Minnewaska State Park Preserve, NY - Awosting Perserve to Murray Hill

ABOUT THE PARK: 

Minnewaska State Park Preserve - New York State Parks

Awosting Preserve - Gardiner Gazette

While there is a $10 fee to enter the park at the main entrance, there is no fee to park at the Awosting Preserve section.

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 41.67620, -74.26370

Awosting Preserve Parking

TRAIL MAP: 

Shawangunk Trails Map 104 - NYNJ Trail Conference

HIKE DISTANCE: 11.4 miles

THE HIKE: 

With two hiking vacation days left to take before the end of the year, the challenge was finding a place I had not hiked yet where hunting is not allowed for a weekday hike.  The Awosting Preserve portion of Minnewaska State Park Preserve falls within their very large no hunting zone.

From the parking lot around the gate and straight ahead.

There had been sleet and freezing rain overnight ending just an hour or two before I arrived so there were some icy spots.  The forecast said full sunshine the rest of the day and temps in the 40's so even with going to a higher elevation I felt it would all melt.  I was wrong.  Or maybe that was because the weather forecast was wrong.

It's worth taking a side trail to the right ...

... that leads through the woods to ...

... Palmaghatt Kill.

The trail continues along Palmaghatt Kill ...

... back to the gravel trail we came in on.  This is supposed to be a brown-blazed trail although I saw know such markers until the end of the hike but it is easy enough to follow.

This actually was not part of my planned route but when I saw how clear the unmarked trail to the left was, I decided to go that way since it would put me back on my route at the other end.  According to the Gardiner Gazette article above, "...since routes have not been officially blazed, is that the public is welcome on any of the network of woods roads and shale roads. Bushwhacking is not permitted."  That article is over 10 years old but none of the improvements mentioned have been implemented so I proceeded based on that.

It turned out to be an old, unmaintained shale road.

A  few blow downs to deal with but nothing difficult to get through.

There are a couple of paths leading to private property along the way.

On old quarry.

This poor acorn must have become confused on one of the unseasonably warm days before this frigid day.

At the top of the quarry, benches at a bit of a view.

A trail marker and a trail name sign?  I have a feeling this is used by mountain bikers.

I was a bit concerned about crossing this because the water was crazy loud rushing down.

It turned out to be a very easy rock hop.

At a fork it's a right turn at the remnants of whatever that is, the trail now a footpath for a while.

It becomes an old shale road again.

Some water crossings are intact ...

... other places are eroded but everything was completely passable.

Balloon #29 of the year.

Shortly after this creek crossing I should have kept straight.

But for some reason to the right towards the state park sign seems more defined so I decided to go that way.

It was fine for a while ...

... but then became harder to follow although Brodie stayed on it.  It was also pretty wet and swampy at times.  I would say this is an old woods road, not as durable as the shale roads.

We ended up coming back out on the old shale road (white line) having made a completely unnecessary ascent and descent to get there.  Should have stayed on the shale road.

Back at the old shale road where we turned right.

When I hiked north of here over the summer I had noted that I saw five piles of bear scat which was more than I had ever seen on a hike.  That now needs to be revised.  On this hike I saw a good 12-15 piles of bear scat.  But no bears.

Just beyond these crossed logs, left on the yellow Mud Pond Trail.

At the end a right turn on the white Mud Pond Road Footpath.

Mud Pond

This is where things got dicey.  We were at the high elevation, it was crazy cold and windy and the rock slab surfaces were mostly coated with a very thin layer of ice making it impossible to walk on them.  I always carry micospikes this time of year but it wasn't enough ice to warrant putting them on, taking them off, putting them on...  So I just had to work my way along the edges being careful not to step on any rock slabs or tree roots which were also encased in ice.

Now on the purple Scenic Trail/Shawangunk Ridge Trail for a short out and back to the overlook of Mud Pond.

That, however, became unattainable as these boards were covered with frozen slime and ice.  Will have to save that for a warmer day.

Ice everywhere.

Heading back the other way staying on purple/SRT.

A brief trip down for a look at Lake Awosting.

Back up continuing on purple.

We had come from Mud Pond, now heading to Murray Hill.

The sun had been completely gone for some time (opposite of the forecast) so there was no hope of any ice melting.  I had put all my layers back on, it was freezing cold and windy.

There would be a short section of non-icy trail ...

... before coming back out on ice so every step had to be taken very, very carefully.

Views from Murray Hill.

Then we came to this vertical scramble.  The picture only shows the top part.  I think it was 6-7 feet high - I am 5'4" and it was well over my head.  Getting myself up was not the problem, getting Brodie up was daunting.  

This is looking down from the top.  I had stood on that first rock ledge to the right of the purple blaze and got Brodie to jump on it with me.  Turned him around, grabbed the handle of his harness and just started shoving him up.  He grabbed on with his paws and clawed to pull himself up while I pushed, crying the whole way (Brodie, not me), and made it to the top so I could follow.  Fortunately there was no ice here.

View of Lake Minnewaska and Gertrude's Nose but we had to work hard for that!

At this intersection I had planned on continuing on purple to Margaret Cliff but I had enough of icy rock slabs for the day.

Decided on the Spruce Glen Footpath instead and a good choice that was.

Absolutely gorgeous.

The map shows this as an unmaintained trail through a swamp but it is actually an old shale road and it never gets swampy.

An easy rock hop.

It does become more of a footpath...

... then opens back up as an old shale road along Dwarr Kill.

Now on the purple Awosting Reserve Loop although the markers are very hard to see and there are very few of them.

Left on the brown Awosting Reserve Access trail.  This is the only place I saw a few brown trail markers.

To the right is where we had turned left coming up at the beginning of the hike, now retracing straight.

On the way up I had noticed some paths that seemed to shortcut the switchbacks so we took some of those on the way down.

Back on the access trail ...

... straight to the end.  There was one other car in the lot when we finished but I saw no other people during the entire hike.

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