Charlie Stein's Photoblog

Mountain Lakes Park, Westchester County, New York

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Charlie

Mountain Lakes Park, with 1,082 acres, is the northernmost county park in Westchester County, located primarily within the Town of North Salem. There is a summer camp there for disadvantaged children, and other cottages and campsites are available year-round for the general public. The park is described as having a rugged landscape, native hardwood forests, rock outcroppings, meandering streams, beautiful views and the highest mountain in Westchester County. There are also five lakes in the park. It sounds great, but I was not especially impressed. I enjoy overlooks, but there was really only one significant overlook in the park.

I parked beside the Park Office, just inside the entrance to the park. A paved road leads inside the park, forming most of a 3.4-mile orange loop. About 0.2 miles on the road I encountered a dirt road leading to the south. I followed this road:

Dirt road

After 0.4 miles, the road ended at Look Out Point, just across the border into the Town of Lewisboro. This featured the aforementioned overlook:

Lookout Point

Here’s a stitched panorama of the view from Look Out Point:

Lookout Point

I returned the way I had come. It had been below freezing overnight, and was either still below freezing or not much above it. This patch of ice covered on spot of the road:

Ice on dirt road

I returned to the paved road and continued to the east another 0.4 miles, then struck out “cross country” toward the northeast on a blue-blazed trail. With so many fallen leaves, I could not tell where the trail was and had to rely entirely on blazes. In places, a blaze was missing or was spaced too far apart, and I had to continue on in the direction I had been moving and search diligently for the next blaze.

Blue trail

I found a rock wall:

Rock wall

A small pond was at least partly frozen:

Small pond

A close-up of the frozen surface:

Frozen pond surface

The blue trail left the woods at the intersection with the orange-blazed road and a dirt road. I walked along the road for a while, then had a choice of continuing on the blue trail across country or continuing on the dirt road and following a yellow-blazed loop trail. I switched to the yellow-blazed trail, which soon left the road to move north and then northwest through the woods.

Yellow trail

Pretty red berries; without leaves, it’s difficult to know what they are, though the oblong shape could be a clue to identity.

Berries

In one place, a bridge crossed a narrow stream, though the stream was so narrow that the bridge seemed unnecessary.

Bridge across narrow stream

Another frozen puddle filled the trail:

Frozen puddle blocks trail

The yellow trail left the park for about 0.1 mile, running along Hunt Lane, then reentered the park running south. Here’s a nice outcrop visible through the trees:

Outcrop

The next three photos show that a large tree has fallen and blocked the path. I imagine that eventually the county will perform some maintenance and clear the trail.

Fallen tree

Here’s another nice rock wall. I had to walk along side it to clear the tree that was blocking the path.

Rock wall

Looking back, you can see the tree blocking the trail:

Rock wall

Soon afterward, the trail came to a stream. This stream could have used a bridge. There were no stepping stones, so I diverted from the path about 50 feet until I found a narrow spot where I could simply step over the stream.

Stream

The yellow loop intersected the blue loop, so I crossed back to the blue loop, now moving west. The blue loop crossed the orange road and continued southwest. I followed it, and it led to cabins near the north end of Hemlock Lake.

Cabins

Here is Hemlock Lake, with its surface partially frozen. I sat at a picnic table and had lunch there, watching as a couple of dead leaves scudded quickly across the ice, before reaching the border with the as-yet unfrozen water. As the leaves fell into the water, their progress slowed greatly, due to the increased resistance.

Hemlock Lake

I could have hiked a little more, but was getting cold, especially after having been exposed without moving during lunch. I decided to call it a day and headed back to my car. I had only hiked about 4.9 miles, so it was a short day of hiking.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New York, Westchester County | Leave a comment

Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Palm Beach County, Florida

Posted on November 25, 2010 by Charlie

I visited south Florida for Thanksgiving. I was traveling very light, and therefore brought my Lumix DMC-FX35 camera, instead of my newer GF1. While there, I paid a visit, as is customary for me, to Wakodahatchee Wetlands (also see Wikipedia’s entry). “Wakodahatchee” means “created waters” in the Seminole language. It is an artificial wetlands created by the Water Utilities Department of Palm Beach County, Florida.

After sewage is treated in wastewater treatment plants, it is generally discharged into the environment, such as into a river or pumped into the ground, where it may then undergo additional natural filtering. The water then may be withdrawn downstream or from wells, processed by water treatment plants, and provided as drinking water. Palm Beach County created Wakodahatchee (and its nearby sister wetlands, Green Cay), to serve as a discharge location for its wastewater treatment plant, to provide a semi-natural environment for wading birds, and to provide a boardwalk for people to get a little exercise and enjoy the wetlands. When in south Florida, I always try to visit Wakodahatchee and/or Green Cay. Green Cay has a visitor’s center, but I think the two wetlands are otherwise comparable.

The boardwalk is only about a mile, and this is not a natural environment, so it doesn’t count as a hike, but it’s a nice place to walk and enjoy the scenery. Signs provide some information along the boardwalk:

Welcome poster

Boardwalk

Wildlife poster

Boardwalk

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

While you can barely see him, an alligator is lurking in the center of the photo, to the right of the tree branch!

Alligator

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

More boardwalk:

Boardwalk

“Plants: Nature’s Purification Filters”

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Water lilies!

Water lilies

Bird

Stitched panorama:

Shadow of the boardwalk

Another stitched panorama:

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Boardwalk

Dabbler poster

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Fish

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Dabblers

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged Florida | Leave a comment

Schunemunk Mountain State Park, Orange County, New York

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Charlie

YBS, Bombastic, Xi and I left Queens around 9:15 a.m., arriving at Schunemunk Mountain State Park about 1-1/2 hours later. This is one of many New York state parks that is not even listed on the state’s website. I still haven’t figured out why the state is so incompetent as to omit a large percentage of their parks from their own website.

The park is in Orange County, on the west side of the Hudson River, and is to the west of Black Rock Forest, where we were hiking recently. We parked at the parking area on Taylor Road, at around 320′ elevation.

10:44 a.m.: We started out hiking to the southwest on a path shared by three trails, the yellow-blazed Jessup Trail, the white-blazed Sweet Clover Trail, and the teal-blazed Highlands Trail. After 0.3 miles the path curved to the northwest, but after another 0.1 mile the white-blazed trail split off to the left from the other two trails.

The hike begins *

10:51 a.m.: We followed the white-blazed trail as it continued across a grassy field for 0.4 miles to the southwest.

Crossing a field *

11:01 a.m.: The trail then turned to the west and entered forest, where we quickly found a nice stone wall:

Stone wall *

11:09 a.m.: After 0.25 miles, we had gained about 100 feet in elevation. The forest was briefly interrupted by the right-of-way for the Metro-North line. This is an active rail, so we looked and listened carefully to be sure no train was nearby and then hurried across the tracks.

Metro-North Line **

11:09 a.m.: Almost immediately upon re-entering the woods on the west side of the railroad tracks, the white-blazed trail intersected the red-blazed Otterkill Trail. [We didn’t see any otters, so I guess they killed them all.] We took the red-blazed trail to the left (southwest), and after walking a couple of hundred feet we encountered this small waterfall at Dark Hollow Brook, the waterway running east-west at this point.

Dark Hollow Brook *

We then crossed the brook. The spot where the red blazes indicated we should cross had a small log across the brook, but none of us felt that it was a suitable place to cross. I was tempted to suggest returning to the nearby railroad grade and descending on the south side of the brook, but we were able to find a place to cross the brook by balancing on stones.

The red-blazed trail then ended almost immediately at the Dark Hollow Trail, which is black-blazed (a white background with a black mark in the center of it). We turned onto this trail, which traveled in a roughly southwestern direction. This trail gained around 1,100′ in elevation over 1.4 miles, so it was a good workout. Along the way were a couple of nice scenic views.

11:49 a.m.: This was the first scenic view on the Dark Hollow Trail, at around 860′ in elevation.

Dark Hollow Trail *

11:53 a.m.: We saw that someone had placed rocks on a fallen tree. I don’t know if there was a reason for that or if it was just someone’s idea of fun.

Stones on a fallen log *

The trail crossed a branch of Dark Hollow Brook which had an island in the middle of the stream. I found stepping stones to cross to the island, while Xi walked through the water. I felt bad, because perhaps I should have provided instruction to her to cross on the stepping stones rather than to walk through the water. Plus, I was wearing boots that are waterproof up to the top of the tongue, so I can walk through a couple of inches of water if I need to, whereas Xi was only wearing sneakers that probably became soaked at that point.

Having reached the island in the middle of the stream, I turned to watch YBS and Bomby navigate the stepping stones and then heard a splash behind me. I turned and saw that Xi had attempted to cross from the island to the other side of the stream and had fallen in the water, getting her legs wet. I felt bad, because perhaps I should have provided instruction to her not to fall into the water, which I imagine was cold. The rest of us were able to complete both legs of the water crossing without problem.

12:16 p.m.: We arrived at the second scenic view on the trail, at around 1,300′ in elevation.

Dark Hollow Trail *

12:18 p.m.: Here’s the nice view, with a sliver of the Hudson visible in the upper left.

This was around 2/3 of the way up the Dark Hollow trail, which now turned west-northwest. The trail then crossed Dark Hollow Brook.

12:46 p.m.: The caprock of Schunemunk is a reddish-purple matrix studded with pebbles of white quartz and pink sandstone:

Caprock *

12:52 p.m.: I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here. Clockwise from right: YBS, Bomby, Xi and me.

Shadow figures ***

12:54 p.m.: Clockwise from upper left, Xi, me, YBS and Bomby. I don’t wear designer socks or pretty shoes while hiking, so Xi won the contest with her pink socks (not visible here).

Hiking footwear **

12:58 p.m.: A hornets’ nest:

Hornet’s nest *

We reached the end of the Dark Hollow trail, around 1,580′ elevation. We turned left (southwest) onto the yellow-blazed Jessup Trail.

1:21 p.m.: After 0.3 miles of walking on relatively flat ground, we approached the peak of Schunemunk Mountain (at 1,664′). A short white-blazed path led northwest to the Megaliths. Here’s the view to the west from the Megaliths.

Here are the Megaliths, boulders which sheared off from the rest of the mountain:

Megaliths *

Megaliths **

1:57 p.m.: My first thought was to have lunch at the Megaliths, but it was windy/chilly there, so we backtracked to the yellow-blazed trail, where there was not as much wind, and enjoyed lunch there at a big flat area:

Yellow trail near Megaliths *

2:30 p.m.: After lunch we continued on the yellow-blazed trail. Schunemunk Mountain has a double crest, with two ridges running parallel to each other for nearly three miles. The western ridge is at about 1,400′, or 200′ lower in elevation than the eastern ridge. In between, at about 1,300′, is a valley through which runs Baby Brook. The yellow-blazed trail runs northeast-southwest on the eastern ridge, while the Long Path runs northeast-southwest along the western ridge. At the valley floor is the red-blazed Barton Swamp Trail, which runs parallel to the trails along the mountain crests.

Having enjoyed a bit of the eastern crest, our goal was to cross to the Long Path and enjoy a bit of the western ridge. Thus, after another 0.2 miles on the yellow trail, we turned right (northwest) onto the blue-blazed Western Ridge trail. This is a short trail on private property that descends a bit to the red-blazed Swamp Trail, of which the southern portion is also on private property. At one point, we found a swampy area into which someone had placed sections of logs as stepping stones/puncheon.

Swamp Trail *

We also found a hunting blind. I think it’s deer hunting/archery season. We didn’t see any deer or hunters, though maybe they saw us.

Hunting blind *

3:05 p.m.: From the Barton Swamp Trail, we took a very short connecting trail to the aqua-blazed Long Path, which we followed to the northeast.

Long Path *

3:14 p.m.: We had a nice scenic view to the west from the Long Path.

Scenic view from Long Path *

3:26 p.m.: An interesting rock:

Rock with lichen *

3:48 p.m.: As the sun was rapidly descending, we wondered if there was any other shortcut to take to return to the car. I had originally wanted to make an 8-mile loop to the northeast, but looking at the map we thought it would be shorter to take trails to the southeast. (Though now that I am measuring the routes with a ruler, I think they are about equal.)

So after 0.8 miles on the Long Path, we turned to the southeast onto the white-blazed Sweet Clover Trail, which over the course of 0.4 miles descended into the valley between the two ridges, and then ascended back to the top of the eastern ridge, where we were rewarded with additional scenic views:

Scenic view from Sweet Clover Trail *

3:56 p.m.: Another view.

4:19 p.m.: The white trail turned southwest for about 0.2 miles, before again turning east-southeast and beginning a steep descent from about 1,500′. I found another spot of water for one last photo.

Water on Sweet Clover Trail *

While descending the trail, Bomby slipped and twisted her ankle, reducing us to a crawl. I asked for a show of hands of people who had flashlights. Unfortunately my hand was the only one that was raised. It was also a moonless night. At least Bomby’s ankle was not broken, so we didn’t have to call for rescue. She very slowly worked her way down the white trail, about 1.1 miles to the railroad crossing. By this time it was pitch black, and my Petzl e+LITE came in very handy.

At this point we were back on the 1.05-mile stretch of the white-blazed trail where we had been on the morning, cutting across the wooded area and the field back to the car. On level ground, Bomby was able to walk at a good pace. Xi, a city girl, was amazed to look up on a moonless night 50 miles from a big city and see how many stars were visible. The sky was pretty. I think we arrived back to the car around 6:00.

My car’s brakes had seemed to become spongy just as we were arriving that morning, so I drove very cautiously back to Queens. I took it to the shop the next morning and discovered that I needed a new master cylinder. So now it’s repaired and ready for our next great hiking adventure.

* Taken by me with my Panasonic GF1.
** Taken by YBS with a Canon SD1000 IS.
*** Taken by Bomby with a Canon SD780 IS.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New York, Orange County, waterfall | Leave a comment

(Return to) Black Rock Forest, Orange County, New York

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Charlie

On October 3, YBS and I paid our first visit to Black Rock Forest, hiking through the eastern part of the preserve. We returned two weeks later, with our friend Bombastic, and checked out the western part of the preserve.

We first stopped a few miles south of the forest, at a lookout point on Highway 9W that afforded a beautiful view of the Hudson. (The asterisks below each photo indicate the camera/photographer, with the guide appearing at the end of the post.)

Hudson River *

Continuing on, we drove past Mountain Road, where we had turned off last time, and continued on to Angola Road. We turned off there and drove west, then south on Mine Hill Road, which was extremely steep. I can’t imagine how the people who live on that road get to and from their homes when there is snow on the ground. We found a three-car parking area that luckily only had one car in it, and found the trailhead across the street:

Trailhead on Mine Hill Road *

The Mine Hill trail is marked with diamond-shaped yellow blazes, and is steep at first.

Mine Hill Trail *

After gaining some elevation, we had a peak through the trees at the surrounding area:

Scenic View from Mine Hill Trail *

The Mine Hill trail ended after 0.2 miles, and we turned right (southwest) onto Sackett trail, blazed with a yellow circle. (I don’t know why they didn’t switch colors instead of or in addition to shape.) We had another nice view from this trail:

Scenic View from Sackett Trail *

After 0.4 miles, the Sackett trail dead-ended at the Stillman trail, again blazed yellow, this time in a square shape. We turned right, continuing to the south. The leaves were changing color:

Tree canopy in Fall colors *

We found a downed tree and each had to try climbing it.

Climbing a fallen tree **

After 0.7 miles, the Stillman trail dead-ended at a nice overlook:

Scenic View from Stillman Trail *

We backtracked 0.4 miles to an intersection with the Short Cut trail, blazed with a yellow triangle, and turned right (east) on that. After 0.2 miles, the trail reached Hall Road, and we turned right (south) onto that. After about 0.15 miles, we reached a gate, and continued past it onto the blue-blazed Compartment trail (which was also teal-blazed, as part of the Highlands trail). We found an sign from almost 40 years earlier, when the forest had still been owned by Harvard University:

Ancient sign on Highline Trail *

Continuing about 0.2 miles from the gate, we encountered a stream. This ran off Sutherland Pond, which is the only (or one of the only) bodies of water in the forest open for swimming. I believe that most of the bodies of water are manmade and used for reservoirs, but that Sutherland Pond is natural. Downhill, the stream runs into Mineral Spring Brook.

Stream to Mineral Spring Brook *

Right after the spring, the blue-blazed trail ended at the white-blazed Scenic trail that made a very sharp turn at this point, so that we had a choice of either going south or southwest on the trail. The teal-blazed Highlands trail continued on the portion of the Scenic trail that led to the southwest. I actually missed this turnoff and continued northwest on what was probably a ditch formed by runoff (or perhaps it was an unmaintained trail). This was blocked by a couple of fallen logs, which should have been a clue to me that it wasn’t a trail, or at least not an active trail. Trying to show off for YBS and Bombastic, I thought I would hop over one log and then the other. Instead, I tripped over the first one and fell, partially breaking my fall with my arms but still hitting my chin on the second log. I felt stupid and was glad that they didn’t capture that on film. I had about 1/4” cut on my chin and an abrasion about the size of a dime. Luckily I had a couple of cotton handkerchiefs with me, which helped to stop the bleeding. We continued on in this unmaintained trail for about 0.2 miles, ducking another obstacle, with me even commenting that it wasn’t maintained well, until I realized that I hadn’t seen blazes in a while. I then led the group back past the obstacles and killer logs, and found the white and teal blazes of the real trail. I reminded YBS and Bombastic not to just blindly follow me, but to keep looking for blazes themselves.

After 0.6 miles, we came to a nice flat rock and broke for lunch, around 2:15. We continued on, and very soon reached Jupiter’s Boulder. YBS and I climbed it, and Bomby took our photo:

Posing on Jupiter’s Boulder ****

Here’s a self-portrait that I took of YBS and myself:

Self-Portrait on Jupiter’s Boulder *

We encouraged Bomby to climb the boulder, but she declined. It afforded a nice view of the surroundings, which I used to make this nice panorama:

View from Jupiter’s Boulder *

After another 0.8 miles on the Scenic trail (and Highlands trail), we reached Mineral Spring Brook. It was pleasant hiking along the brook, as the sound of water is very relaxing.

Mineral Spring Brook ***

Mineral Spring Brook *

The map shows the trail crossing the brook once, but we actually crossed it three times. The first crossing to the west was a very easy crossing at a narrow point. The second and third crossings were at wider points that required some balancing, and those second and third crossings were very close together, so I would say that they were selected “for fun” rather than for any necessity. Here I demonstrate to YBS how to balance on a log:

Posing at Mineral Spring Brook ***

The brook continues:

Mineral Spring Brook ***

After another 0.2 miles we reached a ridge with a change in elevation. The brook has a nice waterfall here. Before we got there, we played on the wall for a few minutes.

Rock wall on Highlands Trail ***

Here’s the waterfall. I didn’t get a very good wide-angle view of it, but here’s a stitched panorama and a few more shots:

Mineral Spring Falls *

Posing at Black Rock Forest ***

Mineral Spring Falls *

Posing at Mineral Spring Falls ***

Mineral Spring Falls ***

[Edited September 2012: This was the upper falls. I don’t think we realized there was also a lower falls. On my return trip on September 23, 2012, I also visited the lower falls.]

Aware that the days are getting shorter and that we were off to a late start, we began our return trip. There were no loop trails here, so we backtracked east on the Scenic trail. At one point we walked through a stand of young trees that made for an interesting effect.

Scenic Trail ***

We backtracked 1.6 miles, then continued on the blue-blazed Compartment trail for about 0.2 miles, and then took a detour to the right onto the white-blazed Split Rock trail. After 0.1 miles, we reached a lookout over Sutherland Pond, though it was a bit hard to get a good photo of the pond through the trees:

Sutherland Pond *

Sutherland Pond ***

[Edited September 2012: On my next trip to the forest, I hiked about 100′ farther, and the trail climbed a rock ledge and afforded a beautiful view of the pond. See my entry for September 23, 2012.]

We then backtracked to the Compartment trail and continued to the right. After another 0.2 miles it intersected the a branch of the square-yellow-blazed Stillman trail that we had not been on earlier. That ran for 0.5 miles and then intersected the Sackett trail, which afforded us a few nice photos as the day was coming to an end.

Sackett Trail *

Scenic view from Sackett Trail ***

After 0.4 miles, we reached the Mine Hill trail and took that back to the car. So I believe the hike was about 7¾ miles.

* Taken by me with my GF1.
** Taken by YBS with my GF1.
*** Taken by YBS with my FX35.
**** Taken by Bomby with my FX35.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged Black Rock Forest, New York, Orange County, waterfall | Leave a comment

Black Rock Forest, Orange County, New York

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Charlie

My friend YBS and I visited Black Rock Forest, a privately-owned preserve in the Hudson Highlands, on the west side of the Hudson. It was the first time either of us had been there. I learned of it through the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference’s map set of the West Hudson Trails. The forest is off Highway 9W, immediately west of Storm King Mountain and north of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

The Black Rock Forest does not seem to be well-publicized. I believe we entered through the main entrance on Reservoir Road but yet there was no sign to guide us. In fact, the map shows that Reservoir Road does not intersect 9W but rather passes under it. Luckily, the Forest’s website provided guidance that we were to turn east onto Mountain Road, then make a very sharp turn right and pass through a tunnel under Highway 9W.

Turning off 9W onto Mountain Road and almost immediately making the very sharp turn to the right, we were faced with a very narrow tunnel. YBS’s first thought was that it was too narrow for a car and was only intended for pedestrians, but I pointed out that the signs indicated that it was for vehicle traffic. (The following two photos of the tunnel were actually taken on the way out, heading east at the end of the day.)

Entrance tunnel

Looks narrow from inside, as well:

Entrance tunnel

11:23 a.m.: We followed Reservoir Road about 1/4 mile to the parking lot, at about 750′ elevation. We began hiking on the red-blazed Duggan trail, which began at a kiosk near the parking lot:

Kiosk

The Duggan trail was a footpath that ran downhill to about 600′ in elevation:

Duggan Trail

11:36 a.m.: After 0.4 miles, the Duggan trail ended at Ben’s bridge:

Ben’s Bridge

We then turned left on the blue-blazed Reservoir trail, which climbed steadily, closely followed a stream. There are a number of reservoirs, ponds and streams in the forest. This stream led from the Upper Reservoir to a water filtration plant:

Stream from Upper Reservoir

A flatter section of the stream:

Stream from Upper Reservoir

Peace!

Posing in Black Rock Forest

12:19 a.m.: After 0.5 miles, the blue-blazed trail ended at about 920′ in elevation, and we turned right onto the yellow-blazed Stillman trail (which is also part of the teal-blazed Highlands Trail), climbing the aptly-named Mt. Misery:

Stillman Trail Climbing Mt. Misery

Mt. Misery peaks out at 1,268′, so it’s not a very long climb, but the trail is steep.

View from Mt. Misery

I strike a pose:

Posing in Black Rock Forest

Going down Mt. Misery was also a very steep descent, though gravity helped us. The trail crossed White Oak Road, one of several well-maintained roads through the park, where we met two people in an SUV. The Forest’s website indicates that the Forest is still actively used by scientists conducting forestry research, and driving on the roads in the Forest (other than the entrance road to the parking lot) requires permission. I don’t know if that means that everyone we saw driving is a scientist. The people in the SUV gave YBS a copy of the map published by the Forest (which we could have picked up from the kiosk near the parking lot). They said it was superior to the NY/NJ Trail Conference map I was carrying, but I disagree.

1:01 p.m.: We crossed the road and continued on the Stillman trail. We soon reached the Aleck Meadow Reservoir:

Aleck Meadow Reservoir

A panoramic view:

Aleck Meadow Reservoir

The trail continued past the spillway of the reservoir:

Spillway of Aleck Meadow Reservoir

YBS noticed giant tadpoles in the reservoir. I understand that bullfrogs have very big tadpoles, so maybe that’s what they were:

Bullfrog tadpoles

A tree had fallen across the trail, but was caught up so that it was about 4′ off the ground. I tested my balance:

Climbing fallen tree

The reservoir was around 1,040′ in elevation, and then we began a gradual ascent (not as bad as Mt. Misery’s) up to Black Rock, at 1,410′. We weren’t sure how great an overlook to expect, and stopped for lunch at a flat rock, which in hindsight was at a very minor overlook.

1:58 p.m.: After lunch, we walked about 100′ and found this stunning view, which marked the real Black Rock:

Here’s a telephoto view of the Hudson River:

Hudson River from Black Rock Forest

We then began a gradual descent. After having traveled about 1.7 miles on the Stillman trail, we reached the “Two Gates” area and turned south onto Continental Road. The Continental Army used this road as a direct route across the mountains from West Point to New Windsor and Newburgh.

2:21 p.m.: After 0.4 miles, we came to an intersection with the White Oak Road, with a huge white oak tree at the intersection. The tree is around 250 years old:

White Oak on White Oak Road

We continued on Continental Road, and after abut 0.3 miles came to the Chatfield Stone House. Dating to the 1830s, it’s the oldest building in Black Rock Forest. It was gutted by a fire in 1912 but reconstructed in 1932. It was locked, so we couldn’t see inside:

Chatfield Stone House

We continued south on the Continental Road another 0.5 mile, then turned right (west) for a short detour on the white-blazed Scenic trail. I should note that YBS is a great hiking companion, as he was cheerful, hiked at a good pace, and was agreeable to hiking different trails to “see the sights.”

2:56 p.m.: After 0.5 mile on the Scenic trail, we turned right onto the blue-blazed Spy Rock trail, which ended after about 0.15 miles at Spy Rock. At 1,461′, this is the high point of the Forest. My map said that sentinels from George Washington’s camp at Newburgh had used Spy Rock to monitor British vessels sailing up the Hudson from Haverstraw Bay. However, we felt that the view was inferior from Spy Rock, especially compared to that we’d enjoyed at Black Rock. The most interesting feature of Spy Rock was a pine that had struggled to find a foothold on the rock. I think this is the view looking east:

Spy Rock

Here’s the tree from a different angle; I think looking north:

Posing at Spy Rock

We backtracked to the Scenic trail, passing a dead branch with an interesting shape and texture:

Textured tree branch

The Fall temperatures allowed us to enjoy some red mixed in with the greenery:

Fall colors

We returned east on the Scenic trail to the Continental Road, then continued on the Scenic trail another 0.3 miles along a woods road called Bog Meadow Road. The Scenic Trail then departed from the woods trail, continuing to the right (south) 0.5 miles through an area that was a little swampy.

3:50 p.m.: The trail then turned northeast, climbing to a series of overlooks, the first being a climb of about 200 or 300′ to Rattlesnake Hill, where we enjoyed views toward the west of Bog Meadow Pond:

Bog Meadow Pond, from Rattlesnake Hill

We continued hiking on the Scenic trail:

Scenic Trail

4:27 p.m.: I believe this was the Hill of Pines, at 1,400′ of elevation:

View from Hill of Pines

After another mile, the Scenic trail intersected the blue-blazed Swamp trail. We turned right (east) onto that trail, and saw a few stone walls:

Stone wall on Swamp Trail

After 0.3 miles, the Swamp trail ended at the Old West Point Road, which is marked as an unmaintained woods road. We followed this north less than 0.1 miles, to the southwest end of Upper Reservoir, where we met a couple hiking with two dogs. We then followed an unmaintained trail about 0.3 miles counterclockwise around the eastern perimeter of the reservoir.

Hmm; name that object?

Unknown object

5:00 p.m.: YBS enjoys a view of the reservoir:

Reservoir

An old still?

Unknown object

We then picked up the yellow-blazed Stillman trail again, following a different part of it for 0.9 miles to the northeast, back to the parking area, having completed a hike of about 8.5 miles in about 6-1/4 hours.

The Forest was very nice. We encountered other hikers or joggers there at times, but it was still not a very crowded place, and there were a couple of hours (along the Scenic trail) where we did not see anyone else.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged Black Rock Forest, New York, Orange County | 1 Comment

New York (Bronx) Botanical Gardens

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Charlie

I drove through the post-tornado wreckage to pick up a date in Forest Hills, and then we drove to the botanical gardens. Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged New York | Leave a comment

Tornado Damage in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Charlie

Thursday, September 16, 2010: The tornado hit while I was at work. I took the subway home. The E train was too full, as the Long Island Railroad was not running out of Penn Station, so those riders took the E train to Jamaica station to catch trains out there. But I was able to ride the local M train. There was a long line of people waiting for the local bus, with an MTA employee telling people at the end of the line that there was no service. Luckily I was at the end of the line and heard that, and began walking to Kew Gardens Hills. I saw many downed trees and a few smashed cars. In some cases the trees were blocking the sidewalk and I had to walk in the street.

Friday morning, September 17, 2010: I took a few photos before catching the bus to work.

This tree appeared to be perched precariously on a building on the northeast corner of Main Street and Jewel Avenue. It was removed in the early evening of Friday, probably by the city or its contractor. It was probably judged a safety concern. See my photos from Sunday morning for a view of the roof damage left behind.

Tree on building

One of the worst-hit blocks was 69th Road between Main Street and 147th Street:

Storm damage on 69th Road

About three trees in a row were downed on the right side of the street, and two or three in a row on the left side of the street. Few trees were left standing on the block.

Storm damage on 69th Road

The vehicle doesn’t look badly damaged, even though a tree is resting on it.

Tree fallen onto car

This Accord did not fare as well:

Crushed Honda Accord

Another view:

Crushed Honda Accord

Continuing down the block:

Storm damage on 69th Road

The end of the block, at the intersection of 69^th Road with 147^thStreet.

Storm damage on 69th Road & 147th St.

Continuing past 147^thStreet:

Storm damage on 69th Road

Moving over to 69th Avenue (I think; or maybe 68th Drive):

Storm damage on 69th Ave.

Sunday morning, September 19, 2010: : As promised, here is the damaged roof that had a tree leaning against it. As you can see, a log remains in the roof, and it has lost some plywood and support beams.

Damaged building at Jewel Ave. & Main Street

Another badly hit block was 70^th Avenue, between 141^st Street and 137^thStreet:

Damaged car on 70th Ave.

Car covered with branches

Storm damage on 70th Ave.

Another view of this car. The tree caught the left rear fender as it fell, shoving the rear of the car sideways a foot or two.

Storm damage on 70th Ave.

Most of the trees fell onto the sidewalk or street, but there were a few that hit buildings. I couldn’t tell if the roof of this home was damaged.

Tree resting on house on 70th Ave.

On 137^th Street, between 70^thAvenue and Jewel Avenue. This is the most severely flattened car that I have seen:

Flattened car on 137th St.

The same tree smashed a Volkswagen Beetle:

Flattened Volkswagen Beetle on 137th St.

Another view showing the Beetle in the foreground and the other car in the background:

Flattened cars on 137th St.

On Main Street, between 68^th Road and 68^th Avenue:

Crushed brick wall on Main St.

Another view, stitched panorama:

Crushed brick wall on Main St.

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged New York | Leave a comment

Abram S. Hewitt State Forest, Passaic County, New Jersey

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Charlie

I went on my first hike with the Jewish Outdoors Club. I gave a lift to three other people from Queens, driving to West Milford, NJ. The state forest borders Wawayanda State Park, where I have hiked previously.

There were around 24 hikers, and we met in a supermarket parking lot, then hiked along a road for a short while before entering the forest. We entered on a footpath called the Jeremy Glick Trail, named posthumously for a West Milford man who died a hero on September 11, 2001.

After climbing partway up a steep hill, we reached a rock that afforded a view of the countryside:

Scenic view

We continued on the trail:

Hiking on the Jeremy Glick Trail

Another view of the footpath:

Jeremy Glick Trail

Another nice view:

Scenic view

A narrow wedge of rock has split away from the main bedrock, with a deep crevice in between:

Split outcrop

For some reason, in this shot the party was almost all lined up single-file, even though the path was wide enough that they could have spread out a bit:

Hikers lined up on outcrop

A nice panorama:

Panorama

The group divided in half, with the slower group opting for a 6-mile hike and the faster group opting for an 8.4-mile hike. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to do the longer hike.

There were a number of spots requiring a scramble up or down. Here, it was almost like a natural staircase leading down:

Scramble

I soon regretted having taken the longer hike, because the leader was moving at a very fast pace and because it was 93 degrees that day. I had to fall behind and rest for several minutes to cool down and slow down my heart rate. I don’t know if the leader realized they had lost someone and didn’t care, or if they didn’t know. I had two friends in that group, and at least they phoned to check up on me. I caught up to them and told them to go ahead as I continued at a slower pace. I eventually continued on and made it to this beautiful overlook of Greenwood Lake, a 7-mile long lake on the New York/New Jersey border, which as you can see is dotted by dozens of pleasure boats. There, I met another couple of guys from our group, and also saw a few that had taken the shorter route, as we were near the common area where we planned to meet.

Greenwood Lake

An even wider panorama of Greenwood Lake:

I then hiked a little farther to Surprise Pond, where the reassembled group of 24 enjoyed lunch.

Surprise Pond

Some of the group has spotted a turtle near the “beach” of Surprise Pond:

Hikers look at turtle in Surprise Pond

Additional views of the turtle:

Snapping turtle

After lunch, we began a hike out of the forest, passing over a few streams via stepping stones:

Hikers cross stream

The loop trail ended with what appeared to be an eroded woods road, though one write-up suggests that it was never a road and is just a footpath that became widened and eroded from a century of hiking. I’m not sure that I believe that.

Leaving the forest:

Woods road

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New Jersey, Passaic County | Leave a comment

(Return to) South Beacon Mountain and Scofield Ridge, Dutchess County, NY

Posted on August 15, 2010 by Charlie

I led three friends on a hike, and selected to repeat my solo hike from May 9, 2010.

I took very few photos, as I had photographed the trails before and I was focusing on leading the hike. Two of my friends were taking their own photos, so they have keepsakes from the hike. I only have four photos to share.

At the top of the incline railway, I took a series of shots that I stitched into a panoramic view of Beacon and the Hudson River:

Beacon, Hudson River, and Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, New York

On the first hike, I had remembered another wrecked vehicle in addition to the ones appearing on that webpage. I thought I had taken photos of it but they weren’t in my camera. I rectified that on the second visit. Can you identify this car?

Identify this car

Here’s a closeup. Does that help?

Identify this car

Give up?

It’s a Volkswagen 1600 “square back.” I’m not sure what model year. They were introduced in 1962 but not sold in the U.S. until the 1966 model. They were made until 1973.
One of my friends snapped a photo of me acting silly:

Posing on Scofield Ridge

Posted in Hikes | Tagged Beacon, Dutchess County, Hudson Highlands, New York | Leave a comment

Breakneck Ridge to South Beacon Mtn., Putnam/Dutchess County, NY

Posted on August 1, 2010 by Charlie

I had previously hiked in Beacon on May 9th of this year, and wanted to return to the area and sample another set of trails. I selected the Breakneck Ridge trail, which begins in Putnam County before crossing over into Dutchess County.

I took this photo by the side of Route 9D, just north of the short tunnel through Breakneck Ridge. The trailhead is to the east side of the road, closer to the tunnel, and may be seen here. The path leads through a few trees and then begins climbing the ridge.

Breakneck Ridge tunnel

I don’t have any shots of the ridge itself, but it required a lot of scrambling. Here is a toad that I encountered along the way:

Toad

As I gained altitude on the ridge, the scenery grew nicer. Sitting in the Hudson River, not far from the eastern shore, is Pollepel Island, site of Bannerman’s Castle, a former munitions factory. You can also see the railway of the Metro-North Hudson Line. There is a flag stop at Breakneck Station, about 0.7 miles north of the trailhead to Breakneck Ridge.

Bannerman’s Castle, Pollepel Island

Here is a close-up of what is left of the castle. As may be seen, the roof has collapsed, along with the interior floors, and one of the walls has collapsed.

Bannerman’s Castle

Here’s a stitched panoramic view showing the Hudson to the north, as far as the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge:

Hudson River, from Pollepel Island to Newburgh-Beacon Bridge

Climbing farther leads to an overlook on which people have planted a U.S. flag and POW/MIA flag. Across the Hudson River is Storm King Mountain:

Storm King Mountain, from Breakneck Ridge

Here’s a stitched panorama, with Storm King Mountain in the center, and the Hudson stretching out to the north (right) and south (left).

Storm King Mountain, from Breakneck Ridge

You know you are gaining some elevation when birds are flying below you:

Bird

At the top of the ridge, at around 1000′ of elevation, was a nice overlook and an impressive cairn:

Cairn at overlook

I continued following the Breakneck Ridge trail. This gathering of branches looked artificial, as though someone had tried building a lean-to.

Branches gathered to build a lean-to?

Here’s a colorful arachnid, which I imagine is a Harvestman:

Harvestman

This rock had a nice crack in it:

Split boulder

This was another rock that had cracked; I stuck my camera lens into the crack and took a photo of the surrounding countryside and Hudson beyond:

Hudson River as seen through split Boulder

I kept going on the Breakneck Ridge trail until I reached the fire tower on the top of South Beacon Mountain. I had been to this spot on May 9^th, coming from the Casino Trail.

Fire tower on South Beacon Mountain

A 360 degree panorama:

360 Degree Panorama from Base of Fire Tower on South Beacon Mountain, NY

A shot of the Hudson Highlands:

Hudson Highlands

I backtracked on the Breakneck Ridge trail, descending from South Beacon Mountain. I noted that this tree had selected a challenging place to grow: a depression in a rock, in which it was unlikely to find much soil:

Tree growing out of rock

I then departed from the Breakneck Ridge trail and took the Wilkinson Memorial trail. This essentially paralleled the Breakneck Ridge Trail, but at a lower elevation. Thus, there was not much to see, but it was an easier and faster route back to my car. Here’s another shot of Pollepel Island and Bannerman Castle:

Bannerman’s Castle at Pollepel Island

Here’s a shot looking north, at Denning’s Point, Beacon Point Park and Riverfront Park, and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge:

Denning’s Point, Beacon Point Park and Riverfront Park, and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge

The Wilkinson Memorial Trail finally returned me to Route 9D, about 3/8 of a mile from the trailhead at Breakneck Point. I could see my car parked on the shoulder of the road from the trailhead, and it only took me about 5 minutes to walk back to it.

This was only about an 8 mile hike, but it took me about 9 hours (!), because of the scrambling required along Breakneck Ridge at the beginning (and also in a few other places, such as getting up to the peak of South Beacon Mountain).

Posted in Hikes | Tagged Beacon, Dutchess County, Hudson Highlands, New York, Putnam County | Leave a comment

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