Sunday, July 29, 2012

Creek walk

Did a short hike at Plotterkill Preserve this afternoon. Started at the new trailhead on Lower Greg road. Followed the fresh cut connector trail in to the red trail (north rim), and then down to the creek. Instead of crossing and following the south rim trail - I followed the creek upstream. Sometimes I walked in or along side the creek, but often I walked up along the banks. Passed about half dozen small cascades until I reached Rynex creek and the main lower falls. Turned around and then headed back up to the rim trail and out. Had a nice 4 mile walk. Oh yes, the falls looked better after we got some much needed rain last week.
Plotterkill 2

Friday, July 27, 2012

Misery loves company

Did a hike this afternoon in the Taconics. Drove up Robinson Hollow way, a steep narrow gravel road, to the parking area. Then, I started out on what I thought was the marked trail. It wasn't ... just an unmarked old logging road. I had my GPS so I couldn't really get lost, so I continued on. Shortly, I got to a fork and took the left branch that dropped down into the hollow. Crossed a creek (which was mostly dry) and started back uphill on another logging road. The road petered out and I then crossed another drainage and hooked up with a different logging road going in the same northerly direction. Eventually, I got onto another road which was level and heading east toward the ridge. I reached an intersection and followed that road up to the ridge. Soon, I was on the Taconic Crest trail (actually a re-routed section of it). I then headed north on the TCT across Misery mountain. Got to the NY and MA markers and turned around. Headed back south on the TCT and then took the correct trail (yellow markers) back down to the parking area. Had a nice unexpected adventure today. Walked about 7.5 miles total.
MIsery

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Thacher Park

Did a short walk at northern section of Thacher Park. Started from Old Stage Road trailhead and did a loop hike. Visited both view points on this warm sunny day.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Trail Maintenance

Went out and did some maintenance on my section of the escarpment trail. It was very dry in the woods. No water to be found anywhere. Even the creek near the road was bone dry. That is where the bridge got washed last year - no danger of that today. A nice warm, sunny day for working and bugs were not bad at all.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Dog days of summer

I did some easy walks/hikes in the southern Adirondacks. Our first stop was Kunjamuk cave. Drove into the Speculator tree farm on dirt roads. Got to within 1/2 mile and then walked the rest of the way. Could have driven in further. Crossed the bridge over the Kunjamuk river and then reached the short foot path that led to the cave. The cave itself was a small room and had an entrance and a "skylight" hole.
Next, drove on old route 8 to see Austin Falls. Parked and then wandered around. Took a quick dip in the pool. Water was surprisingly warm. Saw a dead deer in the one of the potholes.
Afterwards, drove over to Griffin. Stopped at the gorge and took another dip in the water. Then I followed the old road/snowmobile trail over to Auger falls. It started to thunder and rained lightly for a bit. I was hesitant to continue, but kept on going. I was happy I did as it cleared up after 20 minutes. Soon, we reached the river above the gorge area. I followed some paths back downstream and along the top of the cliffs above Auger falls. Found a way down to a nice pool below the falls where I took a quick dip. Got back to the main trail and continued walking along the river for another 1/2 mile before turning around.
Didn't do too much walking on this very warm day (4-5 miles), but had fun exploring and keeping Howie and myself cool.
Sacandaga 2

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Van Dusen

I did a short hike this afternoon at the Van Dusen Preserve near Glens Falls. Started on the entrance trail and then the perimeter loop trail. After a ways, I turned onto a side path up to the rock outcroppings. I wandered around on top for a bit trying to find the the best view. Took a different path down which was a bit steep. Ended up in a maze of woods roads, but eventually I made it back onto the preserve's loop trail.

Round-trip Distance: 2.0 mi
Elevation Change: 660 ft
Van Dusen

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Bennett Hill

Did a short hike this morning with Howie. We climbed Bennett Hill near Clarksville. The forest was dry and the undergrowth looked kind of sad and wilty. Met about 10 other people and 4 dogs - one of which had a minor porcupine encounter. We covered all the trails today (green, red, yellow). Afterwards, I took Howie to Normanskill creek for a quick dip.