Burger Hill After Snow Storm

Burger Hill

Ascending Burger Hill

Surrounding countryside

View of the Catskills

Kaaterskill High Peak

Overlook

Countryside along River Road

River Road

Around Rhinebeck

Interesting mix of Fall colors and the Winter color of snow

View from Burger from a week ago

Thank you


I woke up early to get a glimpse of the aftermath from this early snowfall. I headed to what's becoming one of my favorite local spots. And it's only a mile from home!

The walk up on this day would be quite different than the one I took a week ago. Originally the snow was 6-8 inches. As I progressed up the hill, the snow accumulation was over a foot. Compared to the wet, slushy snow that fell less than 24 hours ago, this walk would be through the most perfect powder. I realized how much I miss walking through this stuff. It has been a very long time. I had to kick myself that it was only October.

The walk up to Burger is short and sweet, but not without some effort. It's short (about a half mile) and not too much elevation gained (maybe 200 feet), but the views are stunning. On this day there was a mix of fall and winter colors. Magnificent views of the Catskills and the surrounding farmland (I'm using a very wide definition of farmland, horse farms and old restored country houses). It's safe to say I will be a frequent visitor in the future.

Here's some video I captured.

Some snow melt in Ferncliff Forest

Fahnestock State Park in October Noreaster

Could I possibly pass up a historic opportunity of hiking in the Snow in October? Of course not. Most leaves were still on the trees, some still even green and today we got hit with a massive snow storm.

I headed down to Fahnestock State Park where the trees still had some color. I'd say it was just past peak. Soon after I parked the car it started snowing. It did not wait to accumulate. There were 2 inches of snow once I had completed the three hour hike. A couple spills and one instance of losing the trail woke me to the reality that it really is snowing.

It was a great walk. The snowflakes felt real nice. Snow gathered on top of my cotton hood and around the hole in my cotton pants. Yes, I know cotton kills. But it was a short stroll. Tomorrow I will treat as if it is winter.

Many of the trees were seriously bending over and I did hear a few crack in the distance. Some branches were already down as I walked out. It was a bit strange watching snow gather on top of leaves. I don't believe I've seen that much, if ever.

The ride home was quite memorable. It took almost 3 times as long to get home. On the way up the Taconic a huge tree fell across the north bound lane. The other drivers and I turned around to the previous exit. My first time driving in the wrong direction for such a distance. Luckily, there wasn't much traffic. Well, winter is here. I may be burnt out by Christmas.

Walking along the A.T.


Overlooking Canopy Lake


Snow starting to accumulate


Some more footage can be viewed here.

October 27 and Snow!!!

Pat and I planned on going for a quick hike after work if the weather wasn't too crazy. I forgot to mention it when i saw him during the day. So as we were leaving in a nasty, cold rain, he asks, "so what's the plan?" Why not, let's do it. We met up at Tivoli Bays. I get out of the car and Pat's like, "you got rainpnats." He happened to be wearing shorts. I laughed. That's usually me. The walk was mostly through mud and a cold rain. But this was nice. This is the first cold day and would make for the first bit of snow. So of course I had to be out on a day like this!

Mighty Storm King

North up the Hudson from the summit

Bannerman's Island and Breakneck

Cornwall. Another contender for best Hudson River town

Cold Spring and Constitution Marsh

From here on out the VPo Man and the MC will be known as the Mushroom Cult!

9W meandering through the mountain

Black Rock Forest and Schunemunk

Some ruins along the way

Taurus and some nice fall colors

This is silly. When I saw this I figured it had to do with the Revolutionary War. Reagan must have had this put here.

Howell Trail

Taurus from North Point

Storm King and Breakneck


Storm King is one of the quintessential Hudson Valley hikes. It rises from the Hudson River like a fortress. With its close proximity to West Point, its an easy description. It was in this area that revolutionary forces stretched chains across the river to prevent the British from proceeding north.

The walk lived up to expectations despite it being far cloudier than expected. There are tons of trails on the mountain. This made for a few mishaps. I started from a parking lot about a half mile north on Route 9W of the main lot. I would follow multiple different colored trails for much of the day. When hiking Storm King, its essential to be alert to the trail markers. With the leaves on the ground and much blowdown from Hurricane Irene, walking today felt at times like a bushwack.

Once near the summit, beautiful views of the Hudson River and surrounding areas opened up. It was great to look at Breakneck from a different perspective. Looking west toward Black Rock Forest and Schunemunk made it feel I were far from civilization. But with quite a few people out and the traffic that could be heard from 9W, reminded me civilization was not far. Considering the proximity of Storm King to New York City, its a treasure to be able get away, if ever so briefly. How many mega cities have such gems so close?

Mills Mansion

The Mansion that dates back to the early 19th century

Views of the Hudson and Kaaterskill High Peak

One of many old buildings on the former estate

Makes for a lovely walk

Views from the mansion

Mills Mansion was the site of many cross country meets while I was in high school. Although I would not take up hiking for another ten years, the runs on these trails developed my future love of hiking. The beautiful views of the river and the mountains, the trails that ran through some ruins and Fall splendor are all reasons why I loved to run here and I love to hike.

Mills Mansion is part of the Mills-Norrie State Park. Numerous beautiful trails run through here along the river. It's been over ten years since I've truly been here. This would be the first time I'd take a walk as opposed to a run. I mostly walked the cross country course, reminiscing those long lost high school days.

Stony Clove Falls

This was an easy jaunt up Stony Clove to these dueling Falls. About a half mile from the Devil's Tombstone Parking Lot (just north of Devil's Tombstone) makes a short and sweet little hike. Half the hike is on the Devil's Path, the other half a bushwhack along the brook.

Hunter Via Becker Hollow

This was a beautiful descent

Views of Rusk and Spruceton Valley

Lovely Autumn colors



Since Hurricane Irene made it impossible to hike my intended destinations (Bearpen and Balsam Lake) I made my way to catch Autumn's greatness on the Becker Hollow trail, which leads to the Summit of Hunter Mountain. With an elevation gain of 2,200 feet in 2.2 miles, the Becker Hollow trail is one of the steepest in the Catskills.

Although past peak, the colors were still very delightful. There is also something special about the crunching sound the leaves under your feet make. Many people were out as the summit was quite crowded. A very beautiful day with some nice winds. It felt very much like October.

Some scenes from the walk can be found here.

Great views from the tower. The first views are of SW Hunter and the Central Catskills (Slide and others). The views then head west toward Westkill and Rusk. The views North include Windham, Thomas Cole, Black Dome and Blackhead. The views east take in North and south Mts, North Lake and Kaaterskill High Peak.

Kaaterskill Falls: Highest in NY State

Rain, wind and Fall. This is what October is about. Intent on doing something with views in the Catskills since the weather was great, when it started raining I headed for Kaaterskill Falls. Although there is debate about it being the highest (Taughannock Falls drops 215 feet in a single plunge) the NYS historical sign at the parking lot confirms Kaaterskill Falls as the highest. So what if it requires two plunges?

As always, it was a pretty walk. Loads of people out on this day despite the change in weather conditions. The creek was raging with the previous two days of rain. Not satisfied with the views at the bottom (actually I was) I did a bit of exploring. After climbing to the top of the lower fall, I made my way around in back of the upper fall. A beautiful rainbow kept appearing from time to time. Unfortunately there was no evidence of any gold at the end.

Long Path: Fall Foliage

The MC at the start of our walk

A little after sunrise

The red, plum blueberry bushes

Nice fall foliage

Near Mud Pond

The MC & Mud Pond

Dragonfly

More fall colors

Murray Hill

Fall & Lake Awosting

Dazzling colored trees

The MC on Castle Point

Castle Point

The cliffs of Gertrude's Nose

Fall colors along the carriageway


After hiking the Gunks section of the Long Path over the summer, I thought this would make for a great destination during fall foliage. It being a point to point, I asked the trusted veteran of long distance hikes, the MC. Having hiked with him on the RD and the SBM and a full moon winter hike of Cornell & Whittenburg, he'd be more than up for the challenge. He also happens to be one of the few who have completed the entire Long Path. This is small time stuff for the MC.

Long hikes in the Gunks requires planning. Unfortunately, this is not my forte. The Jenny Lane parking lot was closed, which I expected. The Minnewaska lot would be too, since it opens at 9am. We ended up parking one of the cars at the Trapps lot. After waiting a half hour to park and paying the $12 fee, we were on our way to Ellenville to start the hike.

The walk up South Gully is beautiful. Numerous camping spots can be found, but located on Sam's Point Preserve, it's not allowed. The brook has plenty swimming holes. Although October, these swimming holes could have been enjoyed. Once a top the gully, there are old huckleberry shacks. The walk up to Sam's Point revealed the explosion of colors. Although not yet peak foliage, plenty color could be found.

The walk towards Verkeerder Kill Falls went through blueberry bushes in different colors of a reddish plum. I expected a bright red, but found the multi-colored bushes to be better than expected. It was quite a change from the green, blueberry filled bushes from July. We made our way to Verkeerder Kill Falls. There were plenty of people out. The Falls ran higher than expected, since we haven't had rain in a few days. The MC wondered when the large rocks at the bottom fell to their fate. I wondered how great it'd be to hike in to the bottom of the Falls. And then swim in the pool below.

The Long Path then ascended from the Falls. This led to a great view point that displayed the beauty of Mother Nature. The colors were fabulous. Better than any painting. A great mixture of greens, oranges, yellows and reds that could shame any artist. I was pleasantly surprised to see such a varied mixture of colors, since I figured it'd be too early. But elevation, though slight, makes a huge difference. The valley around have seen hardly any change at all.

The walk to Mud Pond and Lake Awosting were a welcome reprieve from the large ascents and very rocky trail that we had walked for much of the day. We then did some climbing up to the cliffs on Murray Hill, Margaret Cliff and then Castle Point. This underused trail is one of the better trails that I've been on. Classic Gunks hiking on white slabs of rock through dwarf pines is a major feature of this section. Views can be had of Lake Awosting and Sam's Point. Another section is through a small cave. This was welcome as the temperature topped out in the 80s. Then there is a pretty cool little scramble to the summit of Castle Point.

Since we parked out of the way, we left the Long Path and walked back to the car on the Castle Point carriage way. This trail gave us excellent views toward Gertrude's Nose. The MC, thought that'd be a great place to check out. I told him that it was. So maybe next time, we'll have to head over that way. This time I won't confuse a vulture for a falcon.

The MC knows his trees


Some scenes from the walk can be found here.