Berlin Mountain

I took a nice drive up to Rensselaer County to hike up to its high point. Situated along the NY/MA border, it afforded views of Mt Greylock, Massachusetts' highest point. The parking lot was situated right off Route 2 and was pretty high up. I probably only ascended about 500 ft.

As I went through the town of Berlin, I could see the Taconics clearly and it appeared their was snow on them, much to my surprise. Immediately, I'm thinking, "I'm such an idiot!", because I was wearing cotton. But, I was not planning on the hike to take much more than 2 hours.

I started out from the parking lot, signed in and headed along a nice woods trail. The trees are still bare. The snow appears to be fairly fresh as there is just a light cover. There is not much snow on the trail itself. About 10 minutes in there was a 200 ft climb which led to the Taconic Crest Trail. There were many signs stating no ATV use. These signs were clearly not being followed as the trail had a lot of tire tracks. Fortunately, nobody was motoring by on this beautiful but extremely windy day (there were gusts up to 40 mph).

I strolled on for one more mini ascent to the primarily bare summit. The views were outstanding. Looking west you could see the Catskills in the distance and the city of Albany. Looking east you could see Mt. Greylock and its stone tower. Looking north you can see the northern part of the Taconics in Vermont and the Green Mountains.

I headed back after a few minutes on the summit as it was starting to get cold due to the heavy winds. I think I'll come back and do part of this Taconic Crest trail as part of a backpacking trip.

Overlook

This has the makings of why I would not like this hike: excessive crowds, lousy parking, radio tower, and views of the Hudson Valley Mall. Despite this, Overlook happens to be one of my favorite mountains in the Catskills.

Today was not unlike previous hikes up. The lot was full and I could not find parking on the road. After almost triple parking, I squeezed in nice and tightly in between the trees and a car which required a Dukes of Hazard type exit from my vehicle.

"Cotton kills." Lately I have been refraining from this first rule of hiking (although I'm using the term hiking lightly here as Overlook is a friendly walk up on a beautiful day). Today I wore a beat up pair of Dockers and a cotton sweatshirt (this would be stupid in poor weather conditions).

The hike starts right across from a Buddhist temple 2 miles up the mountain from Woodstock. The trail up really is more of a dirt road than any thing else. Except it goes up relentlessly. In the good old days a friend and I would run up the mountain from Woodstock as a training run. These days, I walk up.

A lot of people were out. I passed quite a few people coming down and there is always that person that asks, "are we almost there yet?" when we have barely walk past the entrance gate. The trees were bare enough to expose some good views of the Devil's Path (my favorite part of the Catskills) and there were no signs of snow. Finally, at two miles I came across the remains of the Overlook Mountain House. This was a happening place at one time. Apparently, they originally constructed a hotel here in the 1830s. But the remains that exist today are from the versions that was built in 1871. It hosted President Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s and was used as a site of gathering for the Communist Party during the early part of the 1920s. That's got me thinking, "maybe I should start my own party to overthrow the current government."

After the hotel, the trail eases up and passes the radio tower and another half mile brings us to the overlook fire tower. It was quite windy and the top part was closed so I didn't stick around for long. As always the views were great. To the north you have views of the Devil's Path, High Peak (airplane mountain), the Tri-peaks (Blackhead, Blackdome, Thomas cole) and the Hudson River. I wasn't looking for it, but on a clear day Albany is visible. To the west, the central Catskills are visible (Slide Mt and Bellayre, which clearly had snow cover). To the south the Ashokan Resevoir, Cooper Lake (where Kingston gets there water), the Gunks and the town of Woodstock are all visible. To the east you can see the highest bridge in NY state (Kingston-Rhinecliff, although it doesn't look so from here), City of Kingston, the great Hudson Valley Mall, the Hudson River and the Taconics.

The walk down is fairly quick and surprisingly it didn't beat the shit out of my knees like it normally does. I was back to the car an hour and a half after I left it. Probably another reason why I love this mountain.

Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail

Three years ago, the MC, the Vpo man and myself tackled the 22 mile Suffern Bear Mountain (SBM) trail. Today we set out without any assistance.  We planned on doing what appeared to be 24 miles of merciless ups and downs.

The forecast was to be chances of rain and highs in the mid 40s. I, of course, used to the lovely weather we have been having, did not bring any rain gear. The Vpo man kindly allowed me to borrow one of his jackets. This worked out well as I had it on much of the day. If it wasn't drizzling it was a bit nippy out.

The Ramapo-Dunderberg (RD) Trail starts at the Ramapo Train Station. This is where we met up with the MC. He was ready. Big time ready. He looked like he was ready to stomp out each and every hill of this trail. The Vpo man on the other hand looked scared. He looked frightened. "Why am I doing this? I'd rather be home watching America's Next Top Model.", was written all over his face. Despite this and the fact he spent much of the previous night looking for bailout points, I still had faith in the Vpo man.

Like the other long distance hike in the area,the SBM,the RD climbs right from the start. Not much before 7, we already got the heart, lungs and legs working. It was a nice little climb through woods that were starting to bloom. Unlike the previous few weeks when the trees were bare, the trees here were surprisingly full. After a couple of stream crossings and another climb we entered an area of bare rock, Black Ash Mountain. From here views of the surrounding area could be seen. The enormity of Harriman State Park was obvious. In a county as populated as Rockland (we were actually in the southern part of Orange county along the border), the views showed hardly any signs of development. Toward the east there was a radio tower and nice views into the Ramapo Valley. To the North and west there were views of the different ridges that were encompassed in the park.

We continued walking on what felt like an alpine summit. Lots of bare rock, tall grasses, moss covered rocks, scrub trees and some swampy areas. We then came up to Tom Jones Mountain where there was a shelter. It appeared there were a few who braved the night out in the downpour. We then climbed down to our first road crossing, where we'd take a quick bite of snacks.

Almost always, where there is a road crossing, there is a climb afterward. This was no different. This climb was a little nasty. There were some steep areas that required the use of hands. It was also slippery due to the rain and on and off drizzle we had been experiencing.

Although the top was fairly wooded, there were views of some of the lakes in the surrounding areas. There were also a few landmarks, Ship Rock and Times Square. Ship Rock is a 30 foot tall rock that the Vpo man and the MC have climbed in the past. Times Square is a junction of multiple trails (my guess is that they're popular ones). It was actually in a swampy area and if I'm not mistaken the real Times Square (pre-Europeans) was a swamp and the Times Square linking herd paths to three of the 46ers also is a swampy area.

From Times Square we climbed up to Fingerboard Mountain where we hooked up with the A.T. The MC has hiked this section in the past, being that he has completed all of the 2,000 plus miles of trail that run from GA---->ME. I, myself, have completed the southern half and get excited each time I'm on the A.T. in this region. This section was fairly wooded, but offered a nice stroll. At the bottom of Fingerboard Mountain, we hit our second road crossing of the day. This was a nice opportunity to have some lunch.

Refueled and re-energized, we walked through woods where we came across some trail runners. These guys were either super hardcore, without looking super hardcore, or they were just bullshitting us. They supposedly were out for a 34 mile run. It wasn't a race or anything, just out for a 34 mile run on hiking trails. Unreal. Very impressive if they were successful. We then branched off from the A.T. and followed a woods road across Seven Lakes Drive, where we then, naturally, proceeded up. This time it was Goshen Mountain.

Following Goshen Mountain, we locked horns with the A.T. one last time for the next few miles (possibly the greatest miles of the entire RD). We then came across a shelter where there were a few groups that were going to spend the night out. We hit a stream crossing where we filled up our water bottles. From here it was another climb up to the summit of Black Mountain. There were great views of Silvermine Lake. We then were up on a ridge with exceptional views south. From here you could see the Hudson River south to almost the Tappan Zee Bridge. The NYC skyline is clearly visible. Although it's been almost 10 years since 9/11, I still long to see the Twin Towers as part of the skyline. This was really a great section of the walk. There was also a good amount of wind and it got a bit cold at this point. We then climbed down to the Palisades Parkway where we saw the remains of "trail magic" from the previous year. "Trail Magic" is the term A.T. thru-hikers give to gifts that others may leave. It's not uncommon for people to leave coolers full of soda, beer or candy at the sides of the road. This is exactly what we came across by the Palisades.

Probably the nastiest climb of the day was the one climbing up from the Palisades. The RD departed from the A.T. at this point and the climb was relentless. The last part especially so. I saw someone to the right of me, but the trail was going to the left. I was kind of surprised. But, when I reached the top of the climb I met a guy who was part of a group hike doing the SBM. This was the point where the SBM and the RD crossed paths. This guy was "way ahead of the rest of the group" because he was out here for "speed." And I believe him. He was probably your stereotypical gym rat who saw this hike advertised at the gym. What do I care? I myself have been out in the past for speed and thru hikers would have a saying, "hike your own hike."

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going." The Vpo man had enough. He was done, but he kept on going through a real tough ass section of the trail. Thankfully, the sun peaked out here and there. The slabs of rock we had to cross along the side of West Mountain probably would have produced a fall or two if it was still wet. This area was fairly dry, but it was still slow going. But, that made it easy to soak in the views of the Hudson River to the south. We then climbed up the Timp and Bald Mountain. It was near the top of Bald Mountain that the MC and I thought the Vpo man was near death. He looked beyond resuscitation. But, he kept on.

We then made our way to the summit of Dunderberg Mountain. Yeah! The finish was near. But, not before a last rite of passage through some more ups and downs. We stopped at an awesome view point just off the trail to take some pics. The views to the north were spectacular. Bear Mountain, the Bear mountain Bridge and Anthony's Nose were all visible from here. At this point we were at the same point west as Bear Mountain. I was explaining to the MC that we soon would be east of Anthony's Nose, which is on the east side of the Hudson. This is because the Hudson River bends east here and Dunderberg Mountain extends eastward into the Hudson.

We then had a steep, rocky down climb with some views of the Hudson and the controversial Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. Surprisingly, despite my soles of my boots rolling up, my feet were in fairly good shape. The MC and I met up with the Vpo man who was waiting at the car. Quickly, the conversation was directed towards food. The Vpo man was looking forward to some soup, while I was looking forward to a bottle of soda.

When we got back to Ramapo, the MC gave us some awards (made out of polymer clay) for our achievement. This was a very thoughtful gift. I look forward to hiking with the MC and the Vpo man in the future.

Here are some of the stats. Start time: 6:50am Finish: 6:40pm

There was a group hike on March 20. Some of the hikers were carrying Gps devices and altimeters. The trail is approximately 23.5 miles with elevation gain of 5,300 to 5,700 feet.

Olanna

I took an easy stroll around the grounds of Olana in Hudson, NY. I hadn't been here in quite a few years. They took down quite a few trees so there are plenty of views of the surrounding areas. There were views east of the Taconics. Great views west of the Catskills and the Hudson River. Also, there were views to the south of the city of Hudson (yeah!). These areas were cut down to put it more in line of when the artist Frederic Church live here. I noticed the house to be of Middle Eastern influence. I guess, maybe I have learned a bit from taking history classes over the past couple years, for whatever that's worth.

Hike to Lake Skenonto

The Vpo man and I decided on one last hike before doing the 24 mile RD Trail. A beautiful day, we hiked out to Lake Skenanto and back. Early on there was some good climbing to do. We came across a stream and the Vpo man says, "If I made this trail I'd have it go straight up the stream." Essentially that's what we did. We came across some enormous, cool-looking boulders. We then proceeded to do some minor rock climbing. And I mean minor. We got back on the trail where we eventually hit the Lake. A group of AMC hikers were there and hiked from the Ramapo Train station. I asked where it was and this woman replies, "You should know where it is!" "Uh, no lady, I do not." Anyway, I still enjoyed the views of the lake and wished to take a swim. Another time, when it's not freezing cold. The walk out was uneventful, but the Vpo man led us out showing his top-notch bushwacking skills. I couldn't help it, but I kept thinking, "this fucker is going to get us lost."

The Trials and Tribulations of Johnny Rocket

This past weekend, the VPo Man and I had the pleasure of meeting up with Johnny Rocket, whom we met hiking in NH. Unbeknownst to us there is a train from NYC that stops at Breakneck Ridge. In a jungle of hardy hikers the VPo man found the standout amongst them, Johnny Rocket. No wonder this is considered America's most popular trail. We met up at the parking lot and decided to drive to another lot and hike up Mt. Beacon.

The Vpo Man and I were curious to find out what JR was made of. JR recently took up the great sport of hiking. Would he be a freak of nature? Would he be constantly asking, "Are we there yet?" Or would he be somewhere in between?

We started up a poorly marked blue trail. A few times we had difficulty finding the trail as there were many woods roads. Early on there were a couple nice waterfalls and some nice stream crossings. Always much greater in the spring and a chance to view JR's stream crossing skills. So far so good. The man is a hiking machine!

We soon met the major challenge of the day, the white trail leading to the summit of Mt Beacon. There were some nice view points on the way up. Thankfully, JR didn't ask, "That's the Long Island Sound, right?", as a couple hikers asked me a few weeks back on breakneck while looking at the Hudson. Despite the steepness Johnny Rocket handled the climb like a man.

Soon we summitted Mt Beacon. There are great views in every direction. You can see the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge and in the distance the Mid Hudson Bridge in Poughkeepsie. Looking west you could see Stewart Airport and the highest point in Orange County, Schunnemunk (skun-a-munk). Looking south you can see the lower Hudson Valley and Bear Mountain. Looking north you can see the Devil's Path Range of the Catskills and the Shawangunks near New Paltz. Close by, you can see the Beacon Resevoir.

Next we worked our way over to Scofield Ridge which happens to be the highest point in Putnam County if that means anything. It's a nice little ridge walk with great views toward Mt. Beacon and the valley to the east and surrounding hills. We met quite a few hikers on this section. At some point I went off trail for a bit and eventually bushwacked back to the trail where I eventually met up with the Vpo man. Where was Johnny Rocket? Apparently he was getting a bit tired, but he made the same mistake as me. He made it back to us and we continued on. We met a group of Koreans with a dog. The Vpo man doesn't like dogs. This is why the Vpo man likes Koreans. He has noticed they don't hike with dogs. Yes. This is because the eat them! They were probably getting ready for a barbecue before we showed up.

We continued on for the slow walk down. We took it easy heading out as it was a long day. Although the Vpo man blazed out ahead of him. JR and I decided to fuck around with him telling him that JR went back up to Mt Beacon and hurt himself. Vpo man believed this farce and offered to call a Ranger.

Another good outing and hopefully we'll meet up with Johnny Rocket again someday soon in the mountains (not Brokeback) or whereever.