WAs mostly level for the next .3 miles. At this point the Campbell Mountain Trail ends. To the right is the Little Spring Brook Trail that leads out to Route 206. We turned left onto the Pelnor Hollow Trail.

In the next 1 mile the trail climbs over 400 feet through mixed hardwood and evergreen forest. There was some running water at the beginning but after that the trail dried out. There was a lot of blowdown in places but all had been cleared. There were some steeper places and by new our legs were tired. Near the top of this climb the trail levels and our reward was the Split Rock Lookout. At the lookout there is a large boulder and an area where part of the bedrock has separated. The light was a little bright but the views to the west were good. There isn't much to see other than trees and mountains except for one house on the far ridge. They must have a great view and an interesting drive in the winter! The lookout was 5.2 miles into the hike and we arrived at about 12:40 PM. From the lookout the trail ascends for about .1 miles at a 26% grade. This isn't very far but it looks like a WALL from the bottom. At 5.3 miles, we turned left on the Mary Smith Trail as the Pelnor Hollow Trail continues straight ahead. The Mary Smith Trail is an almost continuous downhill to Berry Brook Road. There were some spots where a lot of brush and blowdowns had been cleared. There were also a few tricky descent through rocks and around trees. On the way down we met a couple coming up from the parking area. They were hiking through n the Pelnor Hollow Trail and were the only people we saw on the hike. After 1.1 miles and a drop of over 500 feet we ere back at the car. We had hiked 6.4 miles in 3.5 hours. All that was left was to drive back out to Route 206 to pick up the other car.

On Saturday, September 17th I wanted to do a hike in the Harriman/Bear Mountain area. I knew I didn't want to pay the parking fee at Bear Mountain and I knew there was a cross country meet in the morning. I thought I might park at the lot off Perkins Drive and do the West Mountain and Torne loop from there. As I exited the Quickway and got on Route 6 I decided to change plans and park at the lot where the Long Path crosses Route 6. I had parked here before and hiked to the Torrey Memorial but this time I was going to hike the other way and make a loop of some kind. Sheba and I arrived at 10:15 AM and started hiking immediately. We walked out to Route 6 and crossed being careful of the cars that were NOT paying any attention to the HIKERS signs! The Long Path crosses almost directly across from the exit to the parking area. The trail follows wide woods roads in many places and I had to be careful since there are many fire roads and other paths that crisscross the trails and it is easy to get lost even with a map. The Long path heads almost directly southwest and climbs around 400 feet in the first 1.8 miles. Just before another climb we stopped at a series of rock overhangs which are labeled "cave shelter" on the NYNJTC maps. After taking a few picture, we climbed to the top of the rise and walked along a flat part of the trail to a rock shelter at 2.0 miles. The shelter faces west and the map marks it as a viewpoint. Like so many of the places that were once viewpoints the trees have grown to block most of the view. I took a few pictures before a quick little descent to the junction with the yellow Menomine Trail. At the trail junction we went straight ahead looking for Hippo Rock.

We found Hippo Rock at 2.3 miles into the hike and it really DID look like a hippo from the front. I took some pictures before heading back to the trail junction and turning right on the yellow Menomine Trail heading generally southeast. The trail is a long descent along a woods road and soon we were passing by Lake Nawahunta. At 3.6 miles we crossed Seven Lakes Drive and headed toward Silvermine Lake at about noon. Several groups were picnicking in the picnic area as we walked by. We headed toward Silvermine Lake and walked the trail along the west shore of the lake. Several groups of scouts passed us on our way along the lake. I stopped to take a few pictures and then continued on the trail heading for the Brien Memorial Shelter. Over the next .6 miles the trail gains 320 feet to the site of the shelter. On the way we passed a couple hiking up the trail and I talked to them about the mines on Black Mountain. As Sheba and I continued up the trail we met yet another group of scouts heading down passed us. We arrived at the shelter and trail junction at 12:45 PM at about 5.3 miles into the hike. I took some pictures and we took time for lunch and a drink before turning left onto the Appalachian Trail and starting up a short, steep rock climb. This trail is marked in white for the AT but also has red blazes as it is part of the Ramapo Dunderberg Trail. After reaching the top of the rock scramble, the trail flattens some with a few ups and downs. The skies were cloudy but the temperatures were still warm enough. We had hiked about .5 miles from the shelter when I decided to consult the map again. I reached into my pocket and...NO MAP! I checked my other pocket and still couldn't find it. I decided to go back and look for it despite the fact that I knew where I was going. The map and I had been together for some time. I started at an accelerated pace back toward the shelter. On the way back I met the couple I had first encountered on the way up to the shelter. They had not seen the map so Sheba and I continued back to the shelter. I scoured the ground carefully all the way back to the shelter but did not find the map until...I checked my pack! I was happy to have the map and really didn't mind the added distance. So now we turned around and headed toward Black Mountain at an even faster pace!

For about .9 miles from the shelter the trail rolls up and down slightly until at 7.2 miles it turns to the right. Now we were hiking southeast rather than northeast. At this turn we met the couple again. They were trying to decide whether to turn left to go back to the car or right to at least get to the lookout above. I talked to them briefly and then Sheba and I started up Black Mountain. After a short but steep climb we were at the viewpoint over Silvermine Lake. This lookout is really worth the climb and we stopped to take some pictures before heading for the summit. We were on the summit just before 2:00 PM at 7.7 miles into the hike. The views were very hazy and the skies were still overcast. Despite the conditions the New York City skyline was easy to spot. From the summit we started down a very steep descent of almost 400 feet in .35 miles. A little further on we turned left and headed almost due north on the blue 1779 Trail. The trail parallels the Palisades Parkway which is just over a ridge to the right. There were no views and the trail was a little wet in places. still, the 1.6 miles to Seven Lakes drive near the Long Mountain traffic circle were pleasant enough. We crossed the road and walked to the traffic circle. We walked up Route 6 a little before crossing to the other side where we would pick up the 1179 Trail again...if I could only find it. There were no markers where we crossed and after a diversion to the west we headed back east to the area just north of the traffic circle. There was one blaze on a tree and then nothing. After an uninteresting walk up a path, I looked from the tree with the blaze across a gravel storage area and found another blaze on a pole and a little farther on another on a tree. We entered the woods to continue the hike.

The trail headed north toward the Popolopen Gorge Trail and Turkey Hill Lake just skirting a climb up Summer Hill. After about .6 miles, I decided to walk straight ahead on Summer Hill Road rather than take the circuitous route on the trail. When I crossed a small stream, I knew something was wrong but I continued to head north and east. I turned around and walked back over the stream to see the turn toward Turkey Hill Lake that would have been obvious if I had stayed on the trail! Soon we were at the dam for the lake and I took a few pictures. We continued around the west shore of the lake which had several groups of people at various spots on the shore. After a few more stops for pictures, I decided it was time to get back to the car. From the dam it was all uphill for the next .9 miles until we hit the Long Path again at 12.2 miles. We turned left on the Long Path and hiked the .3 miles back to the car. It was 4:15 PM and we had covered 12.5 miles in 6 hours.

On Wednesday, September 14th I decided to try another hike in Delaware County this time staying as "local" as could. I decided to park on Mary Smith Hill Road at the trail head and hike to Cabot Mountain and back. This would require hiking over Middle Mountain and Beech Hill twice! I had a limited amount of time so, of course, I got a late start arriving at the trail head and starting the hike at around 9:30 AM. The road was in good shape even when it turned to dirt part way up. When you drive to the trail head, don't give up and think you are in the wrong place or you have missed the parking area. The lot is well-marked on the right side of the road. The road beyond this point looked so good I thought I might drive out to Beech Hill Road and take that route home. There was another car parked in the lot which is unusual but they had not signed into the register and there are two ways to hike from this trail head. Sheba and I got on the trail right away and started hiking east toward Middle Mountain. The trail was damp even wet and muddy in pleas which was not surprising as we have had a lot of rain. Someone had been through to knock down many of the prickers, nettles and other brush. This entire trail turned out to be a true Catskills trail with rocks, roots, prickers, nettles, damp places, wet spots and blowdown! The skies were very overcast and it looked like it might rain several times. The temperatures were in the 60's and warmer to the high 70's during the day. The hike was longer and harder than I expected. I decided to take pictures on the way back and get to my destination first. As it turned out, there were no clear viewpoints along the way and even the Middle Mountain Vista had grown in with brush and trees. Even if there had been viewpoints, they would have been obscured by the haze.
The climb up Middle Mountain got steep in a few places and there were several large trees across the trail and many smaller branches. Between .5 miles and .6 miles the trail winds its way up over a rocky patch. At the top of the climb the trail levels and makes a big switchback before heading back toward the summit which we reached at about 1 mile and just before 10:00 AM. From the summit of Middle Mountain the trail loses almost 300 feet to the Col with Beech Hill. The climb to Beech Hill wasn't long but I was a little tired at this point. From the top of Beech Hill the trail was not cleared as well and there was some blowdown that forced us off trail and into the nettles and prickers. This descent was also VERY wet and muddy inplaces. As I was coming down I remembers that we had one more hill to climb before coming back to climb back up this mess. In .6 miles we had dropped over 500 feet and were on a small private road. We turned right and walked out to Beech Hill Road where we turned right and Walk to the trail head for the Touch Me Not Trail to Cabot Mountain. We had walked 2.5 miles over hilly, rough trails and it was 10:45 AM. The hike up Cabot started along a very wet woods road. The land was posted on both sides as we started to climb. The first .25 miles weren't bad but then the trail got serious. There were several blowdowns on parts of the trail where it was hard to get around them. The trail got steep in spots. I had wanted to get to the Beaverkill Vista but that was another .4 miles beyond the summit and I was already feeling the pressure of getting back in time for practice. In .5 miles the trail ascended about 600 feet and then leveled off for a pleasant walk of .35 miles to the last climb. We ascended another 125 feet over the next .3 miles and walked a little passed the summit before turning around to walk back. The hike back worried me as I was already tired. I knew the hike down would not be as hard as the hike up but these trails are still tricky and it is hard to get up any momentum. Also, after hiking down Cabot we would have to hike back over Beech Hill and Middle Mountain. We turned around at 11:40 AM and were at the foot of Beech Mountain by 12:30 PM having covered 6.6 miles. Although the climb up Beech Mountain is steep it didn't seem that hard and by 1:00 PM we were headed down Beech Hill to the col with Middle Mountain. This part seemed to go quickly also and soon we were going down Middle Mountain, through the switchback, over the rocks and toward the parking area. We arrived at 2:00 PM covering the 7.8 mile hike in just over 4.5 hours.

On Monday, September 12th I decided to again respect the ban on hiking in Greene and Ulster counties so I headed to Dry Brook Ridge near Margaretville in Delaware County. As I drove up Route 206 toward Downsville, there was no evidence of flooding from the excessive rain. Although the Pepacton Reservoir looked very muddy, Route 30 around the reservoir showed no damage. From the bridge the New York City roads were good until just before the junction with Route 30. There was debris along the road and several; cones marked places where the road had been undermined. I turned right onto Huckleberry Road and then left onto Hill Road. I parked the car at the small parking area and we crossed the road to get on the red Huckleberry Loop Trail by 9:30 AM. I decided that this was a day to hike as fast as we could to the lookouts and back without stopping for pictures except at the viewpoints. The temperature was in the high 60's when we started but it did seem warm. The very first part of the trail was wet but was drier the further we climbed. This route passes through a red pine plantation planted by the CCC and the tall straight tees are very interesting. The path is covered by pine needles and is almost an ideal surface for hiking. As we hiked up the trail, the trees changed from the pines to hardwoods. In several places around 1 mile, there was some large blowdown that had already been cleared using chainsaws. I hadn't hiked from this direction since early last winter and it was hard for me to tell when the work had been done. Someone had cut back most of the brush and prickers and we made good time up to the ridge at 1.85 miles. The elevation gain over this distance is a respectable 1150 feet. We had been hiking generally northeast and now the trail turned almost 90 degrees to head southeast. The trail continued another .4 miles to the junction with the blue Dry Brook Ridge Trail.

The Dry Brook Ridge trail was wet and muddy in several places over the next .7 miles since it is almost flat. The forest was very green and there was only one or two areas of blowdown in the path and these were easily negotiated. In one of the muddy areas I saw a very LARGE bear paw print. At 2.95 miles we hit a little ascent for .3 miles that led to the lookouts west and south. It was 10:50 AM which meant we had hit the lookouts in 1 hour and 20 minutes! This was the first time we stopped and I took off my pack to get out the camera. We both had a drink and I gave Sheba a snack before I walked out onto the rocks to take some pictures. A heavy haze hung over everything but the sun was starting to break through.I took a number of pictures and discarded many of them but the ones that remained were interesting. I gathered my equipment and we headed back the way we had come. The return route is mostly flat and down with two of there short ascents. After the turn down off the ridge, we met the only other person we would see on the hike. We exchanged greetings and continued in opposite directions. As we passed through the pines again, I just had to stop and take a few shots of these majestic trees. We were back at the car by 12:10 PM having covered the 6.5 mile hike in 2 hours and 45 minutes.

On Saturday, September 10th I decided to get back into the woods after a week of rain and commitments had interfered with my hiking.I wanted to respect closing by the DEC of the Catskill trails in Ulster and Greene counties so I chose to try attempt to hike at Schunemunk Mountain in Orange County. I knew that this area had been hit by flooding and was fully prepared to implement a backup plan if this one did not work. I noticed from by trip reports that it had been over two years since I had been on this hike! I was glad that as I drove down the Quickway from Livingston Manor the skies began to clear. This hike has many nice viewpoints and I wanted to be able to tuatara some pictures. The forecast was for partly sunny skies and that forecast looked to be accurate. As I drove through Washingtonville on Route 94, I noticed that every house had a pile of carpet, furniture and black garbage bags out front. Several lawns and low-lying Aareas were still flooded! I turned right on Orrs Mills Road just passed the sign that said Salisbury Mills. After that it was a right on Clove Road and then a left on Otterkill Road to the trailhead parking area. There was only one car parked as we pulled in just before 9:00 AM. The parking area has a clear view of the Moodna Viaduct which is used by Metro North to span the valley. It is the largest free-standing steel structure east of the Mississippi. To begin the hike we walked up the road toward the viaduct where the trail actually begins. We passed another hiker coming toward us. I thought he either got a very early start or did not hike a very long distance. We turned into the woods on the white Trestle Trail just before the viaduct and I let Sheba off her leash. I had intended to go up the Trestle Trail to the ridge and then hike out one ridge and back on the other. As we approached turn for the red Otterkill Trail I developed a new plan. I decided to hike all the way to the other end of the Otterkill Trail and then up the Dark Hollow Trail to the eastern ridge. After a visit to the Megaliths, I would have to decide whether I wanted to hike back on the eastern ridge or attempt to cross Barton Swamp to get to the western ridge. I knew that the amount of rain that had fallen over the week might make this route interesting.

The Otterkill Trail parallels the railroad tracks for 2.1 miles. Although the total ascent amounts to 300 feet the change in elevation from one end to the other is 10 feet! It is flat but rolls a little. This does not mean that it is boring. As we got on the trail and went up a little rise there was a lookout to the east. This viewpoint was not very high but offered a nice view of the hills which were still covered in haze with a few low-hanging clouds. As we continued to walk, I looked at to see Sheba standing with six feet of a pair of deer. They looked at each other and then the deer walked away. The trail was wet for almost the entire length and the parts that were not wet showed that there had recently been water running across the trail. Along the trail I began to notice and extensive network of stone walls. Some of these wall were low but many were built up. These remnants of a past way of life always interest me. The solid construction of these walls made them permanent and a real indication that someone worked hard and sweated hard to farm the land. At 1.2 miles the trail turns sharply to the left on one of the many woods roads in the park. We walked straight ahead down to Baby Brook so that I could check out the water volume. From the sound the brook was running high and I was not disappointed. The problem was getting a clear shot of the small cascades was not easy! I decided to abandon the effort and we walked up to the main trail and to the bridge over Baby Brook. The bridge showed no damaged and we walked downstream a bit. There is a tunnel here to carry the railroad over the brook. There was also a small falls below the bridge and I was able to get some pictures this time. We continued along the trail until at 2.4 miles there was another nice falls and a crossing of Dark Hollow Brook that had no bridge. This crossing is probably easy in most cases but after a we of storms the water was high and rushing fast. I might have jumped but the landing on the other side was small and consisted of slippery rocks. I was going to check out the railroad bridge but found a spot downstream to cross. Almost immediately after the crossing the Otterkill Trail ended and the dark Hollow Trail started up the mountain to the right.

The Dark Hollow Trail followed an old woods road generally southeast and up the ridge. The road was eroded and very rocky in places with a few stream running down the trail in spots. The road makes several switchbacks in places as the grade would have been too steep for horse drawn wagons otherwise. I did begin to wonder why there was a road to the top of the ridge! At about 2.9 miles there was a nice lookout after a short climb. The views to the east and north were very nice with some haze still hanging around. We continue to hike after I took some pictures. In some spots the trail leaves the road and makes a short climb up to the next level to rejoin the same road. This cuts a little distance and avoids the long switchbacks. These "shortcuts" also make the hike more interesting. As the trail climbed two things happened. First, there were at least four places where I thought we were on the top of the ridge. Second, the map showed two crossings of Dark Hollow Brook and we made at least four. Neither of these proved an impediment to the trip. At 3.6 miles there was another viewpoint on top of a massive rock outcrop. This one had less spectacular views. We climbed again and the trail flattened at about 3.8 miles in an open area with incredible views in all directions except to the west. This might be the best viewpoint in the whole park. It was especially nice since I had never been there before! I took a lot of pictures before we headed on up the trail. I was SURE we were at the top of the ridge but I was fooled again. At about 4 miles we were at the end of The Dark Hollow Trail at Dark Hollow Junction. It was 11:15 AM when we turned left onto Jessup Trail which is also the Highlands trail. We were headed toward the Megaliths.

The Jessup Trail winds its way along the western ridge over many open rock faces with scrub pines. This is an entirely different ecology than at the lower elevations. At times the trail climbs over rock outcrops and at others dives into the pines. At 4.3 miles we were at the spur trail to the Megaliths and we turned right and walked the short distance. I approached quietly since the local vultures often hang out on the rocks surveying the countryside below. This time we had the rocks to ourselves and I took pictures of the scenery in the distance and some of the rocks themselves. We had a drink and a snack. Now it was time to decide on the route for the next part of the hike. I decided to try crossing Barton Swamp since it was such a short distance that turning back would be no longer than getting across. At 4.6 miles we turned right onto the blue Western Ridge Trail and started down to the swamp. The trail is routed over some open rocks faces before it start to descends the ridge. Just at the point it starts the descent is another nice viewpoint. On the descent the trail becomes very narrow and all the rocks were damp from runoff! I made sure I used my poles or hung onto some brush on this traverse. As we hiked Sheba and I could here some voices below. From the comments they were headed our way and they were having trouble crossing the swamp. I decided not to turn back and continued down to Se for myself. Just before the swamp crossing I met the group looking none the worse for their hike. The leader of the group was the first hiker I had met that day back by the viaduct! We talked for a short time and then went in opposite directions. Crossing the swamp was challenging as there was a lot of water and some of the corduroy was floating.

Once on the other side we of the swamp we turned right on the red Barton Swamp Trail and then turned left almost immediately to head up to the western ridge. We hit the Long Path around 12:10 PM at about 5 miles. The trail here runs right along an open rock face pitched at about 40 degrees. It soon turns up to the safety of the ridge but that first part is interesting. Once on the ridge we picked up our pace even though there are places where the trail is sited directly on top of a knife edge of rock. There are a few ups and down to keep things interesting. There are also several informal paths which can mislead hikers who do not pay attention. The further we walked along the ridge the better the views became. There was a nice lookout at 5.6 miles nad then the Sweet Clover`Trail came over from the Eastern Ridge at 6 miles. Just passed this junction another lookout gives a nice view of the valley. Prominent in the view are a sand and gravel pit to the southwest and a lake with homes to the north. Along the way we met three hikers who asked about the route we had taken and the swamp crossing. I gave them information and we were on our way. Just before the next junction with the Jessup Trail at 6.6 miles we met a solo hiker with a hand drawn map. I supplied here with some information and ten Sheba and I head to the trail junction where we turned to the right to follow the Jessup Trail briefly. When the Jessup Trail met the Trestle Trail we continued straight ahead on the Trestle Trail. This trail is always rocky with small pebbles which like to roll making the footing tricky. At 7.45 miles we walked out to a memorial bench which has a great view. After I took some pictures, we headed back down the trail to the road and our car. By the time we got to the parking area the lot was full with several cars parked on the road. We covered 8.2 miles in just under 5 hours with plenty of stops to take pictures.

On Saturday, September 3rd I decided to go on another meetup group hike. This time it was from The Dunderberg Trail head on Route 202 to the Timp. Once at the Timp a decision would be made about the rest of the hike. A comment was made about going to West Mountain with its stone shelter. There was some confusion about the parking area where we would meet so I wanted to get there a little early. As I was driving over Long Mountain PArkway (Route 6), there was very little damage showing from TropicalSTorm Irene. At the traffic circle, Seven Lakes Drive was close and there was some evidence of flooding. The drive through Bear Mountain Park was also uneventful with only a few areas that had some fallen trees. At the traffic circle I took the exit down to Route 202 and headed toward the Dunderberg parking area. There were a few cars parked at the Cornell Mine trail head. The directions said that the parking area was 4 miles from the Bear Mountain traffic circle but they did not say which traffic circle! After about 3.3 miles I arrived at the parking area that I have always used at the Timp-Torne trail head. The problem was that the parking for the 1777 trail that can also be used to get to the Timp is another .5 miles down the road putting it closer to the 4 mile distance. I pulled into the parking area to wait for others from the group. It was about 9:35 AM and we didn't have long to wait as others began to arrive. Through a series of cell phone calls everybody ended up where we were parked. There were also a number of people that were not with our group. This hike is a popular one and it may have been that people were trying to stay away from the Catskills after the storm. As we gathered it was clear that many of the people knew each other and had hiked together before. I introduced my self and Sheba. As is the custom with this group, several people were a little late but we pushed off at about 10:15 AM. I wasn't sure who was leading was or what the final hiking plan was. We wwalked south on Route 202 a bit to pick up the blue Timp-torne Trail. As we walked through the dense vines and brush that cover the trail near the beginning, I though that the people up front were setting a fast pace that was leaving a few of the hikers behind. I quickened my pace as we started up the steep and narrow path to the ridge. No one seemed interested in the stone tunnel on the left side of the path as we climbed. I though that perhaps everyone knew the history of the area. The tunnel is from the aborted Dunderberg Spiral Railway which is an interesting story. Many of the trails in this area were used by both the British and Americans during the Revolutionary War. Troops were marched back and forth in an effort to control several "choke points" on the Hudson River particularly the one near West Point.

The path had a few blowdowns to negotiate which made hiking the steep trail more difficult especially with a group. This trail is short but steep and has a lot of angular rocks under foot. Several hikers did not have poles and some were carrying water bottles in their hands. It was not surprising that these people were having a tough time with the climb. At the top of the first climb the trail does not level off but continues to climb toward the top of the ridge. The steepness is mitigated by numerous switchbacks many of which follow the graded bed of the railway. The trail begins by heading southwest but then goes through a switchback to the northwest before returning to its original direction. At just less than a mile there were several large trees across the trail and a few hikers from the group were waiting for those further behind. Sheba and I walked through to the next tunnel and stopped so that I could take pictures. This tunnel was blasted part of the way through the mountain when money ran out and the project was halted. The skies were brighter than I had expected since the forecast was for partly sunny. When I could get a glimpse through the trees down to the river there did appear to be a lot of haze especially in the distance. As I took pictures a group of hikers caught up and I explained the history of the railway which none of them knew. We walked on along an obvious railroad bed and then came to another climb at 1.45 miles that starts a switchback that heads northeast, gains elevation and then makes a 180 degree turn to head southwest. I stopped just before the turn with one of the women from the group and we took pictures of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant below. Others from the group caught up and I headed out at a faster pace in an effort to catch the leaders up front. Along the way the trail continues to climb and in one section passes over a long spine of rock with some interesting cairns. I took some pictures, the group caught up and I started in again.

I had decided I would stay on the Timp-Torne Trail all the way to the Timp. One of the problems with hiking in Harriman is the number and variety of marked and unmarked trails.We passed through a little valley where the 1777 trail crosses and continued up the next hill toward our goal. Over the next .4 miles the trail follows roads and then veers off them and you have to be alert. It passes between and around some impressive rock formations before ascending what many maps shopw as the Timp.There is no view from this bump and the NYNJTC maps correctly identify the next bump as The Timp. To get there we walked down a short descent and across the red Ramapo Dunderberg Trail and then up to a nice viewpoint and up again to a better one. On the way up I met two young men who ha walked over from Bear Mountain and we spoke briefly. The view from The Timp is good but the haze made it less spectacular. The West Mountain SHelter was clearly visible. The Shelter does not look too far away but the descent and ascent is significant. In addition, once you arrive there you must turn around and retrace your path or be faced with a LONG loop especially since the trails in Doodletown were closed because of downed power lines! I had already decided to head over the Dunderberg Mountains on the Ramapo Dunderberg Trail since I wanted to pass over Bald Mountain and check out the Cornell Mine. This was a trip I had done several times and I knew about how long it would take. As I was getting ready to leave many of the other hikers arrived. O made a comment about the leaders not waiting for us. One of the members of the group told me that they we BEHIND us in the slower group and that I was the first to arrive. I found this hard to believe and was chagrinned to know that I had pressed ahead to catch people who were not there! We came to the conclusion that I had passed them early on when they had pulled off the trail briefly. No one else wanted to head out with me so Sheba and I got going. As we refaced our path back to the Ramapo Dunderberg Trail, we met the rest of the group. I explained my plans and we wished each other a safe hike. Sheba and I hit the red trail and turned left toward Bald Mountain.

The trail descends some and then rolls across several hills on the way to the climb up Bald Mountain. On one short ascent I met a couple headed in the opposite direction. She was wearing bear bell and we spoke briefly discussing the hike and the bear situation in the park. We continue to walk and at one point I looked up to see a large back form round a corner. The black lab-shepherd mix didn't look much like a bear on the second glance but he did give me a start. The young couple that accompanied the dog and were very pleasant and knowledgeable about the trails and their history. We continued in our separate directions. After crossing a little stream and starting a climb, we met another solo hiker heading toward us. Later, just at the base of Bald Mountain, I began to hear classical music! A group of six hikers passed and the first had a "boom box" in his pack blaring out the music. For from being an annoyance it was novel and inspiring. As we climbed the mountain, a group of at least 20 younger hikers passed us going down. Everybody had to say "Hi" to Sheba. Soon we were near the top of Bald Mountain and then on the summit. We were 4.6 miles into the hike and it was 1:00 PM. The lookout has some nice views but the haze made the conditions less than ideal. Ther was a group of four hikers at the lookout and we said "Hello". I took pictures of the Bear Mounatain Bridge, the Perkins Tower and Iona Island. When we were ready to leave, we simply walk off the north face of the mountain leaving the other hikers with surprised looks. I was a little pressed for time at this point but I wanted to find the Cornell Mine again. Since I had not brought the coordinates it was a definite hunt and seek mission. We walked down a surprisingly easy route to about 970 feet elevation. I looked left and right but did not see any tailings. I decided to turn right since that would lead us back to the trail. In just a short distance I saw a tailings pile and hoped it was the Cornell Mine. I had never come from this direction and thought it more likely that this was the tailings from the upper pits on the mountain. We climbed up the tailings and were rewarded by a view of the entrance to the Cornell Mine. I took pictures and then headed east to pick up the trails.

Once we hit the Ramapo Dunderberg Trail we turned right to go up and look at the mine pits near the top of the mountain. I noticed that even this minor gain in elevation was tiring especially in my legs. I considered the options and decided that the only viable one was to continue across the Dunderbergs. After looking at the pits, we turned around, headed back down the red trail to the junction with the blue Cornell Mine Trail. We headed right to stay on the red trail and began a short climb to regain some lost elevation. This was when I decided that having something to drink was a good idea! The first .25 miles from the junction ascends gently to the highest point on the Dunderberg Ridge. From this point on the trail generally descends but there are a few short ascents that left my muscles tired. Each time I though we had reached the last climb there was another small one. I kept drinking which seemed to help. There a few lookouts along the way but I was more interested in getting back to the car. In addition, the haze continued to hang around making pictures of scenery difficult to get. At about 5.3 miles we were on a long .4 mile descent which was followed immediately by the last significant climb. From 6.15 miles on the trail is down all the way. It was 2:15 PM when we started down. This descent is one of the worst sustained descents you I have ever experienced. The first part of the trail is narrow and well-used. This makes the erosion greater leaving a narrow channel to conduct water and promote erosion. On this trip there were a couple of blowdowns that did not help much. I did stop once to take a few pictures of the river before hurrying on. The trail flattens a little at 6.8 miles as it makes a turn to the southwest. Here we were walking along the large, angular stones that were sued to form the railroad bed on the side of the mountain. These stones make for difficult hiking. At 7.25 miles there is an abutment for the donkey engine that was going to be used to pull railroad cars to the hotel on top of the ridge. From this point down for the next .2 miles the trail is on the railroad bed with more ankle-breaking rocks. At 7.45 miles we were back at he trail junction where we had turned left earlier in the day. We continued down another short but difficult descent to the parking area. Along the way I did stopped to take pictures of the railroad tunnel. We ere back in the lot at 3:15 PM having covered our 7.8 mile hike in 5 hours which included several longer stops and a few shorter ones. On the way home Route 6 was stop and go traffic from the traffic circle over the mountain to the mall. On the way over Route 6 I began to get cramps in my legs and then sever cramps. I stopped at the parking area knowing I had only myself to blame. After some massage and the rest of the water, the crampsChad subsided but the traffic had not. At the amll exit the police we blocking traffic and I could see an accident by the mall. This meant the mall traffic and those of us headed west on Route 17 were all in it together. After one or two exits there was a sign for mall parking and the traffic abated.

On Thursday, September 1st Cindy and I wanted to get in a hike close to home so that we did not interfere with recovery and repair operations after Irene. We decided to head to Trout Pond north of Roscoe to see what the trails looked like...if we could get there. We headed north on the Quickway and got off at the Roscoe exit. As we drove across the Rockland flats, we did not see any evidence of flooding and little overall damage. Route 206 was open toward Downsville and there was no problem turning onto Morton Hill Road. This road has been washed out in every previous storm but showed no damage at all this time. We parked at the upper lot where Morton Hill and Russell Brook Roads meet at about 11:30AM and started our hike almost immediately. On our walk down Russell Brook Road we saw a few trees and large branches had come down but they all had been cleared off the road. As we passed the falls on the road I could not resist walking down to the viewpoint above the lower falls to take some pictures of the upper falls head on. Some of the trees that blocked the upper falls had been washed away and the upper falls looked very clean. The water volume was just right and the water was clear and not muddy. I took pictures before we walked down to the lower parking area. From this parking area we headed to the streambed below the lower falls. I was surprised the water level wasn't any higher than it was and we were easily able to go down to the stream bed to walk to the base of the falls. I took more pictures at this point. We then decided to skip a trip up the left side of the falls and start our hike right away. At the trail register, where the trails split, we decided to bear left and hike the steeper part of the trail toward Mud Pond first. The next .7 miles of the hike is all uphill on a woods road and tops out just above Mud Pond.

Near Mud Pond we turned right off the woods road and snowmobile trail and headed up to Cherry Ridge. For the next 1.1 miles the trail gains elevation to the shoulder of Cherry Ridge. The trail was in good shape with only a little erosion and some minor blowdowns. The effects of Tropical Storm Irene were less than some other recent heavy thunderstorms! The next .75 miles are a descent of 450 feet to the outlet end of Trout Pond. When we arrived, we found the outlet stream easily forded and the skies beginning to clear. I took some pictures and we stopped briefly for a snack before walking the flat trail along the shore to the outlet end. Here I took some more pictures with the now blue sky adding another dimension. A group of hikers arrived and we exchanged some greeting and discussed our hikes. When it was time to go, Cindy, Sheba and I headed down the woods road back to the trail register. After descending this .85 mile section, we stared the .6 mile ascent back up Russell Brook Road to our car. We were back by 2:30 PM taking almost exactly 3 hours for the 5.7 mile hike.

On Tuesday, August 30th Karl and I left The Denning trail head and headed back out the Claryville Road. We turned left on Red Hill Road and went UP and over the hill. There was no blowdown or erosion and the road was in good shape. We turned right on Sugarloaf Road and it was much the same. At the Sundown Road we turned left and passed the baseball.softball fields. It was obvious that the fields had been under water and one one looked playable with only a little clean up required. The other fields are littered with large trees and other debris. As we continued toward Sundown there were areas where it was obvious that water had washed across the road. In Sundown the road to Peekamoose and West Shokan was blocked and closed. We turned right to go to Yagerville. Along this part of the road there were many places where small creeks had obviously become raging torrents as parts of the road were washed away. All in all the damaged seemed no more than for the average flooding situation. The view to the Shawangunks was very nice as we started down the other side. I turned left onto Shalom Road and found a small tree hanging low. The rest of the road was chewed up but not much more than usual. We parked at 2:15 PM and hurried down to Trout Creek since Karl needed to get home.

We walked along Shalom Road toward the top of the upper falls. The path that parallels the creek was in good shape and the one down to the creek bed was OK. I was surprised that there wasn't more water in the stream. The falls were flowing with good volume but we were able to stand where I always stand to take pictures. I shot a video more for the sound than the visual image. I took some pictures and then we headed back up the bank. We continued along the path and down to the top of the lower falls. Again, I shot a video and took some pictures. We looked at the old foundations at the bottom of the falls. I walked down to the creek bed and took some more pictures. Since we were under a time constrain, we headed back up the bank to the old road and back to the car. It was 2:45 PM when we got back to the car and headed home.

On Tuesday, August 30th Karl and I wanted to get out an hike and inspect the post-Irene situation. I was concerned about staying out of the way of the roads crews working to repair the roads and wanted to stay away from the most seriously effected areas. We decided to stay local and head for the Denning trail head since I wanted to check out the bridges across The east Branch of the Neversink and Deer Shanty Brook. If we had time, I planned to go to Angel Falls in Yagerville to check out the volume of flow. We headed out the DEbRuce Road from Livingston Manor at about 11;30 AM and had no trouble until we got to Route 47, the Frost Valley Road. The road was blocked going in the direction of Frost Valley and with good reason. The West Branch of the Neversink had undermined the road and only the left lane looked passable but not necessarily safe! We were turning right anyway to head toward Claryville. A large bus was parked almost in the middle of the road with the passengers unloading and loading luggage. No one seemed concerned that others wanted to pass so I eventually asked the fire police if we could get by. We seemed a little surprised but said "Sure". The bridges near Claryville seemed in good shape and we turned left on the Claryvilele road with seeing much damage. I checked with a DPW worker in town and he told us the road to the trail head was "open but rough". The further we drove the worse it got. Pavement was undermined and missing and there were some sinkholes. Where the road turns to dirt sections were washed out and had been filled in by the road crews. The sections around the Straus House and New Hill Road were very bad. There were no crews working in the area so I did not feel bad about driving to the trail head. We arrived at the Denning parking area just before noon and started to hike shortly after. There we people at the Tisson house and the house and trail head seemed in good shape.

As we walked out the trail there were some wet spots abut not too much erosion. There was some blowdown but it was not excessive until we got to the new bridge across a small creek. There were several large limbs blocking the trail just before the bridge although the bridge was untouched. By 12:30 PM we had hiked the 1.25 mile stretch of trail to the turn off for the trail to Table. We turned right and headed for the river. Again, the trail was in good shape and by 12:35 PM we were at the first bridge. The bridge is in poor shape and may be passable but is not safe. The near caisson had been damaged during previous high water. It now is "hanging" with almost all of the rocks gone. The steps are non-existent and the wings are twisted or missing. The steel I beams appear intact. I walked downstream and took some pictures of the bridge. To get on the bridge I walked along the upstream wing and the logs piled against the caisson. Walling across the bridge was "interesting" and I stopped to take a few pictures in both directions. The bridge structure on the far side seemed undamaged with rocks filling the caisson. I took a few pictures here and then walked over to the log bridge. This two log structure is higher above the water and was completely untouched. There was a large tree hanging low over the near end but otherwise there were no signs of nay problems. I walked back to Karl and the dogs and crossed back over the bridge. We headed back and were at the car by 1:30 P,. On the way out we stopped several times OS that I could take pictures of the road. The pictures don't really do justice to the damage. As we approached Red Hill Road, we decided to see if we could get over the hill to Sugarloaf Road which is the fastest way to Yagerville.

On Friday, August 26th Cindy and I wanted to do another "local" hike and decided to head to Bear Spring State park north of Walton. The park has many snowmobile and horse trails that are wide and grassy. The trail have a good surface and there Rae no major mountains but the climbs to the ridges can be challenging. I planned a route from a parking area on East Trout Brook Road up to the ridge and then looping to near Launt Pond and then back to the car. I drove to Roscoe and then took County Route 206 through Downnsville to to the top of Bear Spring Mountain near Walton, NY. I turned right on East trout Brook Road and drove south passed Launt Pond for another 1.3 miles further. I parked on the left side of the road in the parking area at about 11:45 AM and we got right on the trail. We walked down the wide path/road and across the dam that creates the small pond. At the trail junction we found three horseback riders. Although the park is one of the few constructed with horses in mind, this was the first time I had seen riders. We talked for a moment and then we continued straight ahead up the hill on the wide grassy snowmobile/horse trail. There are a few trail on the left and the one we were on did not look familiar. I began to wonder if I had picked the correct trail! It proved to be the right trail and just looked unfamiliar since I had only been on it once and that was traveling in the other direction. Soon the horses caught up with us and passed by. At least one of the horses gave Sheba, who was sitting quietly by my side, a wide-eyed look. The trail climbed steadily toward the ridge. At .35 miles a trail marked "New Trail" came in on the left and it must have been new since I did not recall it being there on earlier trips. We continued straight ahead to a trail junction at .68 miles. We could see the horses climbing the trail just ahead but we stopped to take some pictures at the base of a clear cut. There are several of these areas in the park and I have not spoken to anyone who knows exactly why they are being done! I took some pictures of the green vegetation against the blue sky with white clouds.

When I was done photographing, we turned right and continued climbing until the trail junction at 1.23 miles. Here we turned left up the hill to the ridge. At 1.61 miles into the hike we were at the top of the ridge. It was 12:30 PM and we stopped briefly for a drink and a snack. The trail began "roll" along the ridge with only a few ups and downs. It was in this area that we began to encounter some REALLY wet spots. The rain the night before had created some marshy and muddy places. The trail started to turn from east to northwest at about 1.85 miles and we passed by the trail to Downsville on the right. Soon the horses were headed in our direction again and we passed each other without indent. At 3.0 miles we passed by the turn to the left through a field. This trail leads back to the trail junction at the base of the clear cut and is a good "early out". We continued straight ahead to 3.33 miles and turned left down another wide trail. I thought this was the trail I had used to come up to the ridge from Launt Pond one time but it was actually another woods road or horse trail. The trail initially headed south but them went through a switchback that turned northwest. As we descended, there were some limited views on the left side of the trail. The trail surface was good but I could tell from the GPS and my own recollection that this was a different route than I had taken before. By 1:45 PM we arrived at a parking area on East Trout Brook Road 4.6 miles into the hike. Just to the right was the trail head for the trail up to the ridge from the pond! I had planned to walk the road about .8 miles back to the car but noticed the sign that said "new Trail". Having remembered the sign from earlier we decided to avoid the road walk by taking the trail. We made a sharp left turn onto the trail which started a short but brief climb, The trail took us passed ANOTHER clear cut area. The temperature by this time was in the high seventies and it was humid. The trail parallel the brook and road for a while and then veered left and began to climb. I started to wonder if this was the right trail! At 5.65 miles the trail hit its apex and started down passing the clear cut area from earlier in the day. After walking 1.3 miles on the trail, we reached the trail junction at 5.9 miles and turned right to walk back to the dam and across the top to the car. We covered the 6.3 miles in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

On Wednesday, August 24th Cindy and I had planned to hike Schunemunk but got a call to baby-sit the grandson in the evening. We decided that we would go to Giant Ledge since it is close and has a view. The temperature was in the low 70's with not too much humidity so the conditions seemed ideal. On the way to the trail head we got stuck behind a crew painting the lines on Route 47 so we did not arrive until just before noon. There were a couple of cars at Dry Brook, a few more at Slide and two or three at the parking for Giant Ledge and Panther. We walked across the road and I signed the register so that we could get going. On the way up to the trail junction we met a couple coming down from Giant Ledge and a young man who had been up to Panther and back. The trail was wet in places but some had been through to clean out all the water bars and Dod some other maintenance. The trail gets a lot of traffic and is eroded in spots. It has always been very rocky! By 12:20 PM we had walked the .75 miles to the trail junction and turned left to go up to the Ledges. I could feel the 10 mile hike from the day before in every step up. At 12:50 PM we had climbed the last steep section and were at the first of the lookouts. As we were making our way up the steep ascent, we met another couple coming down.They had been to the Ledges to eat lunch and were now returning. We talked for a moment and then went in opposite directions.

At the first lookout, we stopped for some time while Cindy and I both took pictures and got a drink. I wandered over to the big Rock that sometimes acts as a campsite and found a path along the cliffs with several small viewpoints. After walking a short distance, I decided to go back to Cindy. After a few more pictures, we walked to the next major lookout and I took some more pictures. There was some haze hanging in the valley and over the Burroughs Range and the other mountains. Despite the haze there were many interesting clouds and I felt I got some good pictures. I had suggested going down into the col and bushwhacking through the bog but Cindy was not enthusiastic. After thinking about the bushwhack, I began to see the wisdom in staying away from a bog just after heavy rain! We started back at 1:15 PM walking the trail to the first lookout and decided to follow the path I had found earlier. We didn't have to go very far as it quickly returned to the main trail. The trip down went quickly although some of the rocky areas slowed us down. On one of the last rocky areas we met a group of young hikers coming toward us. They looked like they were having a great time. Further down I looked up and saw the couple we had met near the top. We caught and passed by them on our way back to the trail register. I signed out and we were back at the car by 2:10 PM having covered the 3.5 mile distance in 2 bouts and 0 minutes including our stops.

On Tuesday, August 23rd I wanted to do a hike after cross country practice but did not want to drive too far. I considered Slide or Panther but decided to head for Long Pond. I wanted to hike from Flugertown Road to Mongaup Pond and back in a loop of almost 10 miles. This is a pretty walk through the woods without too many viewpoints. I does have some elevation gain, to about 3100 feet, and interesting rock ledges. Sheba and I arrived at the trail head just after 11:15 AM. The road is paved for some distance and then has a gravel and rock surface. This gets pretty rough in places but is passable. I parked just after the trail head and before the bridge. We were on the trail by 11;25 AM. At this point the red Long Pond-Beaverkill trail, yellow Mongaup-Willowemoc Trail and a snowmobile trail are co-aligned. In the first .45 miles the trail gains over 200 feet of elevation and continues to head up for a good distance. At this point we turned right to stay on the red Long Pond-Beaverkill Trail. This trail is not used very much and was overgrown with prickers amd nettles in places. At about .7 miles the trail levels some but only for about .25 miles before it climbs again. For the next .6 miles the trail gains 450 feet and then again levels for a short period. Everything was very green with moss on most of the rocks and trees. I was surprised by the amount of blowdowns along the trails. Some of these were old and some new. A few showed some ax work by trail maintainers but others will need a chainsaw to clear them. At just over 2.9 miles the red trail meets the blue Mongaup-Hardenburgh Trail. Just before the trail junction I was surprised to see three young men hiking toward us. We exchanged greetings and passed by each other. I don't ever remember meeting anybody on this trail!

At the trail junction we turned left to head to Mongaup Pond. It was about 12:43 PM. Over the next .7 miles the trail dips and then rises causing the elevation profile to look like a roller coaster! At 3.6 miles the trail descends sharply for 370 feet only to ascend 420 feet again to another peak of labeled Mongaup Mountain! Over the next 1.6 miles the trail descents almost 800 feet to the shores of Mongaup Pond. The trail continues to the right to the park roads. We stopped briefly so that I could take pictures of the pond and some ducks near the shore. The time was around 2:19 PM. We then turned left of the snowmobile trail to walk clockwise around the pond to pick up the yellow Mongaup-Willowemoic Trail. After less than .5 miles, we turned left on the yellow trail to head back to Flugertown Road. Over the next .65 miles the trail gained about 250 feet but this was the last ascent. There are several bridges along the way and at least one turn off the trail to a snowmobile loop. At 8.3 miles we crossed Butternut Creek, the outlet to Sand Pond. From here the trail becomes mostly a woods road for the next .9 miles where it meets the Long Pond-Beaverkill Trail again. This part of the trail first passes through a stand of large evergreens. From there the trail becomes wetter with some standing and running water. At the trail junction we turned right and headed back down to the car. We arrived at 3:55 PM covering the 9.8 mile sin 4.4 hours. After turning onto Willowemoc Road and passing the campgrounds, I noticed three hikers up ahead. As I pulled along side them, I realized it was the three young men I had met on the trail. They were trying to get back to their car at the start of the Mongaup-Hardenburgh Trail on the Beaverkill Road! There are certainly routes that accomplish this but it was late in the day so I offered to give them a ride. They piled into the car and I was glad they didn't mind SHeba and that Sheba seemed content with them in the car. They were very interesting and polite young men. I found out they are all volunteer fire fighters on Long island and proud of it! We exchanged stories as I drove them to the hunting camp where they were staying on Alder Creek Road. I hope to see them again some time.
On Saturday, August 20th Jeff Senterman, the new Catskill Regional Program Coordinator for the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, was visting Morgan Outdoors in Livingston Manor. After a met and greet from 1:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Jeff led a hike at Frick Pond. We all met at the parking area t the end of Beech Mountain Road and then started up the Flynn Trail. Before the junction WI the Big Rock Trail, we took a brief off-trail excursion to the Mystery Clearing. Back on the Flynn Trail, we walked to the junction and then headed Dow the Big Rock Trail to Times Square. We continued straight ahead around the back of Frick Pond to the outlet. From the bridge at the outlet we took the Quick Lake Trail back to the parking area. The hike of a little more than 4 miles took us a little over 2 hours.

On Thursday, August 18th Karl and I had finished hiking Falls Creek at around 1:00 PM and decided to head north to Mount Pisgah State and County Park about 11 miles north. The first challenge was to figure out the best route. The map we were using had few of the back roads and we weren't sure whether some of the were dead ends or had surfaces incompatible with modern vehicles. We decided to go back out to Powell and find a road north from there. The best that can be said is that we did get to the park but that the route was not exactly direct. Along the way we saw several areas with two or three green tanks in a field. At first I thought they might provide water for the cows but then we took a closer look. The signs read something like "Energy Resources Company". We realized that these were well sunk into the underlying Marcellus shale to extract natural gas. Our first impression was "That's not so bad." followed quickly by the realization of what had to be done to release the gas. We parked in the lot next to Stephen Foster Lake at the state park at around 2:00 PM. The lake is formed by a dam on Mill Creek and we started our hike by crossing the road and getting on the Mill Creek Trail. The first .4 miles of the trail was a little uphill and both Karl and I realized our legs were tired. We stayed left on a snowmobile trail at a junction and soon arrived at the Ridge trail. We were happy that the trails were all marked with wooden signs. We were surprised that the trails were being mowed. After a short distance on the Ridge Trail it began to climb through a forest with one or two marked trails crossing the main trail. At one point we walked in a field beside some filed corn and then back into the woods. Every so often a bench appeared along the trail.

We continued to walk through open places and then back into forest. The trail would flatten some in places and then climb toward the summit. At one point we looked out and saw how far we had to go and it was discouraging. The trail finally dipped a little and at 2.9 miles we turned right onto the road to the county park. This paved road took us all the way to the summit passed several viewpoints on the way. As it flattened near the top there were some facilities and primitive campsites but everything looked unmaintained and seemed to be in disrepair. We continued to the summit which has a pavilion and two communications towers. It was 3:15 PM and we had covered 3.3 miles. In the area facing west there was a nice viewpoint with some benches. The skies were cloudy at this point with some haze but this reminded us how lucky we had been that it had not rained. I took some pictures and then we started back. A sign on the pavilion described a lodge and observation tower that once stood on the summit. On the way back we stopped at some of the other lookouts so that I could take some pictures and then hurried our walk down the trail. At the last trail junction we headed right on the Ridge Trail down to the road and crossed to the other side. We picked up the Oh! Susanna Trail around Stephen Foster Lake and we were back at the car by 4:30 PM covering 6.6 miles in just over 2.5 hours. Karl and I wanted to check the road that accesses the county park to see if it was closed or open. Somewhere along the way we missed the turn but the county website only has regulations for last year! On the way back to Route 220 we saw many more gas wells. The site made us a little angry and very sad.

On Thursday, August 18th Karl agreed to meet me in Livingston Manor to go hiking. I had been planning to return to Pennsylvania and hike one of the creeks with waterfalls. I find waterfalls very interesting and had been reading a number of trail guides that describe various trails and hikes in the northeastern and north central parts of the state. I decided to try hiking Falls Creek which has three major falls plus other interesting features. There is no trail and choosing the right water level can be tricky. Too much water makes hiking up the creek bed dangerous and tricky but too little water means the falls are not interesting. The weather report had changed from bright and sunny to a 50% chance of thunderstorms. When I got out of bed at 6:00 AM it was raining and totally overcast.I decided that we would go anyway since the trip was around 3 hours and the weather where we were going could be acceptable. Karl arrived a little after 7;00 AM and we started the drive. Finding the correct place to park was the first challenge. We took State Route 17 north and west through Binghamton to Waverley. At Waverley we headed south on State Route 220 through Towanda to Monroeton. Here we turned west on Route 414 to a small town called Powell. We were looking for a right onto Main Street but could not find it. We turned around and headed back. From the description in the guide book, we knew where to turn. The turn was labeled Brocktown Road with no Main Street designation. After turning we crossed two bridges and turned right onto Weston Road determined to stay along Scharder Creek which was on our right. When the road forked we stayed to the right. The description said there was a small parking area on the right just before a narrow cement bridge. The road quickly turned to chipped stone and dirt and we saw signs for Game Lands 36. When we got to the stone bridge we had only traveled a little over 4 miles while the book said it was around six miles. I elected to continue on and at around six miles we found the SECOND stone bridge with the parking area. I parked and we were on the trail by 10:20 AM.

The water in Falls Creek drains from a plateau with an elevation of just under 2000 feet. Our starting elevation was about 1200 feet. In 1812 coal was discovered on top of the plateau. By 1856 the coal was being commercially mined and the town of Barclay was well-established on the plateau. After the coal ran out, the area became a center for logging and tanning. Most of the large hemlock forests were removed to feed this industry centered at the town of Laquin on Schrader Creek. Due to all this industry the waters of Falls Creek like many in the area are highly acidic. To counteract the acidity the state had built a water treatment facility on the creek just before the water flows into Schrader Creek. A dam diverts water through a cistern filled with limestone. The water turns a device that grinds the limestone which then dissolves in the water to neutralize the acid. The rocks in theupper part of the creek have a distinctive orange tint from the acid but those in the lower part show almost no discoloration. The guidebook said that the hike was only about 2 miles but that it could take over 3 hours to complete. The water level was low but there was still some volume and I hoped we had hit it just right! We were able to hike up the creek bed pretty easily as long as we were willing to cross back and forth. We let the water level and the steepness of the banks dictate our path. Initially there were only a few small rapids and then some falls with drops of six to twelve feet. They were pretty and I took pictures but I was getting a little nervous. It occurred to me we might be on the wrong creek or that the books exaggerated the heights of the falls. We kept hiking and soon passed three rather substantial falls as the book had stated. Up ahead Karl informed me that there was a larger falls in view. At only .65 miles but almost and hour into the hike we arrived at Bradford Falls.

Bradford Falls is ENORMOUS compared to the ones below it! The books give the height as 100 feet and I would say it IS at least 70 feet tall. The water drops over the edge into a pool and the falls is bordered by the high stone walls of an impressive gorge. We worked our way up the creek bed and were able to stand at the base of the falls. I took many pictures and then we faced our next challenge? How were we to get out of the gorge to continue the hike upstream? Karl decided on the most direct route which was a STEEP climb up the slippery bank less than a 100 feet from the base of the falls. The three of us took turns route finding. Karl and I used some trees to pull ourselves up while Sheba relied on four paw drive! When we reached the top of the climb, we looked back down. It seemed as if the route dropped straight down! We walked along the high ground briefly before descending back to the creek. I took some pictures from the top of Bradford Falls before walking upstream to the next falls. Just above Bradford Falls is Barclay Falls. This waterfall is not as high as the one below but has a higher volume of water or at least a tighter chute. I took pictures here and then we repeated the climb back up to the higher ground. Another descent brought us to an area above a series of cascades and chutes on the creek below. I REALLY wanted to get down to photograph this area. I tried to inch down the steep bank but there was no safe way to get down to the creek bed. I decided to be safe and we once again climbed up the bank. After another short walk, I again started to work my way down a steep bank toward another cascade. Karl decided to stay up top with SHeba. Sheba doesn't like to be separated from me and puts up quite a fuss.

I made it down the steep bank to a more level area. In front of me was a ten foot cascade and I took some shots. I walked along a little path as I headed upstream. Above I could see Sheba wanting to get down to me. I also saw several routes out of the gorge. Ahead on the creek I caught a glimpse of another falls. As I approached, I was sure the falls matched the description of Laquin Falls mentioned in the guidebook. I got closer so that there was no vegetation in front of me. The water passes over a receding ledge and splits to form at least two streams of water. The flow is not great as it is high on the creek but the falls is interesting. I took some shots and then worked my way out of the gorge to meet Karl and Sheba at the top. The stream was almost flat at this point with a greatly reduced volume of water. We were at 1850 feet and near the top of the plateau. We had hiked 1.1 miles in two hours! We decided to return to the car on the west bank and crossed the stream. For a short time we bushwhacked downstream looking for a road. Karl found the road and we turned left to walk downstream. The road became more defined as we went and soon we were back at the car. The return trip had taken just a little over 30 minutes. We completed our 2.3 mile adventure in just 2.5 hours! We were tired but thought we might get in another hike so we headed for Mount Pisgah State and County Parks almost directly north of Falls Creek by about 11 miles "as the crow flies".

On Wednesday, August 17th Cindy and I were looking for a little exercise close to home so we decided to head to the area around Frick and Hodge Ponds. The plan was to hike up the Flynn Trail and then take the snowmobile trail to Mongaup Pond. We would return by way of the park and town roads to the car. We parked at the lot at the end of Beech Mountain Road just after 11:00 AM and crossed the road to pick up the blue Flynn Trail. We both remarked that this trail always seems long no matter the direction we hike or the season. On the way up we came across the same pile of logs at about 1.15 miles that we always pass. Each time we pass these logs which have had the bark removed, I ask myslef why they are there. It is also possible to see some light up and behind the logs and I have always wanted to check out whether there is a viewpoint. Today was the day. I struck out up the steep but short bank and walked a short distance to find...a field. The field was very green and damp in most places. The flora looked like the kind you would find in a bog with many mosses. The soil was only a few inches deep since much of the field had an underlying rock layer close to the surface. I called Cindy to come up to take a look at this beautiful location. I took pictures and we both walked around the field explroing. Cindy found a road on the south side and we decided to follow it. I first complete my loop around the field to find it was about .2 miles in circumference. We followed the road hoping it would lead over the hill to Mongaup Pond but it only curved back toward the Flynn Trail ending up at the log pile. I suggested that we bushwhack over to Mongaup Pond knowing that my wife HATES bushwhacking. To my surprise she said "Yes!" and we were off.

Cindy can navigate by using the sun alone but I have to rely on my compass. We walked back up to the field and then headed across into the woods on an easterly course. The first part was flat and the woods mostly open. There we a few paths that looked like roads and one or two stone walls. Within .1 miles we started down through some AWESOME ledges! We dropped almost 500 feet in .5 miles. After one steep descent, we would be on a flat spot with another drop right in front of us. We allowed Sheba to pick most of the lines down through the ledges. The steep descent, sheer rock faces and verdant green moss made this a wonderful experience. (Cindy had other words to describe it!) Near the bottom of the ledges, as we approached the park roads around the pond, we ran into some woods roads. We arrived at the edge of the pond at 12:55 PM. Once on the park roads we had planned to turn right toward the entrance and walk the roads back to the car. I expressed my distaste for the walking on the roads. I suggested we walk to the next loop and take the snowmobile trail back over the mountain to the Flynn Trail and then back to the car. I was again surprised when Cindy agreed and we were off. We did have a drink and a snack by the pond as I took a few pictures.

At the next campground loop we turn to the left and easily found the snowmobile trail. Cindy pointed out that we would have to gain the elevation we had lost from the Flynn Trail and then some. Of course, she was right. The snowmobile trail started to climb almost immediately. It was quite wide in most places but we immediately hit a low swampy area with water on the trail. It was easy to pick our way around this and we continued the hike. As the trail continued to climb many areas looked more like a stream bed as water flowed freely down the trail. In the more level spots the water pooled top form small ponds. We climbed for 1.85 miles gaining almost 700 feet to the highest point on the hike at over 2800 feet. From here we started a descent to the Flynn Trail which we hit at about 2:15 PM. From here it was the long familiar descent down the Flynn Trail to the parking area. The distance from the Big Rock Trail junction is about 1.7 miles and drops around 600 feet. We were back at the car by 2:55 PM having covered 7 miles in 3 hours and 50 minutes.

On Friday, August 12th we were in Montgomery, Pensylvania to help Krista and Brad begin remodeling their new home. Of course, I couldn't resist getting in at least one day of hiking so Brad and I headed to the beginning of the Loyalsock Trail to hike the first 5 miles or so. The Loyalsock trail starts on Route 87 northeast of Montoursville and stretches 60 miles to World's End State Park. It is maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers from the Alpine Club of Williamsport. The trail is well maintained and blazed with an LT over its entire length. The markers used to be can lids painted red with a yellow LT but are now custom plastic yellow markers with a red LT. Each mile from the beginning of the trail is also denoted at the closest markers. The first part of the trail takes in Sock Rock and was touted in the guidebooks to have some great views. This is because this section of trail ascends from the valley to the Allegheny Front and then follows this high ridge for several miles. We drove north from Montgomery on I180 and then got on Route 87 north in Montoursville. The trail head parking is on the side of the road about 8.8 miles from the I180 interchange. We parked at around 10:15 AM and got ready to hike. What most of the guidebooks do not emphasize is that the hike is STEEP right from the start. This is not a hike that has any warm up but one that will get your blood pumping immediately. After .4 miles the trail turns right as it meets an old woods road and there is a brief respite. Almost immediately the trail turns left off the road and up the ridge. A little further up the trail is a limited lookout on the right side of the trail where we stopped so that I could take a few pictures before continuing. The overall .6 mile section to Sock Rock is an average of a 29% grade! We arrived at this famous point around 10:45 AM. There are some impressive ledges along the way but Sock Rock itself didn't look much like a sock and there was no view! The trail turns right after Sock Rock but continues to climb steeply for another .25 miles.

After the climb, the level part of the trail was welcome! At 1.55 miles the Red X-1 trail crossed our path. The Red X trails connect different parts of the Loyalsock Trail in different areas acting as shortcuts. There are eleven of them in all and can be interesting adventures in their own right. All, true to their name, are marked with red X's. We continued on and at 2 miles the Loyalsock Trail turned left. A woods road was to the right and straight ahead was a bridle path to allow horses access to the plateau. After this point the trail began to climb some but it was hardly noticeable when compared to the initial climb. We were now walking west to east along the Allegheny Front and I was looking for viewpoints. There were places that might be lookouts when there are fewer leaves on the trees but not on this day. Finally, at about 2.9 miles around 11:50 AM a limited viewpoint opened up and I took some shots. The trail was interesting in this area as it was ascending and we were walking very close to the edge of the Front. As we continue on another viewpoint, the best yet, opened up on a rock ledge with nice views to the south. I took a couple of pictures and then realized that an even nicer rock shelf with better views lay below. I took my camera and started down the short path. I immediately head a "Zing!" and saw two large, black rattlesnakes head into the brush from where they were sunning themselves on the rock! Once in the brush they continued to warm but didn't mover very far away. I kept a safe (?) distance and tried to get some pictures through the vegetation. I did get some shots good enough to show their girth, rattles and head. I took some more pictures from the viewpoint and then let Brad have a look at the rattlesnakes before we moved on.

From "rattlesnake Rock" the trail began to descend gently for about .5 miles until it took a sharp left and headed down a rocky drainage. The hike down this part of the trail was tricky as the rocks were mossy and damp in places. I slipped several times on the way down but always caught myself. There were some very tall and very straight trees along this route. These trees may not have been first growth but they were old. Loggers in this area harvested white pine for ship masts and when the white pines were done they turned to hemlocks. The hemlock bark was used for tanning and, many times, the rest of the tree lay unused. Over the next 1.2 miles we dropped over 950 feet and the total drop from the highest point was over 1100 feet. The trail crosses Little Bear Road where we turned left and started to walk back out to Route 87. I thought about hiking the Smith Knob loop but it was late in the day and we still had prep work to do back at the house. We walked .8 miles out to Route 87, turned left and walked .5 miles to the car to complete the loop. We were back at 1:35 PM having covered the 6.2 mile loop in 3 hours and 22 minutes.

On Friday, August 5th I finished the Breakneck Ridge hike by 1:00 PM and, despite the fact that I was tired, I was looking for another short hike. I drive Route 6, Long Mountain Parkway, frequently and have noticed a place where there are "hiker" signs. I consulted my maps and found that the Long Path crosses here and that a memorial to Raymond Torrey is located on Long Mountain close to the summit. Raymond Torrey was a founding member of the new York New Jersey Trail Conference and instrumental in the creation of the Long Path. Sheba and I pulled off at the Turkey Hill Parking area and started out on the Long Path at about 1:25 PM> There were at least a dozen cars parked and I knew that meant the trail would be crowded. We kept up[ a good pace as the first part of the trail descends and crosses the Popoloppen Torne Trail. We stayed on the Long Path and start a short ascent up a hill. The trail flattened out at the top and, to my surprise, there were no other hikers present. The memorial is a message carved into the exposed bedrock at the top of the ridge. The views were good despite the haze. I could see the Perkins Tower on Bear Mountain. Turkey Hill Lake lay below. I took some pictures and then we started back. We met two hikers on the way down from the ridge and another hiker just after the trail junction. We were back at the car at 2:10 PM and ahd covered 1.2 miles in 45 minutes. I do not know where all the other people had gone but this hike definitely has a lot to offer for very little effort.

On Friday, August 5th I returned to Breakneck Ridge to climb it with a number of people from a MeetUp group. We were supposed to start at 9:30 AM but didn't get started until about 9:50 PM as we waited for a few people. When we shoved off from the big parking area on Route 9D just north of the tunnel, there were 6 other hikers. Thee plan was to climb Breakneck Ridge and then return by the Bypass Trail. I had never cut the hike this short and contemplated adding some mileage but decided to stay with the group. This trail is VERY steep in spots with whole sections at more than a 50% grade. The group started off at a rather quick pace which slowed some after several of the climbs. Sheba and I took some of the easier routes around the steepest climbs. I stopped to take pictures frequently even though I have many pictures from this hike. We stopped for a break near the top and then pushed on. We hit the highest point at 1.4 miles around 11:50 AM.

We walked over the highest point on the ridge and then turned left on the Bypass Trail. As we walked into a small clearing, the trail seemed to disappear. An informal trail led steeply down but was not marked. Eventually someone found the blazes of the Bypass Trail a little further up the ridge. The Bypass trail turns left off the Breakneck Ridge Trail and then makes another sharp left so that it parallels the Breakneck Ridge Trail for a short distance before heading more to the north. The trail descends 770 feet over the next .7 miles to a junction with the Wilkinson Trail. The descent is eroded with rocks and roots to further complicate getting a good foothold. We turned left on the Wilkinson Trail and headed toward Route 9D. In less than ,5 miles we were at the road. A short road walk brought us back to the parking area by 12:50 PM. We covered 3.2 miles in 3 hours. I was surprised at how tired I was!

On Tuesday, August 2nd I finished my ill-fated trip to Terrace Pond by 11:00 AM and was ready to continue my explorations. I had been stopped on my way to Terrace Pond by an expansion of a gas pipeline that cut the Terrace Pond North trail at about the halfway point. Not wanting to Tess pass on the right-of-way or endanger myself or Sheba, we turned around and headed back to the car. I had intended to visit Surprise Lake, Bearfort North and West Pond and didn't see any reason to change my plans. I headed east on the Warwick Turnpike and then turned north on Route 210. Just before the road crossed into New York I turn left onto the trail head access road which also serves a marina. Last time we had visited we hiked the route in a clockwise direction. For some variety I decided to hike this time in an anticlockwise direction. This would mean almost all the ascending would be at the beginning of the hike but that the return trip would be all downhill. We got on the blue State Line Trail to start the hike at about 11:15 AM. The beginning of this trail wanders around at low elevation before beginning the serious climb to the ridge. I was struck by how dry it was in the area. The dirt was dust and all of the small stream were dry! The trail is marked with blue on white squares which are difficult to follow at times. This is a very popular area and people have made their own sets of paths which can be misleading. The trail is mostly a wide woods road although at times it seems more like a creek bed! At around .7 miles we passed by the yellow Ernest Walter Trail but I elected to use this for the return trip. We continued to ascend to the top of the ridge where the State Line Trail ends at the Appalachian Trail. Near the top we went up and down over several small ridges before finally hitting the AT.

When we finally ascended the last little ridge to the AT it was 11:55 AM and we had hike about a mile. It seemed like some of the trail went straight up but the steepest sections were only about a 17% grade. We turned left onto the AT and began to walk along the ridges of rock typical of the Bearfort and Bellvale ridges. We were only on the AT for about .3 miles but we were lucky enough to meet a solo through hiker. He had started in Georgia and hoped to be at Katahdin by late September or early October. After a brief conversation, we parted ways. My spirits were lifted by this young man on a difficult quest. When the yellow Ernest Walter trail appeared on the left in a little swale we turn left and followed it. Walking this trail don't seem much different than the section of the AT we had left as it continued along the rock ridge. The ridge can be hard to walk and narrows in some places and there really isn't much of a view. After about .6 miles the trail started to go down and I thought this was a good place to begin the bushwhack to Bearfort North. I was wrong. We continued straight ahead but then I began drifting too far north. I couldn't visualize the high point as everything was thick laurel and other brush. I kept heading west until I found I was actually west of the high point and turned due east. Eventually I hit the highest point around and my GPS confirmed the location. I recognized the spot from the last time I was there but my path wasn't even close. It didn't help that there were many paths around and non seemed to go where I wanted. There was no view from the summit so I walked around a little. Some views may be possible but only during seasons with less vegetation. As I got ready to leave Sheba found a wide, unmarked trail that was easy to follow and headed the way I wanted to go. Eventually the trail started to go too far borth so I headed east and ended up in the same place I had left the Walter Trail. After looking at my GPS track on the computer, I saw that I should have stayed on the main trail for about 300 more feet until it turned 90 degrees. At that point another 300 feet due west would have put me right on the unmarked path that Sheba found. Somehow it seemed easier to realize this when I hike it from the opposite direction.

On the main trail things went much more smoothly. In a short distance we made a sharp but short descent into the outlet of West Pond and then a similar sharp but short ascent on the other side. Within .25 miles we were walking out the short spur trail to the viewpoint over West Pond. This viewpoint is beautiful and always deserted. It was a little after 1:30 PM so we had a drink and Sheba and I split a peanut butter on pita. I took quite a few pictures and then we headed out to Surprise Lake. We climbed a short distance to the top of the ridge and met a group of six young people enjoying the sun. After that, it was a descent to the trail that leads across the outlet to Surprise Lake. The drop is about 100 feet but it is not steep. Soon we were on the trail that parallels the lake. This trail is interesting as most of it passes through a laurel tunnel. There is an interesting split rock along the way and a short rocky ascent to the "beach" on the lake. This area has no sand but people do seem to like to swim there. Some of the teenagers decided to take a dip while I moved to two other viewpoints to take unobstructed pictures. This lake is also secluded but gets quite a few visitors. After taking my shots, we started the short walk back on the main trail. The trail breaks out onto the ridge and ascends slightly to give some great views of Greenwood lake and the mountains beyond. The mountains were still hazy but the views of the lake were good, I took pictures and then we started down to the State Line Trail. The trail junction is less than half a mile from the lake and we were soon descending the State Lien Trail. The descent should have been easy but the dry dirt and round rocks coupled with the steepness of the trail in spots warranted caution. We were back at the car at 3:00 PM having covered the 5.1 mile hike in 3 hours and 40 minutes. This is lower than our usual pace but included plenty of time for pictures and an off trail adventure.

On Tuesday, August 2nd I decided to return to New Jersey. I had meant to go to hike some of the trails this winter but somehow time slipped by. Last summer I did a lot of hiking "below the border" as I was finishing the NJ1K list. This summer I had not yet been in New Jersey so I headed for Greenwood Lake. My intention was to hike to Terrace Pond. The last time we were there we had some fantastic views but Cindy did not want to hike around the pond. I wanted to do that loop and hit the Bearfort Mountain high point again. I arrived at the parking pull off just west of White Road at 9:40 AM. Sheba and I braved the traffic to cross the road and start the hike. As soon as we climbed the bank, I saw a "Trail Closed" sign. I was disappointed but there was indication of why the trail was closed and I have always taken these signs as more of "Hike at your own risk". I decided to continue and we followed the blue trail across the private property and onto state land. The trail blazes were new and much easier to follow than last time. From the road the trail rises to a ridge for the next .7 miles. Along the way I kept hearing the noise of machinery and assumed it was over the ridge. Even the more remote parts of New Jersey aren't far from a road or inhabited area. Once on the ridge there are some limited views over Greenwood Lake but what I was really looking forward to were the views from the right-of-way. Last time Cindy and had visited we had some of the most magnificent views over the lake and across the countryside. The right-of-way was steep since we had to make a right turn and head up to the very top of the ridge before picking up the trail to the pond. Still, the ascent was short and well worth the effort.

Less than a mile into the hike we descended off the ridge and the trail blazes disappeared in a swampy area. We continued to follow what looked like the trail and soon I could see the right-of-way ahead. I was NOT prepared for what I saw next. There was a low fence and signs announcing a construction area. I hopped the fence and found the entire right-of-way was dug up and a new pipeline was being installed. The grassy area had been widened and now was just bare dirt and rock. As I looked up the slope I could see construction machinery at work further destroying the beautiful landscape. I was shocked and dismayed. I did not see how I could safely traverse this area and a look at my maps showed no other trail from my location. I took some pictures of the devastation and decided to return to the car. When I returned home in the afternoon, I went to the New York New Jersey Trail Conference site and found an explanation for the construction. This is an "upgrade" to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Compnay's existing pipeline. It cuts the Terrace Pond Trail in half. What is even more disturbing is that the company has applied for permits to build more pipeline including some UNDER the Monkville Reservoir. The construction would bisect trails in 20 different places including interruptions of the Highlands Trail and Appalachian Trail. Public hearings are being held and I hope the comapny will be prevented from destroying this beautiful area. We were back at the car by 11:00 AM. The 2.2 mile round trip too us less than 1.5 hours bu7t made a lasting negative impression of this company's plans!

On Monday, August 1st Cindy and I wanted to take a short hike somewhere after a taxing Sunday with the grandchildren. I had always wanted to go to Kelly Hollow but had bypassed it for "better" hiles. At first, I thought I might have to go alone and thought about bushwhacking up to the Millbrook Ridge. Fortunately Cindy decided to come along and I will save the bushwhack for another day. As we drove along the Pepacton Reservoir it looked like the day was going to be perfect with some sun and moderate temperature and humidity. Along the Millbrook Arena Road we noticed several signs on the property of the Tuscororra Club. Each small, white sign read something like "Demis End" or "Club House End". These signs had obviously been there for some time but it was the first time we had seen them and we had no idea what they meant. We arrived at the parking area at about 10:30 AM and started hiking almost immediately. The Kelly Hollow trail is a loop and is marked for cross country skiing. The trail makes a nice but short hiking loop and would be good for snowshoeing as well. As soon as we entered the woods, we had to make a decision. It appeared that the trail split but only the left branch was marked so we headed that way. For 1.25 miles the trail slowly rises toward the foot of Millbrook Ridge. It is a wide woods road in most places and parallels a branch of an unnamed stream. The stream had very little water but the bed it had carved was deep indicating that the volume increases seasonally. Over the next .75 miles the trail generally heads west with a northerly "bow" to skirt the base of the ridge. The trail travels over some humps and bumps but the elevation does not change too much.

We arrived at the end of the traverse at about 11:30 AM. There is a beaver pond at this point. The beavers have sealed the outlet of the pond but there seems to be an old stone dam there as well. There is a lean-to complete with a privy in this area. The lean-to is in good shape and the privy is new since it was built as an Eagle Scout project. We stopped and dropped our packs to inspect the lean-to and the beaver pond. After a drink and a little lunch, we continued to follow the trail as it looped around the back of the beaver pond. The trail here was narrow and not well cleared. I thought there was no beaver activity in the pond but around the other side we found some newly fallen trees. The trail turns generally north here to head back to the road and again parallels a branch of the stream. About .7 miles from the lean-to I noticed what looked like a waterfall in the stream bed. We were high above the stream but I walked and slid my way down into the creek just downstream of the falls. There was little water going over the falls on this day but its appearance made me believe that it might be quite interesting after some heavy rains. I worked my way back up to the trail passing a lone cement block on the hill. Back on the trail we hiked about .7 miles until we were near the road.

At this point a cemetery appeared on the left side of the trail. Some DEC workers told us this was the Dry Brook Cemetery. Cindy and I were both surprised at how well kept it was. We walked around respectfully examining the inscriptions on the stones. The latest burial was 2001 but many stones were from the early part of the 20th century with many more being even earlier. Some of the headstones were placed in "raised beds" which I had never seen before. The oldest graves were on a hill under a very old tree. Quite a few were burials from the Civil War and some were marked by only a piece of local stone without an inscription. After walking around for about 15 minutes we walked out to the road and turned left to hike the final .25 miles back to the car. Without the cemetery side trip, the hike was 3.7 miles which we covered in under 2 hours. On the way we saw the same white signs as we had seen on the way in. This time the signs said something like "Demis Start" or "Club House Start". The Tuscororra Club apparently has trails from the Road down to Mill Brook for its members. When we got home, I looked up some of the names from the graves and found a lot of historical information. One site listed all the marked graves and the inscriptions. Another site indicated that the Civil War graves were the resting place of members of Company G of the 144th New York Infantry. The 144th was from Delaware County and Company G was from The Town of Middletown. The company was attached to several different armies and spent time in South Carolina and Florida. They were at the liberation of Fort Wagner and Fort Sumter.

On Saturday, July 30th I made arrangements with Jane to come to my house at about 8:00 AM so that we could drive to the Beaverkill trail head to hike Balsam Lake and Graham. We had talked about including Graham to Doubletop but I had an afternoon family commitment. I DO want to try this bushwhack some time but probably do it as a through hike with a car spot. Jane arrived and we were soon on our way to the end of the Beaverkill Road. I enjoy taking people on hikes when I can talk about the history of the area and show others points of interest. We arrived at the trail head just before 9:00 AM to find only one other car. The temperature was in the low 70's with a slight breeze. We started up the trail and I signed in at the register. The other hikers were listed as going to Balsam Lake and then taking the trail to Alder Lake and Big Pond. We hit the first trail junction at around 9:20 AM and turned left to start up the mountain. The ascent seemed a little more difficult than in the past but the trail was in good shape and there was a slight breeze. We walked passed the side trail to the lean-to and were soon at the spring. Sheba got a drink before we made the last push to the top of the climb arriving at around 10:00 AM. The steepest part of this ascent is only .6 miles and gains 765 feet but this is about a 25% grade which is a good workout. From the top off the climb to the fire tower almost seems flat and it took us a little more than 10 minutes. WE dropped our packs and were ready to climb the tower by 10:15 AM. I went to the landing just below the cab and started to take some pictures. There was a strong breeze blowing. After a few shots, my camera stopped working so I went back Down the tower to try new batteries. Meanwhile, Jane was going up to enjoy the view. I thought I had checked and replaced the batteries in the camera recently but changing them did the trick and I headed back up the tower. The views were a little hazy but the light was good so I took some pictures. I must have taken these same pictures dozens of times before but I still like the view. The ruins on Graham were clearly visible and it reminded us of our next objective.

We shouldered our packs and headed down the other side of the mountain. There were few insects and the air temperature was still very pleasant with a breeze. There were very few insects to bother us and we made good time. Along the way we met one hiker coming up from the Millbrook trailhead. Soon we were at the second trail junction where we turned left and started to look for the Graham herd path. Each time I hike this route the herd path becomes more and more obvious although it seems this is from use since no one appears to be "maintaining" it. We had started down at about 10:30 AM and made the turn to Graham around 11:00 AM. The herd path had a few prickers and nettles in places but these hardly required a whack on the way by. There were one or two new blowdowns across the path. This path always fools me as it seems longer than I remember every time. I am always disturbed by the fact that it descends some before the climb. After walking for 1.3 miles down or flat, the next .8 miles up Graham seemed steep. In fact, the climb is under 15% with a few very short steeper sections. When we finally passed the lookout on the left, I knew we were close to the top and we made a final push to the ruins arriving just after noon. We dropped our packs and decided we would walk out to a viewpoint. There wasn't too much top see because of the leaves on the trees but we started to walk around the summit anticlockwise. This was easier in some places than others with a few pretty dense spots. We did find one or two viewpoints before heading back to the tower. After a drink and some lunch, we started back down at around 12:45 PM. The descent went quickly and we were soon at the turn back onto the main trail. From here we headed straight back to the second and then the first trail junctions. Although Jane and I usually talk up a storm while we hike, we were both quiet on the way back, lost in our on thoughts and the beauty of the hike. As we passed the register, two hikers that I knew from Livingston Manor were signing in. We talked for a minute and then walked back to the car. We were in the parking area by 2:45 PM. The 8.5 mile hike took just under 6 hours but we had taken quite a bit of time for pictures and our off trail excursion on Graham.

On Tuesday, July 26th Cindy and I wanted to take advantage of the cooler temperatures to finally get in a hike! High temperatures and high humidity had kept me sidelined from hiking for too long! I substituted some bike rides but it just wasn't the same. We decided, after some discussion, to hike to the Penguin Rocks lookout on Dry Brook Ridge from the German Hollow trailhead in Arkville. The forecast suggested that there might be showers after noon so our relatively late start did not thrill me. We parked at the end of Chris Long Road off the Dry Brook Road at about 9:45 AM and started hiking immediately. This passed winter I had hiked this route and it was very difficult. During that hike I had made the mistake of leaving my snowshoes in the car since there was only a dusting of snow down low. The higher I got the more snow there was and the going was miserable. I thought that for this hike we would probably be OK up to the lean-to and a little father. I suspected at some point we would run into some nettles in the more open and wetter areas and then lose them again near the top of the trail. About 10:05 AM we arrived at the lean-to after hiking .7 miles. We took a look from the trail and continued up toward the ridge. The GErman Hollow Trail is not steep but is a constant climb to the ridge. We did run into some heavy patches of nettles which I "whacked". ONce the trail started to level near the top it nearly disappeared in several places. It is obvious that the trail gets little use and is not well-maintained. By 10:55 AM we had arrived at the trail junction after hiking 1.7 miles and gaining 1260 feet.

We turned left on the Dry Brook Ridge Trail which is in better shape than the one up from German Hollow. This trail up to the ridge from Margaretville gets some more use but not as much as the route up from Hill Road. The trail continues to climb for the next half mile but along the way almost disappears again in a sea of ferns. After this the trail descends over 100 feet before a nasty little steep ascent to the junction with the Huckleberry Loop Trail from Hill Road. The ascent is not over at this point so we stopped for a drink and a snack. At this point swarms of flies found us so we decided to cut the break short and continue on. The temperature was cooler on the ridge and there was a breeze blowing despite the fact that we were surrounded by the forest. The trail up to the lookouts winds its way along the ridge and changes direction several times. The hiking is fairly easy since this part of the trail is well used. There are a few short climbs to gain the additional 200 feet to the elevation of the lookouts. We arrived at the Penguin Rocks just before 12:30 PM having hiked about 3.6 miles. The sun was out and a breeze was blowing. There were no flies to speak of so we dropped our packs and took a break. Whenever I have visited this lookout there has been a haze in the valley below. On this day the views were as clear as I have ever seen with a beautiful blue sky hanging over the green landscape. The puffy white clouds added another dimension to the scene as I took some shots before dropping to the lower ledge. This ledge slopes away and I was careful as I edges out to take some ore pictures including several of the dropoff!

We stayed at the lookouts for about 10 minutes and started back. It had taken us about 2 hours and 45 minutes to hike up and I asked Cindy how quickly she though we could make it back. She told me here knees were hurting so the trip back might be slow. We set out at a quick pace along the ridge and were back at the Huckleberry Loop Trail junction by 1:05 PM. The going was a little slower as we made the descent down the steeper trail section and then climbed back up. After that we were back on pace and arrived at our turn onto German Hollow at 1:35 PM. The trip down the German Hollow Trail went MUCH quicker than trip up. This was partly due to the fact that it is down but also had to do with the fact that I had already whacked most of the nettles and prickers out of the way. In addition, as we were descending the skies appeared to grow darker and we could hear thunder rumbling in the distance! I had intended to stop at the leanto but we passed it by and headed for the car. We were back by 2:25 PM which meant we had returned in 1 hour and 50 minutes cutting almost an hour off our ascent! We covered the 7.1 mile hike in 4 hours and 42 minutes. As we drove out to Route 28 the skies all around were dark. As we made the turn toward Roscoe on Route 206 the rain came in earnest and continued until we were back in Livingston Manor.

On Saturday, July 16th I wanted to take a short hike in Bethel. Brad also wanted to go so we parked at the farm and walked the roads to a woods road called the Ricky Run Road near Indian Field. The Rocky Run Road is part of the old Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike and we hiked it extensively when I was growing up on Dr. Duggan Road. The woods road was very prominent and showed traces of tracks. I remembered many of the twists and turns and the ridges that line the road in places. It was a hot day with temperatures in the high 80's and high humidity. The road, however, was almost dry. After about 1.5 miles, we noticed that we were both being attacked by a HUGE swarm of mosquitoes. I broke out the DEET but we both had many bites before we got the repellant sprayed on our exposed areas. We continued to walk but the mosquitoes didn't seemed phased by the DEET so we made the decision to turn back. I was feeling a little delicate but I didn't feel it was worth getting eaten alive for a simple walk. As we returned on Indian Field Road another woods road went off to the left on state land. I started to follow this road waiting to see if the mosquitoes would return. Happily there were few insects and the road led to the path above Ernie's Pond that leads up to Lake Superior. We followed the path passing by some laurel in full bloom. We were soon at a spot directly across from the bathing area on the other side. I walked down to the shore to take some pictures of the lake and the bathing area.

We turned around to head back down to the pond. The paths are pretty well-defined at this point and easy to follow. This all brought back a lot of memories since my friends and I crossed and recrossed this area so many years ago. Along the path we ran across the large ant hills that I remembered. There were over two dozen of them with the largest being 5 feet in diameter and more than a foot high! As we approached the pond, we chose to take the "low road" and hike near the shore to the outlet of the pond. There is also a path higher up that walks along the ridge above the pond. We stopped to take pictures of the pond and the dam at the outlet end. We walked out to the road and then back on the road to the house where we had parked the car. Our 4 mile hike took a little under 2 hours.

On Thursday, July 14th I decided to return to Sam's Point and hike the escarpment loop which I had not done in some time. Sheba and I arrived at the Conservation Center at 10:00 AM and started the hike almost immediately. There were a few other cars in the lot and I suspected some were berry picking. My intention was to hike just the "main" loop without visiting the ice caves or Indian Rock. I was surprised that the temperature was so comfortable hovering in the mid 60's. On the way up to Sam's Point I took some pictures of the cliffs and then stopped at the lower viewpoint. There was little haze and at that point I knew this would be a slow hike with a lot of time for pictures. The green of the vegetation and the blue of the sky was complemented by a lot of interesting, puffy, white clouds. We took the short spur to the Point and found no one there. Even though I have taken these pictures many times, I took them again and tried to get a new perspective. I captured some shots of the viewpoint and then some along the escarpment cliffs as well as some of the distant scenery. Back on the main trail we headed toward the turn off to the ice caves on the loop road. After turning right, we walked down the side road a short distance before turning left onto the trail down to Verkeerder Kill Falls. This trail is rocky and often quite wet but on this day it was dry the entire length. In many places the trail was narrowed by the encroaching blueberry bushes and little had been done to maintain the trail. Along the first part there was a sea of low blueberry bushes with an occasional dwarf pine. I took some photographs and included some of the clouds for good measure. At one point the trail passes through a stand of hardwood trees and the first floor was covered in ferns. This required some more pictures! Most of the rest of the trail to the falls is rocky and passes through dwarf pines. The trail is always longer than I remember but we finally got to the falls at 11:45 AM after 3 miles of hiking 1.8 miles of which were on the trail.

We stopped on the near side of the falls and walked out to the viewpoint. There was almost NO WATER going over the falls. I have seen it this dry only once before and was a little surprised since there had been so much rain. I took some pictures and noticed three people on the other side. Crossing the stream was no problem and we were soon on the other side. The far side of the stream offers more unobstructed views of the falls and the pool below. I took pictures of the falls and actual saw a small rainbow which photographed nicely. After some of the scenery and some conversation with the people from Middletown, Sheba and I headed out on the trail to climb back up to the escarpment. The trail climbs steeply but for only a short distance. We stopped at the first viewpoint so that I could take some pictures, a theme that would recur frequently on the way to High Point. As we left the viewpoint, a solo hiker passed by. At the trail junction with the path to Awosting, we turned left to continue along the escarpment. From the falls to High Point is about 2.56 miles. The trail passes along the edge of the cliffs with many wonderful views of the countryside. Sometimes the path dives into the dwarf pines only to emerge to more great views. I noticed the transmission towers opposite us across the gorge and knew we had some distance to go before we would pass by them on the way back. The route we were following heads northwest before making a 90 degree turn just passed High Point and heading southwest back-to-back the Conservation Center. Sheba and I walked up and over and down the various rock formations. I was surprised that she seemed able to handle most of the short, steep climbs with ease. In several places we stopped and Sheba went up on the higher rocks ahead of us to pose. Where the trail moves from the rocks into the scrub it is almost totally obscured by the blueberry bushes. No maintenance has been done untold about .3 miles from High Point. I hope the Center intends to finish cutting out the trails as the $10 use fee should include trails that are open and ease to find!

By 1:25 PM we had hiked 5.5 miles and were standing on High Point. Sheba scrambled up behind me and we took in the view. The Smiley Tower at Mohonk and the cliffs of Hamilton and Castle Point were clearly visible. To the north were the outlines of the Catskill high peaks. After some time for pictures and a snack we started in again as I knew we still hade more than 3 miles to go. In a few minutes we were at the trail that leads down to the carriageway. We walked passed this turn off to the area where the fire tower once stood. This lookout gives an even better view to the north and more pictures were in order. We walked back to the trail down to the carriageway and soon were headed back to the parking lot. There were a few muddy spots along the way but nothing compared to the continuous bogs that are often present. The sign at the top of the trail before descending says 2.4 miles to the center. The sign at the bottom gives 2.8 miles for the same distance. I have often wondered why someone didn't proofread this more carefully! The walk back always seems long but went quickly this time. The constant pounding on my legs and feet was beginning to take its toll as we approached the Center. We were back at the car by 2:40 PM having hiked 8.8 miles in 4 hours and 40 minutes. I counted this as a good pace given the amount of time we had stopped so that I could photograph.

On Monday, July 11th I had an opportunity to hike to the Greater Ice caves at Sam's Point with my friend Phil, a running coach at Ellenville High School. Although these "caves" are part of the Sam's Point Preserve they are "primitive with no marked trail. Phil has been there many times and I appreciated his offer to be my guide. We met at the Berme Road Park behind the fire station in Ellenville about 10:30 AM and started our hike almost immediately. It was already 80 degrees with high humidity. Just out of the parking lot the path lead up through some rock formations with a short rock scramble. I took some pictures and we continued. The path lead to some roads and then we turned left up a steep bank and were on a path the rest of the way. In places the path was barely discernable and there was some blowdown along the way. We walked and talked as we hacked our way along the path. A few times we stopped for a short break, usually, at my request. I had Sheba and Phil had his chocolate Lab, Nibbles. Both dogs were eager to drink each time we stopped. After 1.7 miles and 1300 feet of climbing, we arrived at the first "cave" around 11:45 AM. The cool air coming from the cave was refreshing. We walked down into this crevasse in the Earth and the cool air became cold. We spe4nt a few minutes there as I took pictures of the bottom of the cave and some interesting shot up at the sky above. There was no ice at the bottom but it was still a lot of fun. We headed for the next cave. Along the way Phil kept mentioning the "big" cave we would eventually visit.

The next cave was a little harder to get down into and we could not safely get close to the bottom. We walk down into the crack and there was ICE AT THE BOTTOM. This was not a small sliver of ice but a substantial slab in July! I took pictures and then we walked out the other end of the crack. Our next stop was the BIG crevasse and Phil was telling the truth! It was by far the largest in all dimensions. As we walked along, I took pictures in several spots to try to capture the length, breadth and depth of this crack. About halfway along were several rock outcroppings that jutted out from the rocks and over the crack. I took some unobstructed pictures from these. I took Phil up on his offer top tale a CPR of Sheba and I on one of these viewpoints. Phil headed some distance away and took several shots. When he showed me the pictures, I saw that Sheba and I were standing on a shelf of rock about two feet thick hanging some 100 feet above the bottom below. I thanked Phil for the experience and the pictures! We walked a little further but did not find anything more of interest so we started back at about 12:45 PM after 2.4 miles of walking and exploration.

On the way back, we took a slightly different route. When we hit a woods road near a bungalow colony at about 4 miles we turned right and headed out to Route 52. We arrived at an interesting falls along a small creek. The falls can be seen from Route 52 just as it leaves Ellenville and starts up toward Cragsmoor. We worked our way down the bank to the creek. The two dogs and Phil decided to get wet. I decided to take pictures of the falls. Some people were present at then falls as I worked my way upstream. The falls are actually "recessed" behind a retaining wall as they have eroded into the mountain. I did not want to get wet so stop short of crossing the stream and took my pictures. I was done about the same time as the water-lovers so we leashed the dogs and headed out to Route 52 and walked back to the car. There was one last stop to make. We got in our cars and drove down Berme Road to J&M Originals, a child's clothing outlet. The business is housed in the SunRay Soda Bottling plant. The soda bottling went out of business OEM time ago but the building still stands. What is also present on the property is a tunnel that starts at the bottom of the ridge and runs hundreds of feet up into the rock. The water was sued in the soda bottling business and is filtered through the rock. The exact history of the tunnel is the object of some speculation.

On Saturday, July 9th I made arrangements with Jane and Jon to hike the Blackhead Range. The weather report was for warm temperatures with partly cloudy skies. I looked at the various routes including Colgate Lake to Barnum Road and Barnum Road to Peck Road including Windham in the hike. I really want to do both of these routes and the fact that we would have three cars made both inviting prospects. Both of these routes are 13 miles and more and I finally decided this was a little beyond what I wanted to do for the day. An ambulance call that took away 3 hours of sleep during the night cemented my decision. I decided we would all park at the Batavia Kill area and hike the Batavia Kill trail to the Escarpment trail and go up the steeper north approach to Blackhead. This approach has several rock scrambles and would allow us to walk across to Black Dome and Thomas Cole and return by way of the Black Dome trail to the parking area. We met in Hunter and drove to Maplecrest and out Big Hollow Road to the parking area. There were a few cars in the parking area with one inconsiderate driver taking up what could have been several spaces. We were on the trail by 9:15 AM. Jon is new to hiking but is very fit and a string hiker. Today's hike would be at my pace however. The Black Dome Trail from the parking area is very rocky and ALL the rocks were damp and slippery. We made our way along the trail carefully until we hit the trail junction with the yellow blazed Batavia Kill Trail at .75 miles. We turned left on the Batavia Kill Trail and started a moderate climb of .9 miles to the Escarpment Trail. On the way we passed by the unoccupied Batavia Kill lean-to.

When the Batavia Kill Trail ended at the Escarpment Trail, we turned right and started up toward the summit of Blackhead Mountain. It was 10:00 AM as we started the ascent which begins gently but then becomes steeper with several switchbacks and one very nice lookout. The lookout is a good place to get a view of the Hudson River valley to the east and is important since the summit of Blackhead has no view. There are several rock scrambles along this approach including some that are nearly vertical. The ascent is about .8 miles and is over 1000 vertical feet. We stopped for pictures at the viewpoint at 10:20 AM and then headed up to the summit. We arrived at the summit at around 11:00 AM about 2.5 miles into the hike. After taking a break we started off again toward Black Dome. After only .4 miles, we stopped at 11:25 AM on the west face of Blackhead with a fantastic view of Black Dome immediate ahead and the entire Devils Path to our left toward the south. We spent a couple minutes taking pictures. Jane asked about on obvious rocky area on Black Dome and I said that was where we would be very soon. Looking across at Black Dome I always have the feeling that no one could climb such a big mountain. The feeling always passes but I hope it reflects the respect I have for the mountains. The trip down to the col was made difficult by the fact that the trail was a little overgrown, wet in spots and strewn with loose rocks and dirt. Along the way we met a group coming up Blackhead with the intention of heading down the other side. We exchanged information and the continued in our opposite directions. We hit the col at 11:40 AM and immediately started up Black DOme. The climb is much easier than Blackhead since the start is so much higher. There are some tricky rock scrambles and a nice viewpoint back to Blackhead - the same viewpoint that was visible from Blackhead.

After leaving the viewpoint, we headed directly up to the summit of Black Dome to the rock shelf lookout toward the south. We arrived at 12:15 PM about 3.7 miles into the hike and decided to take a break for lunch. I took some pictures and shared a sandwich with Jane. After giving Sheba a drink, treats and part of my sandwich we pushed on to Thomas Cole. This part of the hike is the easiest but there are still a few rock scrambles in the way along the .75 miles stretch. There is no view from Thomas Cole so we turned around and headed back. We hurried through the descent back into the col with Black Dome and then pushed the ascent up to the summit. From the top of Black Dome we headed back down into the col. A group of three hikers from Albany was taking a break before starting back to the parking area. We talked briefly and then they started down ahead of us. We followed them soon after at about 2:10 PM and 5.7 miles into the hike. . The Black Dome Trail had been cleared of nettles and prickers for most of the length by a volunteer we had met before on Blackhead. The first part of the trail descends through several switchbacks before joining a woods road. Once on the road the trail becomes very rocky and difficult to walk. By 2:55 PM we had hiked 7 miles are were back at the junction with the Batavia Kill Trail. From here we headed back to the car over rocks that were no longer damp or slippery as they had been earlier. We arrived at the cars at 3:15 PM covering the 7.6 miles in 6 hours with over 2800 feet of elevation gain. We drove to Tannersville and had a very nice meal at Pancho Villa's before parting company.

On Thursday, July 7th Cindy and I headed to Trout Pond to hike. It took us a while to decide where we were going so we did not arrive at the upper parking area until 10:30 AM. The temperature at this time was in the high 70's and predicted to climb into the upper 80's. We started down Russell Brook Road and immediately ran into a road crew from the Town of Colchester trying to smooth the gravel that makes up the road bed. They were also working to clear the ditches so that the water can drain. Hopefully this will prevent the road from washing out during the frequent and violent rain storms that have been occurring on a regular basis. As we walked down the road I could hear the brook and it sounded like the volume was pretty high. I had thought I would avoid taking pictures since I have so many of this area but I could not resist. I walked down the bank to a spot overlooking the upper falls and took some shots. Back on the road we walked down to the lower parking area and then down the wide snowmobile trail/road to the area of the lower falls. We passed by the falls as we had been there recently and started up to Trout Pond. We talked as we walked and soon we were at the outlet of the pond. After a brief stop for some pictures and a drink we headed for the upper end of the lake. The trail was VERY wet from the overnight rain. As we approached the lean-to, a young boy popped out of the bushes by the lake and started to walk toward the lean-to. I struck up a conversation and found the family camps there every 4th of July. Where the trail branches we headed to the right up the Trout Pond Trail toward Campbell Brook. It was about 11:20 AM and we had covered 2 miles.

We had not hiked the trail that leads to Campbell Brook Road for some time. The first .8 miles of the trail is all uphill and rises about 450 feet to the top of a hill. The trail is not used much and would be completely grow in except for the fact that it also acts as a snowmobile trail. At one point, near the top, another snowmobile trail marked "21" headed off to the right. We stayed to right on the blue blazed hiking trail. From here the trail descends to an area where it crosses two brooks on newly constructed bridges. After that it ascends slightly to meet Campbell Brook Road. The trail is easy to follow but is overgrown in any open areas with prickers and nettles. At Campbell Brook Road I had intended to hike another mile up to Campbell Mountain Road and then use Morton Hill Road to get back to the car. Cindy decided that we would turn right on Campbell Brook Road until it meets Morton Hill. This cut a few miles from the hike but it was hot and I really didn't object. For about .9 miles Campbell Brook Road and Morton Hill Road ascend a hill. After that the next 2.4 miles is all downhill back to the car. My feet were starting to hurt and it was hot. I am not a big fan of road walking in the sun even though it is fast. We were back at the car just passed 1:30 PM covering 7.1 miles in just over 3 hours!

On Tuesday, July 5th I had the idea that I wanted to return to Notch Lake and hike Plateau and maybe Sugarloaf from there. I don't like paying the $6 fee just to park but I hadn't hiked Plateau from the lake in some time and the steepness of the trail somehow appealed to me. The forecast was for sunny weather with temperatures in the 80's. I had some errands to do in the morning so we did not arrive until 10:30 AM. There were no cars at Slide and only two at Panther. The Notch Lake parking area had a few cars. Sheba and I got right on the trail by crossing the road where I signed the register. We start UP the trail toward the top of Plateau. This trail is steep despite the switchbacks and since I was trying to keep a good pace. I was soon a little winded. A couple of places opened up in the foliage so that I could take some pictures. As we climbed over some rocks I began to think about the discussion I had with Hermit on Saturday about rattlesnakes on Plateau. I decided Sheba should follow me and I was very careful as we walked along. The bottom line was that we saw a lot of toads of different sizes but no snakes of any kind. We did walk across the slide on Plateau on the way to the top. As the trail flattened a little near the top, there were some wet spots but otherwise this part of the trail was dry. There we also fewer insects than I expected. At the very top of the climb is a vertical scramble up and over some rocks To Orchard Point. I boosted Sheba up and then got myself on top. We had climbed 1650 feet in 1.2 miles taking a little over an hour including our stops.

At the top of the climb there is a flat space that acts as a lookout. The views were very good this day if a little green. The view directly north showed Hunter mountain where I could see the ski equipment at the top of the slopes and the fire tower at the summit. A little to the west was Westkill. I took many pictures and several showed the layers of mountains one behind the other. I tried some panoramic shots and two came out very nicely. After spending some time at this lookout, we headed toward the highest spot on Plateau which is more than 2 miles away along the top of the mountain. As the name suggests the hike is almost flat although the elevation gain from the top of the climb to the summit is 225 feet. Not far passed the top of the climb and the northward facing lookout is another open spot that faces east called Danny's Lookout. Perhaps the most prominent feature from the viewpoint is Kaaterskill High peak and Round Top. I took more pictures from here before continuing on to the summit. The long walk to the highest point on Plateau starts out with a hike through some hardwood trees, small clearing and fir trees. The further along you get the more the trees close in and become almost exclusively fir. Several places along the trail there are glimpses of light on the right and some possible viewpoints but most are obscured by vegetation and offer no real views. At 2.75 miles from the beginning of the hike we hit the "new" extension to the Warner Creek trail. By this time I had decided that I would not do Sugarloaf. It was getting late and I just didn't feel like descending Plateau and the ascending Sugarloaf just to have to repeat the processes to get back to the car. We continued to walk to the highest point on the trail and then down the other side to the large boulders that lookout over Sugarloaf. We had already hiked 3.4 miles and it was a little before 1:00 PM. We stopped here to get a snack and So that I could take some pictures. Afterwards we headed back down the Devil's Path for about .65 miles and turned left onto the Warner Creek Trail.

I had been on the Warner Creek Trail several times but had usually ascended it. At the beginning the trail descends gently through some fir trees but at some point the descent is pretty steep. About .5 miles down this trail from the Devil's Path is the best viewpoint on the whole trail. The lookout is an open, flat rock and I took pictures of Silver Hollow and some back up toward Plateau. The pictures of Plateau clearly show the reason for the name. We continued own the trail and the going was slower than I thought especially on the steeper sections of Daley Ridge which were mostly damp dirt. We passed the spring but did not go to it. The trail turned out to be longer than I remembered! About 2 miles from the Devil's Path are several marked vistas with side trails. None of these was worth the list as the views were all blocked by the tree. In another .3 miles there are a series of switchbacks down the steepest sections through and along some rock ledges. Three miles from the Devil's Path and around 7 miles into the hike we hit the trail that follows Silver Notch Road, a woods road, down to Notch Inn Road. This part of the trail was the wettest with a lot of flowing water. At the end of Notch Inn Road, I put Sheba on her leash and we walked about 1.2 miles back to the car on Route 214. Along the way we stopped so that I could take pictures of the slide that was clearly visible on Plateau. I also took pictures of the beaver pond with its dam and lodge. Back at the car we met the only other hiker of the day, a woman from Woodstock who had just come back from the Hunter fire tower. We had hiked 9.2 miles in 5.5 hours. I was glad I had not included Sugarloaf in the hike!

On Saturday, July 2nd Jane Doe and I had a plan to meet at the end of Moonhaw Road at 9:00 AM and bushwhack Friday and Balsam Cap with a stop of the B-25 crash. Jane has to drive from W3estchester County and I thought the later start might also allow the woods to dry out a little from the rain on Friday night. We made the plant on Wednesday and on Thursday I saw that Hermit had made mention of hiking the VanBenschoten Trail on Saturday. I sent a personal message to Ralph asking if Jane and I could tag along and he said that is was okay. Jon, the person that was accompanying Ralph, had only hiked Mt. Tremper before and I wondered if he realized what he was getting into. I called Jane to break the news and ask if there was any way she could get to Moon haw by 7:15 AM. I was ready for her to say "NO!" because of the long drive but she immediately consented.

I got up at 5:00 AM and was driving out to Liberty by 5:35 AM with Sheba in the back seat. By the time I got to Grahamsville, I remembered that the drive was only about an hour for me. I hoped Jane could find the trailhead and would be on time. When I arrived at the parking area Jane was already there having found the parking area with little trouble! Hermit and Jon arrived just after 7:00 AM and we crossed the bridge over Wittenberg Creek and started up the old woods road. Hermit gave us same historical information as we recrossed the creek. The land was once owned by the Moonhaw Club. Mr. VanBenschoten was the caretaker and his wife cooked. Eventually passed into the hands of Nelson Shultis. After Mr. Shultis logged the land, it passed to New York State. The "mansion" at the end of Moonhaw Road stands where one of the club buildings was once located. The hike was going pretty well down low with some wet spots and patches of nettles. Jon was in shorts and Jane lent him her gaiters to alleviate the nettle experience. The lower part of the "trail" follows old logging roads. We were following faint orange blazes last placed the a Boy Scout Troop. At some point we hit the steeper part of the trail followed by the steepest part! Some of this required hanging onto roots and branches and pulling ourselves up the slope. Jane and I were getting tired nut Hermit is amazing and Jon, on his second hike, was right with him. We finally were in sight of the trail after pushing through a little thick stuff near the top. It took us almost 3 hours to do the 2.5 miles to the ridge. Once on the trail he turned right and headed toward Wittenberg.

Hiking the ,4 miles over to Wittenberg seemed easy! We stopped at the top of Wittenberg to get a snack and take pictures. The view was only a little hazy but I got some good shots. There were three other people at the top along with a Blue Dane. The Blue Dane was BIG with red rimmed eyes and I thought "Two heads short of Cerberus." Someone pointed out a snake in the rock crevice. It was hard to see the markings to identify the species. After our "rest" at the summit, Hermit took us down to a cave/shelter below the summit. Not too many people know about this place. (I guess a lot more know now!). I cannot reveal the exact location as we were sworn to secrecy. There was a small tin box where we signed our names. After a short break to enjoy a different view and to take pictures we were off again for Cornell. We walked back to the top of Wittenberg and over the Bruin's Causeway to Cornell. I was already feeling a little tired and I knew Jane felt the same way. Hermit and Jon seemed unaffected! We all got up the V notch on Cornell without many problems. Even Sheba only need an initial boost and then scrambled up the crack. We stopped at the overlook just to the left of the crack to take some pictures. This viewpoint is better than the other one near the top of Cornell. The views of Wittenberg and the Ashokan were very nice. We walked on to the other viewpoint on Cornell where I hatched a brilliant plan. I was pretty sure Jane and I would not be able to tackle Slide AND return the way we had come which was Hermit's plan. Jane cell phone had service so I called my wife to give Jane and I a ride back from the main Slide parking area. Cindy agreed so the plan was made.

As We started down Cornell toward Slide, my mood was much improved and my legs began to feel better. Could I really make it back with Hermit and Jon? I thought I probably could but decided to stay with the new plan. We stopped at the viewpoints that look out toward Slide and the surrounding valleys and I took some shots. Descending into the Col between the two mountains seemed easy! As we started up Slide, I was sure that my new plan was the proper one as my legs were dead. There was a group of people in the Col and we said "Hi" as we passed through. After a stop for lunch, we hit the two or three scrambles before the ladders on slide. These scrambles can be fun but they also have workarounds which I though Sheba and I would use. As it turned out we all made it up the scrambles OK. The last part of the climb up to the ladders on Slide was a grind for me but we were soon at the spring. Sheba got a drink and we stopped for a short rest. We stop at the ladders for some pictures and to look back at Cornell. Climbing the ladders and the subsequent rock scrambles actually went quickly and my legs were feeling better. At the top of Slide we paused for pictures. There were quite a few people at the top and Jane asked someone to take a picture of the five of us. We said goodbye to Jon and Hermit and parted ways. Jane and I continued down Slide toward Route 47 and Hermit and Jon headed back the way we had come.

The walk down Slide was pretty easy. We stopped at the viewpoint toward Giant Ledge and Panther and I took a few pictures. As we continued down, we met a lot of people heading up. Most made positive comments about Sheba which I appreciated. We began to meet people I knew and had mentioned previously on the hike. The first was a former student who asked how far it was to the top. I had mentioned Robert Moses from Andes Hikers to my partners on the hike. We met a group coming up led by ... Robert Moses. We talked for a moment and he offered us Klondike bars but hiking back to the top was NOT something I would do for a Klondike bar! I also talked about Hoosier and Jay H from the ADKHighPeaks forum both of whom I had hiked with before. A little further down the trail we met up with ... Jay H and Hoosier. We continued down the trail passing many people coming up and a few going down. The main trail on Slide is NOT one of my favorites especially on the way down. The trail has too many rocks that slip and roll under foot. Soon we came to the woods road and turned right. It was only a short walk until we turned left to continue down to the main parking area. My wife was waiting in the parking area. We drove from the Slide parking area through Grahamsville and out the Peekamoose Road. Jane and I were kidding each other about beating Hermit and John back to the cars! When we got to the end of Moonhaw Road, Hermit and Jon had just arrived! They made the trip back from Slide, over Cornell and down the VanBenschoten Trail in 2.5 hours! Jane and I had hiked 8.7 miles in 8 hours and 20 minutes with a total elevation gain of 4300 feet. Hermit invited us back to his house but I was too tired to accept. I definitely need to hike more on the 35s and up my speed although I doubt I will ever be as fit as Ralph.

On Wednesday, June 29th I decided I wanted to do a longer hike and get in some elevation also. The only peaks I "needed" for the grid for June were bushwhacks. Torrential downpours the day before convinced me that battling prickers and nettles is bad but even worse when they are wet and the footing is questionable. I decided to hike the Blackhead Range from Barnum Road since I had not done it in some time. The weather forecast was for temperatures in the mid-seventies and mostly sunny skies. When I awoke in the morning, there was a heavy haze hanging over Livingston Manor. This is not unusual and often the haze disappears as I drive out of the valley in the morning. I was aiming to get started by 8:00 AM so pulling out of Livingston Manor at 8:15 AM was a real accomplishment! As I drove out DeBruce Road I noticed two things - the skies remained overcast and I was very tired. As I turned onto the Frost Valley Road and drove toward Big Indian, neither of these things changed. I began to feel like turning around and going home to take a nap! The SLide and Panther Mountain lots had one or two cars parked. As I approached Route 28, I pulled off the road at the little convenience store and closed my eyes. I rested for no more than 10 minutes but after that felt considerably better. Since I had the Blackhead Range for June, I decided I would go hike as many of the three peaks as I wanted and THEN return home for my nap! We arrived at the end of Barnum Road just before 10:00 AM and started to hike almost immediately. The first .5 miles is uphill along an old road and trail. It was wet with running water and washed out. The trail is sometimes in the "stream bed" and sometimes on the bank. At the end the trail turns sharply left and there is a sign in box.

The trail begins a long uphill section at this point but none of this is very steep except for a few short rock scrambles. I was watching for a lookout part way up but missed it. After At .8 miles the trail goes through a series of switchbacks and then straightens out again. The skies continued to be overcast and were almost threatening rain. Occasionally the sun seemed to break through and then go back under a bank of clouds. There were few views along the way due to the lush vegetation spurred on by the recent rains. The vegetation along the trail is beginning to close in in many places brining the nettles all that much closer. I was wet after less than a mile despite the fact I wore gaiters. Many sections of the trail had running water but the worst part were the flatter sections with frequent muddy spots. None of the spots were enormous but they were bad enough for me to want to avoid them and they interrupted the hike. At more than one point I thought I might just hike to the summit of Cole and then bail! At 1.4 miles I approached a steeper climb to around 3300 feet. I knew this wasn't Thomas Cole. What I remembered after getting to the top was that before ascending Cole you must ascend and then descend the Caudal and the Camel's Hump! After about 2 miles I was at the top of the Camel's Hump and starting down the other side. There was a sort of view of Thomas Cole through the bushes but I couldn't take any pictures. The trail got even narrower and the mud in the col was pretty bad. One bright note was the absence of insects! Soon we were on the flat, open area between The Hump and Cole. I tried to see if could get a picture but the trees and the cloud hanging on the mountain conspired against me.

We were ready to make the final push up Thomas Cole. On the way up we stopped at the small viewpoint which is a short walk off the trail. There was a nice view but much of it was hidden by the clouds hanging low. I took a few shots and hoped it would clear by the time we started back. We hit the top of Thomas Cole at about 3 miles and around noon. The climb up Cole had been less muddy and I was in the mood to at least hike over to Black Dome. The hike to Black Dome is only about .7 miles and I always think of it as flat. The elevation change is just enough to consider Cole a separate peak but there several steeper spots and one nice rock scramble. As I descended these areas I was reminded of how slippery everything was due to the recent rain and high humidity. The is section wet well despite a couple of slips and by 12:25 PM we were at the lookout to the south about 3.7 miles into the hike. There were two other hikers there and I talked to them for a short time. The skies were still overcast and the views very limited. I decided that, although I wanted a few more miles, I would not try the descent down Black Dome to Lockwood Gap. We turned around and headed back to the car. The first part of the descent went quickly. The views from the lookout had no improved so we bypassed it rather quickly. It did seem that the section from the Hump down the Caudal went very slowly. On the way down I did find the lookout I missed on the way up. As I stepped out onto the a group of 4 or more snakes slithered into the bushes. A little farther over another group of 4 did the same! I took a few pictures and as I packed up to go the one group of snakes returned. I got the camera back out to take some pictures. After that it was down the last rock scramble and back toward the car. This section seemed to take a long time. We were back at the car by 2:45 PM taking almost 5 hours to cover the 7.2 mile hike. We did stop several times but when I hike the 35s I am always reminded that they are different than any other hikes I do.

On Monday, June 27th I had planned to get out on one of my long and fast peakbagging trips. However, Dr. Kudish was still around and planning to bushwhack to some wetlands east of Mongaup Pond. Since this was a totally different aspect of his work, I could not pass up the opportunity to hike with this legend. The plan was to meet at Morgan Outdoors around 8:30 AM and drive to Mongaup Pond to start the hike around 9:00 AM. We met and got a late start. I thought the plan was to park on Flugertown Road and hike in from that direction. This would be a shorter hike and avoid the $8 parking fee. Somehow the decision was made to park at Mongaup Pond, pay $8 for the privilege and then hike the longer distance to get to our destination! We arrived at campsite 38 at 9:30 AM and were soon on the trail. We started on the snowmobile trail that leaves the campsite and headed first east and then north. After about .8 miles we were at the junction with the Long Pond-Mongaup Trail and turned right to head generally southeast toward our destination. Along the way Dr. Kudish noted some of the larger trees and a nice stand of black cherry. We also saw several woods roads that headed off from the trail in different directions. We walked on the trail for about 1.33 miles to a small bridge. Our elevation was, at that point, about the same as the pond but we had hiked up and over a hill to get there. The stream that the bridge crossed appeared to be the outlet stream for the wetlands so we turned right off the trail and followed the stream southwest toward our destination.