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.
Looks like an incredible year for foliage. Colors are amazing. Weather looked perfect. How many miles was this jaunt? Have to say, I'm envious. From watching the videos, I realized there’re still quite a few places I haven't yet explored in Waska land.
ReplyDeleteLove the clip of the MC going through the crevice. I’m glad he’s still hiking in floral print shirts. I can tell he hasn't changed at all. Was nice to see him on the video. He looked good.
Thanks for the shout out on the sassafras video -- it was nice to hear.
Jeff and I were about equal in our tree knowledge. When hiking we used to casually quiz each other on the Latin names of trees and shrubs. However, when it came to mushrooms, I knew nothing, and his knowledge was extensive.
There must be a way to hike to the base of verkeerderkill, especially now that the state owns the land below the cliffs. With the land acquisition you can now find a new entrance which is essentially a bulldozer path that heads right up to the base of the cliffs. I’m thinking that area would be a good starting point for trekking to the base of the falls.