Flowers were in bloom, something I miss when I take summers off from hiking.
The cliffs leading to Gertrude's Nose.
Yes, it's a loooong way down!
Johnny Rocket
A crevasse to the right
These crevasses were all over the place
Falcon in flight
Falcons chilling until we scared them off.
Falcons
Johnny Rocket contemplating what a great summer it will be!
From Gertrude's Nose, check out the little tree growing from the rock!
What kind of falcon is it? A Peregrine?
Mohonk to the right.
The Rocket is a machine!
In my quest to get to know the Gunks, the legendary Johnny Rocket and I set off to hike to Gertrude's Nose. The Rocket had been dreaming of this hike for a while and I thought it had a cool name, so today would be perfect.
We started out from Lake Minnewaska around noon. It was already hot, but the trail was well shaded. It didn't take long to make our way around the lake. Before long we were descending down to the cliffs leading to Gertrude's Nose. The views from here were great. There was a gorge down below and views looking out into the Wallkill Valley and its surrounding farmland.
We then came upon an open area with large boulders. Here there were a group of Peregrine Falcons. At least that's what I believe them to be. It was pretty cool watching them take off and come back to the rocks. The Rocket and I watched them in amazement for quite a while. Eventually, we continued on and scared them away.
Gertrude's Nose was pretty obvious. It was where we saw people for the first time since we left the Lake. This is also a point where the Shawangunk Ridge starts heading in more northerly direction. From here there are exceptional views of the surrounding farmland. The Hudson River Highlands can also be made out in the distance.
We then started working our way back along the Millbrook Mountain Trail. It was a good thing we weren't here earlier in the week, otherwiae we'd have been swimming. This was a great trail. Another reminder that it's not so bad to be out in the summer. There was green all around. The moss seemed to be glowing green. There was plenty of water flowing, a waterfall tucked away in the green forest. Different from the rocky ledges we had been traveling along for much of the day. We then headed out for some burgers and cold beer at Bacchus.
Seeing all these photos of the Gunks makes me so miss hiking there. It's a good hot weather hiking destination. The bird that you got a close-up of is not a falcon of any sort; it's a vulture. Since I didn't see any red on its head, it's probably a black vulture. You and Johnny need to brush up on your local wildlife.
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