ABOUT THE PARK:
Hiking the AT in NY and NJ - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
Terrain by Region: New York - Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Appalachian Trail Community: Harlem Valley - Appalachian Trail Conservancy
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| Harlem Valley Appalachian Trail Community Brochure |
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.594744, -73.587023
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| Parking off of Route 22 in Pawling, NY |
TRAIL MAP:
New York/New Jersey Maps - Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Harlem Valley Appalachian Trail Community Map
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HIKE DISTANCE: 14.4 miles
THE HIKE:
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| Heading south for a short distance on Route 22. |
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| Right to the Appalachian Trail Metro North Railroad Stop. |
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| Just the other side of the railroad tracks, the boardwalk through the Great Swamp. |
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| Cedar Waxwing |
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| Song Sparrow |
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| Red-winged Blackbird |
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| The far end of the Great Swamp. |
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| The trail skirts a beautiful meadow ... |
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| ... with views. |
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| A window to ... |
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| .... another meadow. |
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| The rock face at the top up ahead is Cat Rocks where we are heading. |
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| Female Red-winged Blackbird |
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| Dover Oak |
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| A little bit of a rock scramble. |
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| Coming off of the rock scramble I made note of a trail to the left that looked like a bypass figuring I might need that on the return route since this was going to be a particularly long hike. |
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| The Telephone Pioneers Shelter to the left. |
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| On to Cat Rocks. |
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| A short side trail to the Cat Rocks overlook. |
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| Turkey vultures riding the thermals and coming in very close. |
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| Continuing on towards Nuclear Lake. |
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| There were so many chipmunks that Brodie actually did not notice a few that I was able to photograph in peace. Had he seen this one I would have been too busy wrangling him to get a picture. |
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| Leaving the AT to the right on the Beekman Uplands Trail. |
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| Brodie doesn't usually eat lunch on the trail but just a few bites to tide him over since it will be a long day and dinner will be a few hours late by the time we get home. |
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| Nothing like lunch in the woods. |
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| Mountain laurel blooming everywhere. This trail should be gorgeous in another week. |
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| After a short rocky section ... |
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| ... left on the AT. |
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| Shortly after the second bridge ... |
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| ... a yellow trail starts to the right looping around the other side of Nuclear Lake but we stayed on the AT. |
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| The AT becomes a woods road ... |
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| ... then Nuclear Lake comes into view. |
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| A break at the lake. |
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| Caught a bird flying over the lake ... |
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| ... and landing in the tree. |
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| A Canada Goose family with a single child. |
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| This family has triplets. |
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| The single gosling family ... |
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| ... passing behind sunning turtles. |
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| The other end of the yellow trail comes in where the AT leaves the lake. |
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| Meeting up with where we had left the AT on the Beekman Uplands trail at 9.2 miles, now retracing with over 5 miles to go.. |
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| Another chipmunk that went under Brodie's chipmunk radar. |
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| Looking for chipmunks over there ... |
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| ... while I nab another over here. |
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| Stopping at Cat Rocks for another quick break but there were loud people there so we did not stay long. |
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| We turned right on that trail I had noticed earlier to bypass the scramble. There was actually a faded orange blaze on the tree on the right. |
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| A trail to the right of the scramble. |
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| Old farm equipment off the trail. |
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| And this spit us right back out on the AT at the other end of the scramble. |
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| Coming up on West Dover Road with the Dover Oak up ahead. |
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| Looking back down at the Dover Oak from higher up on the trail. There is a woman standing to the left of the tree which puts in perspective just how huge it is. Over 300 years old and a circumference of over 20 feet. |
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| Uphill into the meadows. |
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| Looking back and zooming in to Cat Rocks. |
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| Coming up on the Great Swamp boardwalk. |
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| I love when these guys are around because when they are, mosquitoes are not. They devour mosquitoes. |
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| Tree swallows ... |
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| ... feeding their young in the nest. |
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| Crossing the railroad tracks ... |
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| ... then left on Route 22 back to the parking lot. |
I love those built in Adirondack chairs along the Boardwalk.
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely unique!
DeleteGreat hike! Love the views and the birds and the boardwalks and the snacks!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was a fun hike.
DeleteHaven't been there in a long time. Need to get back.
ReplyDeleteYes, you should! It's a little busy right now with thru hikers but any time is a good time.
DeleteThanks for sharing all your hikes! I especially love this one. I am super impressed by the mileage you do!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I was kind of impressed by the mileage, too, LOL! Fortunately the terrain was pretty moderate as far as the AT goes or I'd still be there crawling my way back to my car.
DeleteThis is moderately close to where we live. I love the boardwalk section! Trek in general is a very gentle dog, but he loves chipmunks! I can call him off from trying to chase them, but they are pretty much the only type of animal he tries to chase.
ReplyDeleteWhen Shawnee was young she once dipped her head into a bush right off the trail and surfaced with a chipmunk in her mouth and the funniest look on her face like "So what do I do with it now?" I told her to DROP IT, she spit him out, the chipmunk took off unharmed and she never bothered with them again. Brodie, however....
Delete