Charlie Stein's Photoblog

Kaaterskill Wild Forest, Greene County, New York

Posted on July 3, 2017 by Charlie

On Monday, we decided on a moderate 7.2 mile hike, the Catskill Escarpment Loop. We drove from Saugerties into Haines Falls, turning right onto North Lake Road and then right onto Schutt Road, parking at GPS coordinates 42.20105/-74.05807.

We crossed to the other side of Schutt Road and followed the blue-blazed Escarpment Trail south.

Batya hiking on the Escarpment Trail

This part of the hike was flat and easy.

Escarpment Trail

I found a stone wall, the only one I would note that day:

Stone wall

After about a mile, we reached a four-way junction and left the blue-blazed trail, continuing on the red-blazed Schutt Road Trail, which followed an old carriage road:

Schutt Road Trail

The red-blazed trail gradually made a turn from south to southeast to east.

A fallen tree resting on a boulder:

Fallen tree on boulder

After another mile, we reached another intersection with the blue-blazed Escarpment Trail, which we rejoined.

Footpath on Escarpment Trail

After another 1/2 mile, we reached a junction whereby the blue-blazed path detoured to the right, while a red-blazed path continued as a shortcut ahead. We turned right onto the longer blue-blazed path, which shouldn’t be missed.

First, this short detour took us to Split Rock, a fissure in the rock:

Split Rock

Soon after, we reached the area around Boulder Rock, which includes an open rock ledge with beautiful views over the Hudson River Valley:

Panorama of Hudson River Valley

Kaaterskill High Peak, a prominent peak in the range, can be seen in this panorama, with Round Top partially hidden by foliage to the right:

Kaaterskill High Peak and Round Top

Panorama from ledge at Boulder Rock:

Panorama from Boulder Rock

Another panorama:

Another Panorama from Boulder Rock

I couldn’t resist the temptation to climb Boulder Rock.

Charlie climbs Boulder Rock

I stood on the top for a couple of seconds, but the top was sloped, and I didn’t want to risk losing my balance, so I decided to sit down and enjoy the view:

Charlie on top of Boulder Rock

We left Boulder Rock and continued on the blue-blazed trail, which soon reached the second junction with the red-blazed shortcut. We were glad not to have taken the shortcut, as we would have missed Boulder Rock and some nice views.

We continued on the blue-blazed trail, traveling northeast, and soon reached another open rock ledge with great views of the Hudson River Valley:

Panorama of Hudson River Valley

I stayed about six feet behind the edge:

Charlie enjoying view of Hudson River Valley

We continued on, enjoying a wooded area with rock walls:

Rock walls in wooded area

Batya poses in front of rock wall

We soon exited the woods to an open grass lawn, the site of the famous Catskill Mountain House, visited by U.S. Presidents and other rich and famous people in the 19th Century:

Site of Catskill Mountain Club

A plaque provides a history of the hotel:

Plaque describing the Catskill Mountain House

We continued our counterclockwise loop, as the blue-blazed Escarpment trail now curved to the north. We reached a parking area for the beach at North/South Lake, and continued across the parking lot and reentered the woods, hiking through an area that included a number of picnic spots.

Escarpment Trail

We passed two nice stands of Mountain Laurel on the hike, this being one of them:

Mountain laurel

Batya hiked past a horizontal tree barely clinging to life:

Fallen tree

We passed Artist’s Rock, an east-facing rock ledge providing panoramic views, but didn’t stop, as the ledge was crowded with other hikers.

The trail ascended steeply, and there were a few places where a hiker would have to use a hand to assist his scramble up a few rocks. We followed a rock outcrop:

Rock wall

Rock wall:

Rock wall

We then detoured onto a short yellow-blazed trail on the right which led to Lookout Rock, providing a beautiful view to the east:

View from Lookout Rock

Another view:

View from Lookout Rock

After 0.2 miles, the yellow-blazed trail ended at Sunset Rock, which provided a beautiful view to the west of North/South Lake, and of Kaaterskill High Peak and Round Top behind the lake:

North/South Lake, Kaaterskill High Peak and Round Top

A panoramic view:

North/South Lake, Kaaterskill High Peak and Round Top

We followed the yellow-blazed trail back to the Escarpment Trail, and continued to the north, climbing briefly through a rocky wooded area:

Rocks and trees of the Escarpment Trail

We reached Newman’s Ledge, providing a beautiful panoramic view of the Hudson Valley:

Hudson Valley from Newman’s Ledge

The Escarpment Trail continued, ascending slightly in places.

Break in rock wall

Rocky part of Escarpment Trail

We reached Badman’s Cave, an overhanging rock, and Batya invited me to hike up there, though she didn’t want to do so herself. I declined, in part because there was a large and loud group of people there. This was unfortunately not one of our hikes conducted in solitude, and while most of the hikers were quiet enough, there were a few loud ones. In places, we tried to outpace the loud hikers, which didn’t work, so we let them pass us. After we left Badman’s Cave, we departed from the blue-blazed Escarpment Trail, turning onto the yellow-blazed Rock Shelter Trail, which took us on a southwest heading. The loud group from Badman’s Cave quickly overtook us and passed us, and was perhaps a family unit, though with a teenaged boy holding a boombox that was playing something like “Teenage Wasteland.” We were glad to see them speed off ahead of us.

The Rock Shelter Trail passed over a rocky area, so it was a little slow going.

Moss-covered rocks

A chipmunk posed for a photo:

Chipmunk

Puncheon through a wet area:

Puncheon through a wet area

The Rock Shelter Trail ended on North Lake Road, and we turned right onto Schutt Road and returned to the parking lot where we left the car.

Other than the occasional noisy hiker, this was an enjoyable 7.2 mile hike without much elevation change, ranked moderate only because of its length and because of a few very short scrambles. As noted, the hike featured many beautiful features and scenic views.

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

Kaaterskill Wild Forest, Greene County, New York

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Charlie

On Friday afternoon, we endured two hours of painful bumper-to-bumper traffic to escape from New York City, and then continued driving to the Catskills, where we checked into the Howard Johnson’s in Saugerties.

On Sunday, we enjoyed an easy/moderate 4.5 mile hike on the Huckleberry Point Trail, with an elevation gain of about 1000′. Batya wanted to avoid strenuous hikes, as she was still recovering from a broken shoulder and subsequent surgery. This hike promised a big view of the Hudson Valley.

We drove from Saugerties past Haines Falls and through Tannersville, turning south on Spruce Street and then east onto Platte Cove Road. We drove to GPS coordinates 42.13316/-74.08275, turning left (north) on an access road, which after about 50 yards ended at the Steenburg Road Parking Area. (I wondered why the parking lot was called Steenburg Road when we had driven there on Platte Cove Road. It turns out that Steenburg Road was the name of a woods road that now serves as a hiking trail.)

After the usual ritual of applying sunscreen and bugspray, we set out, hiking on the aforementioned woods road, with red and blue blazes. The hike began passing through the land of the Platte Cove Preserve, owned by the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. The blue blaze represented the Long Path, which typically uses aqua blazes, with some variability.

Eroded portion of Steenburg Road

We continued on the Long Path:

Long Path

After about three quarters of a mile, we were within the boundaries of the Kaaterskill Wild Forest, an 8,550 acre area managed by the N.Y. State Department of Environmental Conservation.

After about another quarter mile, we reached an intersection with the yellow-blazed Huckleberry Point Trail. We turned right onto that trail, crossing a small stream (which can reportedly be challenging to cross in wetter seasons).

Stream crossing

Having made it across the stream without getting wet, we proceeded on the yellow-blazed trail:

Huckleberry Point Trail

Some moss-covered rocks added texture to the hike:

Rocks on the Huckleberry Point Trail

More rocks:

Rocks on the Huckleberry Point Trail

We also found mountain laurel (kalmia latifolia) in a few places, though it may have been a few weeks past its most glorious state:

Mountain laurel

Three tree trunks growing together:

Triplet tree

Getting closer to Huckleberry Point:

Huckleberry Point Trail

Wild forest:

Huckleberry Point Trail

We reach Huckleberry Point:

View from Huckleberry Point

The elevation at the parking lot was 1872′, and the high point on this hike was 2516′. I should note that the high point did not occur at the midp0int (the scenic view). Rather, the high point occurs at about 1.75 miles into the hike, after which there is a drop of 200′ of elevation by the time the scenic view is reached at the 2.25 mile midpoint of the hike.

We settled in for a nice lunch, enjoying the scenic view from Huckleberry Point:

View from Huckleberry Point

After lunch, we retraced our steps back to the car.

On the way back to Saugerties, we wanted to visit Kaaterskill Falls, a 260′ waterfall between Haines Falls and Palenville. Ideally, we would have liked to have hiked to the base of the falls. The problem is that there are only two tiny parking lots on N.Y. State Road 23A, both of which are almost always filled to capacity. There also seemed to be a dangerous walk from either of these parking lots to the trail that would lead to the base of the falls. We never were able to visit the waterfall from this location.

Happily, we saw a sign in Haines Falls that directed us to Lake Road, where we were able to park the car on Laurel House Road and take a short trail that led to a scenic view looking down on the waterfall.

Observation deck of Kaaterskill Falls:

Observation Deck of Kaaterskill Falls

The view of the top of the falls, from the observation deck:

Kaaterskill Falls

Batya was pleased with the Huckleberry Point trail and the visit to the falls, as neither was too strenuous.

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

Ramapo Mountain State Forest, Bergen & Passaic Counties, New Jersey

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Charlie

I joined Rachel, Martin, and Nachi, whom I’ve hiked with many times before, as well as Aaron and Yitzy, whom I don’t know if I’ve met before or not. My wife Batya didn’t join us, as she had to take care of training for work, and also because she is still recovering from her shoulder injury and was afraid this might be too rugged a hike.

We met on Skyline Drive, parking at the northern of the two parking areas within Ramapo Mountain State Forest. While Batya and I had previously explored trails to the east of Skyline Drive, today we were hiking to the west of the road. We began hiking south on the yellow-blazed Hoeferlin Memorial Trail.

Ducking under a fallen tree on the Hoeferlin Memorial Trail

A rock wall:

Rock wall

We soon arrived at Ramapo Lake, a 120-acre man-made lake within the forest. In addition to the yellow trail, there are blue-blazed and red-blazed trails in this area, so we had to carefully consult our maps and compass once or twice.

Ramapo Lake

We skirted the east side of the lake, continuing south on the yellow trail, which included a few scenic views:

Scenic View

In a few areas, the trail crossed over exposed rock. There were a few areas where a bit of scrambling was required, or at least seemed prudent to many of us, and I thought that perhaps Batya would have been uncomfortable with those areas. For the most part the terrain was fine.

Exposed rock

A contrast in wood and stone:

Wood and stone

We weren’t sure how long the hike would be, and feared that it would end too soon, so we decided to explore a small section in the southernmost part of the forest that is isolated from the rest by Interstate 287. We therefore began a descent, still on the yellow trail, from around 800′ in elevation to 400′.

Descending on the yellow trail

We reached the pedestrian walkway over I-287, noting men with dirt bikes at the far end:

Pedestrian walkway over I-287

We explored the southern section of the park, where the yellow trail led us south and then east, where we took the white-blazed South Ridge trail further south. We then turned north on the red-blazed Cannonball trail. Some of the group were grumbling that the southern portion seemed larger than is shown on the map, and that it was too muddy. It was not especially interesting, and I have no photos to show.

Having hiked through the southern portion, we again crossed over I-287 via the walkway and re-entered the primary part of the park, this time on the red trail. At an intersection with the Indian Rock trail (also red-blazed, to be confusing), we turned left (west), and after a short distance, turned north onto the orange-blazed Wanaque Ridge trail:

Start of Wanaque Ridge Trail

The trail passed over underground utility lines above which no trees were allowed to grow:

Underground utilities

We reached another scenic view:

Scenic view

A pair of turkey vultures were sitting in a tree, and waited long enough for me to switch to my telephoto lens:

Pair of turkey vultures

One of the pair flew away, and I caught the second about to take flight:

Turkey vulture taking flight

We came to another scenic view, this time of the huge Wanaque Reservoir:

Wanaque Reservoir

We continued on the orange-blazed trail:

Hiking on Wanaque Ridge Trail

The orange blazed trail ended, and we turned right (south) onto the blue-blazed Macevoy Trail, which followed a woods road. We then turned left (east) for a short distance on the red-blazed Cannonball Trail, before turning left (north) on the white-blazed Castle Point trail. This brought us to the Castle Ruins, a large house built around 1909 and initially called Foxcroft Mansion by its owner, stockbroker William Porter. He died in a car accident in 1911, leaving the property to his widow (her second time being widowed from a wealthy man). She then married Warren Van Slyke, an attorney, and the mansion became known as Slyke Castle. The home was abandoned in the 1950s and burned by arsonists in 1959.

Slyke Castle Ruins

Chimney of Slyke Castle

We continued hiking north on the white-blazed trail, passing a water tower that provided water to the Slyke Castle:

Water Tower

The white-blazed trail led us back to the Cannonball Trail very close to Skyline Drive, and then we walked along a very short white-and-red blazed trail back to the parking area. While the hike did not have much elevation loss and gain, there was some, and the length of the hike was about 11 miles, so I would call it a moderate hike.

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

Allaire State Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Charlie

On Washington’s Birthday/Presidents’ Day, we decided to visit Allaire State Park. We followed a hike written up by Daniela Wagstaff in 2011, though there have been a few changes to the park since then. We parked in the lot on County Route 524 (Atlantic Avenue) at 40.15755, -74.12056. We crossed the road, turned left, and walked a short distance (passing a house), coming soon to a double gate on the right, at which point we entered the woods on the orange trail. For reference, see the park map:

Start of Orange Trail

As expected for a February in New Jersey, there were many areas devoid of greenery:

Trees

Here we found a bit of green:

Winter greenery

A stream:

Stream

Another stream:

Stream

The park was relatively flat, though there were a few minor hills in places. About a mile into the hike, the trail followed a ditch between two hills. I couldn’t tell whether the ditch was erosion from vehicular traffic from an old woods road, or whether it was from water, as a water tank appeared on the hill to the left, with a shattered fiberglass drainage pipe running into the ditch.

Eroded trail

Eroded area:

Eroded trail

Panorama of trees:

Trees

The orange trail looped through a portion of the park that is north of County Road 524 and south of Interstate 195. We reached one point that was a former rail bed of the Freehold-Jamesburg Railroad. Part of it has been paved as a biking trail, but another part remains unpaved. We only walked on a few feet of the rail bed, then turned left to continue on the orange trail. We soon returned to County Road 524, where it crossed under the interstate. Here we diverged from Daniela’s directions. She wrote, “Walk beyond the chain link fence then turn right and walk under I-195 along Route 524 with the chain link fence on your right.” My recollection is that there are now parallel chain link fences, with the orange trail running in between them. We walked in between the fences, which brought us under the interstate. However, it left us in a place on the orange trail, whereas Daniela’s directions had called for us to walk along Route 524 for a while, diverging from the orange trail. We were separated from where we needed to be by about 50′ of thorny underbrush that did not seem reasonably passable. Rather than going back and walking on the traffic side of both fences (which seems somewhat risky), we continued on the orange trail.

This led us behind a few cabins of a camping area, and then again to the former rail bed of the railroad, continuing to the west of the interstate. We stopped for lunch along the rail bed.

Afterward, we continued moving west on the orange-blazed rail bed, until we came to blazes for the green trail to our left. We followed the green trail south, passing by a pond:

Pond

The green trail led us back to Route 524. Following Daniela’s route again, to the best of our ability, we crossed the highway, and re-entered the green trail on the other side.

Green trail

The green trail soon led us back under Interstate 195. Whereas we had first crossed under the interstate at the country road, this second crossing was on the green trail alongside a shallow canal. Back on the east side of I-195, we soon left the green trail for the red trail(s).

Red trail

Beside a boardwalk, a bloom of skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) had poked through the ground.

Skunk cabbage

We soon came to a find pond beside the park’s Nature Center. Here too, the current layout of the park differed a bit from Daniela’s instructions. She wrote, ” The footpath ends at a sand road, the green-blazed sand road along the canal from earlier in the hike. Straight ahead is an attractive pond. Veer left then turn right and cross the bridge with a sign directing you to the Nature Center.” Actually, the footpath she mentioned was rerouted slightly so that it ends about 15′ from where it used to end. The bridge to the Nature Center is now straight ahead of the footpath, so there’s no need to veer left then turn right on the sand road, just go straight ahead. However, we did take a bit of a detour, walking right on the green-blazed sand road to admire the pond, before returning to cross the bridge.

(In fact, the sign on the bridge is mounted on the right of the bridge, where someone walking on the green-blazed sand road would see it, but someone coming straight from the footpath across from the bridge would not see the sign. It seems that the park should have relocated the sign when they rerouted the footpath.)

Pond

A sign on the Nature Center:

Smokey the Bear

We had hoped to find restrooms at the Nature Center, but the building was closed, and we saw no sign of restrooms. However, we soon came to historic Allaire Village within the park, and there was a large building with restrooms and vending machines.

Millpond and Allaire Village

We walked through Allaire Village, and then followed a path that ran along the Manasquan River.

Manasquan River

Another view of the river:

Manasquan River

After sightseeing along the river, the path took us us to the blast furnace that had formerly served the ironworkers of Allaire Village.

Blast Furnace

We then returned to Allaire Village, though most of the buildings were closed.

Allaire Village

We walked past a small railroad that runs at time for tourists, and then followed a bike path bath to the parking lot. This was about an 8-mile hike. As noted, it was relatively flat, and thus an easy to moderate hike. One couple in Allaire Village stopped us to ask us if we considered ourselves hikers or walkers, and asked how we defined hiking. Wikipedia says that hiking is generally considered a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails (or sometimes off-trails). Strolling through the paved Allaire Village hardly seemed like hiking, but the balance of the day seemed to qualify.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New Jersey | Leave a comment

Marine Park, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Charlie

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation lists Marine Park, at 530 acres, as the largest public park in Brooklyn (narrowly beating out Prospect Park, which is listed as 526 acres). Marine Park includes an area northwest of Avenue U that includes a jogging track and baseball fields, and an area southeast of Avenue U that includes a golf course and the Salt Marsh Nature Center.

The Salt Marsh Nature Center includes a visitor center and trails on either side of Gerritsen Creek. Northeast of the creek are shorter trails, bounded between the creek and the golf course. Southwest of the creek is a trail about a mile long.

My hiking activities in 2016 were curtailed in part by the fact that I’ve seen many of the parks in the New York City area, in part because it takes longer to get to the parks from south Brooklyn than it did from Queens, where I lived from 2007-early 2014, and in part because my wife tripped on the street and broke her shoulder on August 24. As she began to recover and feel better, we looked for easy places to walk, and decided that Marine Park would be a good place to visit. The first photos below are from a visit on October 30, 2016:

View from southwest of the creek, near the northern end of Gerritsen Creek:

Pale-bellied brant geese (Branta bernicla hrota) enjoying Gerritsen Creek:

Pale-bellied brant geese

The trails run southeast from Avenue U, paralleling the creek. There is one trail close to the creek and one farther away, with a number of connecting trails in between them. The strip of land between the creek and the surrounding neighborhood is very narrow, so there is no risk of being lost in here.

Trail within Salt Marsh Nature Center

At the beach, dozens of tiny crabs come out at times to scavenge, socialize, or do whatever it is that crabs do. One of these days I may purchase a macro lens, but for now I try my best without one:

Crab

Rear view of one crab:

Crab

Our next trip to the Salt Marsh Nature Center was three months later, on January 29. This is a view of Gerritsen Creek from the back of the visitor center:

Gerritsen Creek

We followed the trail to the end of the park, where we reached a dead end at Plumb Beach Channel, which separated us from Plumb Beach and its bridge.

Plumb Beach Channel and Bridge

Marine Beach was at one point a dumping ground, but it was cleaned up in the 1990s. Still, the area could be better tended. The trails were littered with debris that was either blown in from the surrounding community or intentionally dumped by slobs. Furthermore, as we returned to Avenue U by walking along the shoreline of Gerritsen Creek (rather than returning on either of the parallel trails), we saw two vehicles that had probably been stolen and then burned there:

Burned Vehicle

Burned Truck

There were also a large number of abandoned boats, though most of them were mere shadows of what they once were:

Abandoned boat

There were also countless motors rusting away in the water or on the beach.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New York | Leave a comment

Harriman State Park/Sterling Forest State Park, Orange County, New York

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Charlie

This was the third time I completed this particular hike, one of my favorites in the New York area. The first time was a solo hike, On June 12, 2011, and the second time was with friends, on October 14, 2012. This was the first time that Batya had been on this hike.

We began in Harriman State Park, leaving the car in the “Elk Pen” parking area, and walking west along Arden Valley Road. I have seen deer both previous times that I did this hike and today, even before the road crossed over I-87, I spotted a fawn in the woods:

Fawn

She was not tiny, and therefore I suspect that she was born in May or even in late April, rather than in June:

Fawn

We crossed over I-87 and then the Ramapo River, and then when Arden Valley Road ended at Route 17, we carefully ran across the highway and entered the woods, hiking northwest (southbound on the Appalachian Trail). The trail quickly gains about 500′ elevation, with part of it called “Agony Grind.”

We were happy to see plenty of greenery, which provided a nice contrast with the rocks and the fallen leaves from the previous Fall:

Boulder

Some of the cliffs near Agony Grind:

Cliffs near Agony Grind

As we gained a bit of altitude, we were rewarded with our first scenic view:

Scenic View from Appalachian Trail

We kept climbing. Here, I have caught Batya in an action shot on one short scramble:

Batya Scrambling on Appalachian Trail

We reached another fine scenic view. My New York-New Jersey Trail Conference map doesn’t indicate any scenic views in this stretch of the trail, but I think this qualifies as one:

Stitched Panorama from Appalachian Trail

We had lunch at this spot, enjoying the view:

Stitched Panorama from Appalachian Trail

I’m not sure which of these stitched panoramas is best, so I’ve included all three:

Stitched Panorama from Appalachian Trail

After enjoying my sandwich and yogurt, I spotted some blueberries, and sampled a couple of them:

Blueberries

We continued hiking west. Here, we found a stand of shrubs that were probably kalmia, maybe mountain laurel (kalmia latifolia). We had seen mountain laurel flowers in Connecticut two weeks earlier, but this stand was not yet in bloom:

Kalmia shrubs

A close-up on the shrubs:

Kalmia shrubs

We reached the intersection with the blue-blazed trail that led to the Indian Hill region of Sterling Forest State Park, where we found a pair of perfectly good boots that someone had perhaps lost.

Lost boots

We left the Appalachian Trail, turning on the blue trail into Sterling Forest. Here, we encountered a handsome specimen of the eastern eyed click beetle (Alaus oculatus):

Eastern eyed click beetle

The blue trail met the yellow-blazed Indian Hill Loop, and we took the left-hand (eastern) portion of that. Here, we encounter a rock wall:

Rock wall

Even more impressive is when the trail briefly follows an old road that is bordered on both sides by rock walls:

Rock wall

The Trail Conference map does show scenic views exist on this trail:

Scenic view from Indian Hill Loop

A stitched panorama of one scenic view:

Stitched panorama of scenic view from Indian Hill Loop

A tonemapped image:

Tonemapped scenic view from Indian Hill Loop

The stump of a dead tree:

Tree stump

We reached the red-blazed Furnace Loop. We ultimately wanted to turn left to take the southern portion, but diverted a bit to the right (the northern portion) so as to visit the unnamed pond, where I photographed this pickerelweed:

Pickerelweed

The pond was covered with algae:

Pond

We walked along the entire western side of the small pond and continued on the trail, until Batya was kind enough to point out that we were on the yellow-bird-on-green-blazed Warbler Trail. (That would not have taken us terribly far out of the way, but it wasn’t what I had intended.) We backtracked from the pond and returned to the red-blazed Furnace Loop, and followed the southern portion.

The orange daylily (Pontederia cordata) is an Asian species that was cultivated in the U.S. and has escaped to the wild, becoming an invasive species:

Orange daylily

We soon reached the remnants of the Southfields Iron Furnace, built in 1805 and rebulit in 1836:

Southfields Furnace

We then left Sterling Forest, walking southwest on County Road 19 (“Orange Turnpike”) which took us back to Route 17. We crossed Route 17, walked east along Railroad Avenue, and then followed the train tracks of the Metro-North Line until we came to the blaze marking the end of Harriman’s Nurian trail. We followed that trail, crossing the Ramapo River:

Ramapo River

The trail then took us to a pedestrian bridge over I-87. If desired, refer to my June 12, 2011 post for photos of the pedestrian bridges over the Ramapo River and I-87.

Back in Harriman State Park, we hiked briefly along Arden Road, where we again saw a deer, this time an adult:

Deer

As the flat Arden Trail is too overgrown to take it all the way back to the Elk Pen, we had to follow the Nurian Trail up and down a number of hills. On the way, I spotted a raccoon, though I struggled to hold my telephoto lens steady in the lower light levels:

Raccoon

A couple was hiking toward us, asking if we had seen the red-blazed Stahahe Brook trail, which we would also want, to take us back to the Elk Pen parking area. I told them that it was behind them, so they turned around and walked with us toward the east. We still had over an hour before sundown, but it would not have been a good time to be lost in the woods, so I am glad that we were able to help them.

Here, I took another stitched panorama, of fallen trees:

Fallen trees on a hillside

Another area was very green:

Grassy area

We finally found the intersection with the Stahahe Brook trail. While it shows on my map as red-blazed, it is actually blazed as a (very) thin red horizontal stripe against a white background. Thus, it did not offer much contrast with the white-blazed Nurian trail that we were following. I can understand that the other couple missed their turn, as I first took it to be an intersection with a second white-blazed trail, before spotting the very thin red stripe.

Red-Belt Conk grew on an old tree trunk:

Red-belt conk

A clearing appeared, not far from the end of our hike:

Grassy field

We returned to the Elk Pen, and the couple again thanked us for helping them with the directions. It was a fun hike, and I was happy to have experienced it for the third time. I don’t know if there are always deer there, or if I have just been lucky to have seen them on every visit.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged Appalachian Trail, deer, Harriman, New York, Orange County, Sterling Forest | Leave a comment

Allamuchy Mountain State Park, Sussex County, New Jersey

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Charlie

Interested in visiting a park we had not visited previously, I selected Allamuchy Mountain State Park, in Sussex County. Despite the name, we found the park to be very flat. We began our hike on the white-blazed Deer Path Trail, hiking north:

Deer Path Trail

A tiny scenic view from the trail:

Scenic view from Deer Path Trail

The terrain was generally flat and not very exciting, though there were a few boulders:

Boulder Deer Path Trail

An eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalus) was in the middle of the trail. It was small–only about two feet long:

Eastern garter snake

We also spotted a shell from a robin’s egg:

Robin egg shell

There was a rocky outcrop hidden behind the trees:

Rocky outcrop

A more visible rocky outcrop:

Rocky outcrop

Near the northern most part of the white trail, the NY-NJ Trail Conference map showed an unblazed trail diverting a short distance to the west to a scenic view. We found that unblazed trail and followed it through a gap in a fence. It led to a parking area where traffic from Interstate 80 could pull over and appreciate the scenic view and have a picnic. We made use of one of the picnic tables, then after lunch, we walked over to enjoy the scenic view.

This is a stitched panorama:

Scenic view

This is a stitched and tonemapped panorama:

Scenic view

Unfortunately, while there were garbage cans adjacent to the picnic tables, there was a lot of garbage on the ground and at the tree line, left by litterers.

There were also “no trespassing” signs at the tree line, which seemed odd, as we imagined that both the park and the parking area were public land. We re-entered the woods and returned to the white trail of the state park.

Trail

Deer Park Pond became visible through the trees:

Deer Park Pond

We reached a small clearing that gave us a clear view of the entire pond:

Deer Park Pond

The pond had many water lilies:

Water Lilies in Deer Park Pond

We completed a loop that took us back to the car, though at one point we found a confusing intersection and walked about 15 minuted down a trail before realizing that it was not the trail we wanted. I am certain that the park is treasured by those that live nearby, but we did not find it so exciting. As mentioned, the park seemed very flat, and there were only a few interesting rock outcrops that we noted, and the scenic view actually required leaving the park and hiking to a car park also shared with traffic off I-80. Also, while not the fault of the park, we were tormented by gnats flying around our face the entire hike, a seasonal hazard that probably affected hikers throughout the region that week.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New Jersey, sussex | Leave a comment

Trout Brook Valley, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Charlie

We drove to Connecticut to visit Trout Brook Valley conservation area, where I had visited four years previously. I refer readers to that earlier post to learn more about the park and trails.

This visit was similar to the last one, except that I did not notice any vernal pools or encounter any snapping turtles resting in the middle of a trail. I also don’t think we saw any dogs, either on-leash or off-leash.

We began at the parking area on Bradley Road, taking the red-blazed trail north.

The trails were maintained well, and the hiking there was pleasant, with plentiful shade provided, and varied scenery from the trees and rocks.

Wooded scenery

A rock outcrop:

Rock outcrop

The trail was steep in one short section, and a rope had been tied to trees, perhaps to assist some hikers in climbing the slope:

A steep section of the trail

This was a very interesting tree that included a right-angle bend, such that part of the trunk was practically parallel to the ground, while another part was growing up as expected:

Right-angle tree

In addition to colored blazes on the trails, intersections in the preserve have numbered signs, and maps available either online or at the kiosk near the parking area show the intersection numbers, making it easy for visitors to track their progress.

We followed the red trail from the parking lot up to intersection 17, where we briefly followed a green-blazed trail north to intersection 19, before resuming north on a red-blazed trail. I had been confused on my previous visit by the short switch from red to green.

It was a good day for mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), the state flower of Connecticut:

Mountain laurel

It was a sunny day, so we were glad that we had tree cover for the great majority of our hike:

Sunshine in the forest

Three trees grow together:

Triplets

We took the second red trail up to intersection 53, in the adjacent Jump Hill Preserve. From intersection 53, in the northern part of the park, we turned south onto a white-blazed trail, which led us to intersection 11.

At one point we heard and then saw a family of three deer, at a distance, but they bounded over a hill and out of sight before I could change my lens from the wide angle to the telephoto.

Fallen trees rest against stone, providing nice texture:

Fallen trees

From intersection 11, we followed a yellow-blazed trail further south, to intersection 14. We then took an orange-blazed trail, which meandered northeast, then southeast, and then south-southwest, to intersection 4.

The hand of man left a few rock walls in the park, probably around 1800:

Rock wall

The trail passed under a fallen tree:

Fallen tree

A rocky area:

Rock outcrop

Another rock wall:

Rock wall

At intersection 4, we took a blue-blazed trail that continued south-southwest.

This tree had a significant burl:

Burl

The trail led us back to the parking area where we had left our car.

It was a beautiful day for a hike in Connecticut.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged Connecti, Connecticut, Fairfield County | Leave a comment

Sourland Mountain Preserve, Somerset County, New Jersey

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Charlie

Today we drove to Sourland Mountain Preserve, a 3025 acre county park, where we enjoyed a late Fall day with temperatures in the upper 60s! It was nice to hike with a short sleeved shirt this time of year. The name “Sourlands” is derived from the fact that early settlers found the rocky soils difficult to farm.

The park has a single point of access, with a spacious gravel parking lot. It is a very popular park, though, and with cars spaced generously from each other, it was tricky finding a spot. Don’t come to this county park expecting to find solitude. There is no entrance fee, and other than a porta-potty, no facilities. The park seems to just exist for hiking, biking, and bouldering.

There are a few trails, but we chose the longest trail, the 5-mile Ridge Trail, and we deviated from it at one point to take the red-blazed 2.1 mile Roaring Brook Trail, so our hike may have been 5.5 or 6 miles.

This photo was taken just past the trailhead:

Trail

We progressed counterclockwise on the trail, gaining about 350′ in elevation and soon reaching the eastern-most part of the park, featuring Devil’s Half Acre, a boulder field. Here I scrambled to the top of one of the boulders:

Charlie climbs a boulder

The park has both sedimentary and igneous rocks. Here are more boulders:

Boulders

I was impressed that this tree grew sideways out of a crack in a boulder, then made a 90 degree angle toward the sky:

Tree growing from a rock

We also saw a number of trees that grew as twins, triplets, and in one place a stand of four trees that grew together. Here, three trees grew together on the left:

Triplet trees

There were also a number of fallen trees in the park, perhaps from the storms that the region has experienced over the past several years:

Fallen tree

Here, the top broke off a standing dead tree:

Broken snag

The west part of the park has another boulder field. This is called Roaring Rocks Boulders. Batya noted that the name was curious, as rocks don’t generally make roaring sounds. However, these boulders are adjacent to Roaring Brook, which perhaps roars at time:

Boulders

More boulders:

Boulder field

Roaring Brook was practically dry, and was very silent on this day. A sign across the brook identified the opposing land as belonging to 3M, and asked people not to cross into their property.

Roaring Brook

Another tree grew from a boulder:

Tree growing from a rock

An old wall, possibly built as a dam:

Old wall

The maximum elevation in the park is around 500′, so the hiking is not very strenuous. There are no scenic views, either, but it is always nice to get out into the woods. Obviously, the park will look very different in the middle of the summer, when there are leaves on the trees, but it was also nice to visit on such a warm day in mid-December.

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New Jersey | Leave a comment

Shore Parkway Greenway (western section), Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Charlie

We had a previous hike of the western section of the Shore Parkway Greenway about a year before, and decided to repeat the walk on this day.

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge looked about the same as always:

Verrazano–Narrows Bridge

This is non-powered barge RTC 81, owned by Reinauer Transportation:

Barge RTC 81

Continuing north, we crossed under the bridge. Pedestrian walkways cross over the Belt Parkway to the east, and we took one, detouring from the Greenway and finding ourselves in a narrow and discontinuous park known as Shore Road Park, nestled between the Belt Parkway and Shore Road. One part was nicely landscaped, another section included a small baseball field, another section included playgrounds and restrooms.

Shore Road Park

Another section of the park included a small garden, with plants such as this cactus:

Cactus in Shore Road Park

We continued walking through the Shore Road Park until we reached Bay Ridge Avenue, at which point we walked under the Belt Parkway onto the American Veterans Memorial Pier, where we had lunch.

The pier provided good views of the harbor and its ships and other sites. Here is the 300 meter long, 74642 ton Maersk Detroit container ship:

Maersk Detroit Container Ship

The 26′ tow boat Tommy Miller passes the giant Maersk vessel:

Rigid-inflatable boat Tommy Miller

The iconic Statue of Liberty:

Statue of Liberty

And “Freedom Tower,” One World Trade Center:

One World Trade Center

We began walking back along the Greenway, passing the 183 meter, 23196 ton oil/chemical tanker Bow Jubail:

Verrazano–Narrows Bridge

The tiniest watercraft we saw all day were these three men in their sea kayaks:

Three kayakers pass the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge

They were three different models, but all were British-style kayaks. American-style kayaks have rudders and thus may be easier to manage, but the British-style kayaks are more flexible in the hands of experts.

A TideRace Xplore X:

TideRace Xplore X sea kayak

A Valley étaín sea kayak:

Valley étaín sea kayak

A Sea Kayaking UK Romany model:

Sea Kayaking UK Romany model

The three men paddled past us:

Three British-Style Sea Kayaks

We also saw the 95-foot Whaling City Express, operated by SeaStreak:

Whaling City Express

And the largest ship we saw that day, the 325 meter Norwegian Breakaway:

Norwegian Breakaway

Posted in Hikes | Tagged New York | Leave a comment

Archives