It's often muddy (I wiped out a couple of times), sometimes a bridge is out, sometimes a trail is flooded but it is one fantastic hike. Trails were clear and sometimes marked but not consistently. Intersections are not signed. You really need an app to navigate. Also to note, ticks were particularly bad. I never saw any on me (shoes treated with permethrin and Deep Woods OFF sprayed on legs) but Brodie, who does take oral flea/tick medication, turned out to be loaded with them as I found about a dozen dead ticks in his bed the next morning.
Don't be deceived by the nice, dry mulched trail. It doesn't last long!
Views of the Catskills in the distance.
And mud, lots of mud, sometimes, not all the time. This is the red trail but there aren't many markers.
Turning right on the blue trail. To avoid the upcoming flooded out section, bypass blue (which leads right back to red) by staying on red.
And here is the flooded out section. The red arrow shows where the trail goes.
By skirting around to the left of the water past the beaver dam, that would be the culprit of the flooding ...
... some logs have been placed that I was able to use to get across successfully but ...
... Brodie not so much. Had he waited his turn he might have been able to use the logs but instead he tried to pass me by and slid right in.
It's a short bushwhack to get back on the blue trail.
The trail comes out on a meadow.
The app was lighting up with bird IDs along here. I never saw many birds but there was lots of singing going on.
Now back on red.
We turned right on a gravel path which turned out to be the Empire State Trail but did not know that until later on as there were no signs.
I should have turned right in this area but missed the turn ending up at ...
We retraced back down the hill and found the trail we should have taken.
Ugh. Not only were there water bottles but assorted snack wrappers and two shotgun shell casings.
They are there no more.
Shortly after taking this picture the trail descended very steeply in the mud and I wiped out. No harm done. Mud is soft, just messy.
Coming out on an access road, we turned left ...
... passed by a parking area on the left ...
... then turned right on the trail.
Just before the road the trail makes a sharp left around the trail register.
This leads to massive waterfalls that can be heard well before arriving there.
The trail loops around and begins to follow along North Bay.
These great blue herons were enjoying a nice view of ...
... the Catskills.
At the wooden steps the trail continues to the left but we went right first ...
... down to the dock for a look.
Heading back up the steps.
It is a short road walk to the right ...
... to regain the trail bypassing a portion that is closed but this is well signed.
North Bay, Hudson River and the Catskills
Taking the yellow trail ...
... where we encountered a bridge smashed by a large tree. It was very steep going down and I had to hang onto the railing to get down but that did not stop me from wiping out a second time right in front of the tree trunk. There must have been wet slime on the bridge surface because I went right down. Again, no harm done.
Looking back at the bridge after successfully getting to the other side.
Yellow follows a pretty ridge line on a flat trail.
A short side trail leads to views.
Another short walk on an access road before turning right on blue.
At this interpretive sign a side trail leads to South Bay on a narrow strip of land that juts out into the water. I was going through spiderwebs so I knew nobody had been there.
Continuing straight between the mounds on either side ...
... a chair? Yes please! Although I would otherwise consider it litter, I have to admit, it was nice to have a chair to sit in while ...
... seeing views.
We stayed here a long time - it was very peaceful and nobody else was around.
Continuing on.
The trail comes out behind this sign on to a large field ...
... where several people were sitting in chairs. It is a bit confusing where to go as there are no signs but keeping right through the field ...
... leads to a trail down to the bay with no good views and ...
... the continuation of the blue trail.
There is a side trail that descends steeply to more raging waterfalls.
Climbing back up was much easier than going down.
The trail continues along Saw Kill.
Taking another trail to the right ...
... to continue along Saw Kill.
More waterfalls!
We continued on to the water tower and cut through the Bard College campus.
I am not sure if this is allowed but there were no signs, nobody questioned us and I had overhead someone on the trail telling someone else you can do it so we did.
At the far northern end of the campus through a parking lot is the access for the Empire State Trail.
A short distance in ...
... right into the meadow which is the red trail that leads all the way back to the parking lot.
An astounding 39 different types of birds identified with the Merlin Bird Sound ID app plus some photographed below that weren't singing.
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