Gone Hikin'

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Dater Mountain Park and Harriman State Park, NY

ABOUT THE PARKS:
Dater Mountain Park - County of Rockland
Harriman State Park - The Palisades Parks Conservancy
Harriman State Park - New York State Parks

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Cooridinates 41.171518, -74.176847

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Dater Mountain Park parking on Johnsontown Road.

TRAIL MAP:
NY/NJ Trail Conference Southern Harriman Bear Mountain Trails Map 118
Dater Mountain Park and Harriman State Park, NY at EveryTrail

HIKE DISTANCE: 7 miles

THE HIKE:

The orange trail uphill from the parking area,

Then left on blue.

New York State Thruway

Another view of the Tuxedo Park and the thruway farther along at a power line cut.

Wild Turkey!

There were icy areas left from the previous Sunday where freezing rain encased everything in ice causing multiple car pileups and closure of the thruway.

Several boulders still encased in ice.

Back on orange for a short distance to ...

... left on the white-blazed Kakiat Trail at the end of orange.

Kakiat Trail going into Harriman State Park.

Her preferred way of navigating blow downs.

I wasn't comfortable with the options for crossing the creek so we bushwhacked uphill along the creek to find a better crossing spot. Found lovely cascades up higher and a crossing spot!

The Kakiat Trail follows along the NY State Thruway down below.

On this side, long sections of trail were covered in sheets of ice. Shawnee wiped out once - she was OK - but really avoided icy patches after that.

Because the Kakiat Trail continued steeply downhill and the trail was covered with ice, we took the abandoned telephone cut.

Some ice here, too, but easy enough to get around.

Taking a break in the abandoned telephone cut.

On icy days I like to take hot tea and it stays piping hot throughout the entire hike in an insulated Kleen Kanteen inside an insulated bag. Shawnee is fine with ice cold water.

The red-dot-on-white Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail went steeply uphill on ice so we had to find a way around that.

Made it up without either of us sliding and falling. I could have worn microspikes but I didn't so that I could find a safer route for Shawnee.

Right on red-line-on-white Tuxedo-Mt. Ivy Trail.

Coming up on Claudius Smith's Den.

Claudius Smith's Den with a smoldering fire someone left behind.

Instead of scrambling up to the Blue Dot Trail, we went around to the right on a faint path that lead right to it.

We have hiked Elbow Brush a couple of times already so with all of the ice, took the easy bypass this time.

Looking down at Elbow Brush - we'd be squeezing through that if we hadn't taken the easy bypass.

It was very pretty along the upper easy bypass route.

Looking back where the trails merge together.

Views over Almost Perpendicular.

Descending steeply - no ice here!

But along some sections the trail was solid ice but nothing else was icy.

A burl with a hole.

Back on the Kakiat Trail.

The only bird of many that sat still long enough for a picture.

Back on orange.

Views from the orange trail.

Turkey vulture tracks in the mud.

Back downhill to the parking area.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[ 0.00] Take the orange-blazed trail from the parking lot
[ 0.20] Left on blue when orange goes right
[ 1.65] Left on orange at end of blue when orange also goes right
[ 2.00] Left on white Kakiat Trail at end of orange
[ 3.00] Right on abandoned telephone cut when white continues downhill
[ 3.15] Right at T-intersection to continue in telephone cut
[ 3.25] Right on red-dot-on-white Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail
[ 3.60] Right on red-line-on-white Tuxedo-Mt. Ivy Trail
[ 3.95] Claudius Smith's Den; keep right on unmarked footpath around rock scramble
[ 4.00] Right on Blue Dot Trail
[ 4.25] Left at split to take easy route around Elbow Brush
[ 4.45] Trails merge back together
[ 5.45] Right on white Kakiat Trail
[ 5.70] Left on orange
[ 6.10] Left on orange when blue goes right
[ 6.80] Left on orange when blue goes right
[ 7.00] Back at parking

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Reserve, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK:
Watershed Reserve - Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.352050, -74.771582

View Larger Map

TRAIL MAP:
Trails on the Watershed Preserve - Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association
Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Reserve, NJ at EveryTrail

HIKE DISTANCE: 7.7 miles

THE HIKE:

Trails can be accessed behind the buildings at the butterfly chair or from behind the Nature Center on the left.

On the red/green trail heading towards the green Stony Brook Trail.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Heading towards Stony Brook.

Temperature was in the upper teens so everything was frozen.

The Hobbit Tree

The trail along frozen Stony Brook.

Stony Brook

Patterns in the ice.

The junction where the green Stony Brook Trail and red Meadow-Pond Trail split.

There were many types of birds in the meadow but all too fast to capture with the camera and frozen fingers.

Except this hawk but I had to shoot into the sun so none of the many pictures turned out very well.

Coming up on Wargo Pond.

Hildick-Smith Dock at Wargo Pond

Continuing on to the blue Watershed Trail.

Crossing Moores Mill-Mount Rose Road.

A short distance after crossing the road, a trail goes left.

It appears to be an unmarked trail on the map but is actually blazed in white.

There are a couple of T-intersections that are not on the map so it's a little confusing. I turned left at both.

Skunk Cabbage Hollow but still too early for skunk cabbage.

An interesting find on the boardwalk. The poor deceased turtle is long gone and just the bleached out shell remains.

At the beginning of the Elk Trail, a sign saying it was closed for deer management.

I went in a few steps to read this sign which indicated that I just happened to be there on one of the hunting days so we had to turn back.

There isn't supposed to be any hunting in the rest of the preserve, according to the web site, but there were several tree stands in the section north of Moores Mill-Mount Rose Road.