Cruger Island, Tivoli Bays

The view north of Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge

You don't see this often

Whose tracks are these?  I'm not a birder

Tivoli Bays during our last snowfall of 2012

Not frozen enough to cross

Tide is too high

With just one day remaining, I can cross!

For the most part I believe hunters make great environmentalists.  But some are just gun nuts.  Please clean up after yourselves.  I spotted a bunch of these.  

Looking across to the mainland

I made it just in time!

An eagles' nest?

It was quite enjoyable listening to the ice crack

Looking across the Hudson.  Overlook is on the left.

Some flaky ice

I often wonder how these trees survive winter

The shore of Cruger is mostly frozen

Another island just north

Cruger

The Amtrak leaving a cloud of snow

An inlet that connects the Hudson with the Tivoli Bays

Another view across the Bays.  I'm so used to looking from the other side.

The view towards the hamlet of Tivoli.  The water tower rises over the trees.

A Bullrush.  These dominate the marshes around here.

Tivoli Bays with the Catskills rising to the west

Access to Cruger Island is limited to 3 months of the year (October, November, December) for protection of the wildlife and its habitat.  After failing to cross the wet areas on Friday (not frozen enough) and Saturday (too close to high tide), I made it to Cruger with help from the cold blast of air that came in on Sunday. 

When I set out at around 9:30 (low tide), the temperature was at a brisk 20 degrees Fahrenheit.  It took almost an hour for my hands to warm up.  During that time, despite the beauty around me and the crunchy snow under my feet, I wondered why I enjoy winter hiking.  I wondered how I endured some of my previous winter excursions under far more colder conditions. 

Fortunately, I did warm up.  My fingers and feet felt toasty.  I could pull out my camera without my fingers tingling from the cold.  I made it across the wet, swampy section with ease.  The tide was low and the ground frozen solid.  My guess is that it could be crossed at high tide also. 

After a bit of walking I made it to the railroad tracks.  Upon crossing the tracks, Cruger had the feel of an island.  The bay sat to the east and the Hudson River's presence could be felt to the east.  The bay side was mostly frozen.  Not even close to being able to walk across, but it did provide sounds of cracking ice and some cool ice formations.  The Hudson showed some signs of ice forming, but it hasn't been close to cold enough to freeze over.  It will take many nights like last night to freeze the Hudson.  From Cruger one can spot ice flowing in different directions from the many currents of the Hudson. 

Tivoli Bays is supposed to be a wintering ground for Bald Eagles.  I did not spot any as it's probably too early to spot them, but I did see a very large nest.  An eagles' nest?  I don't know.  But it was a wonderful day out walking in the snow checking out a place that's not easily accessible.  I appreciated every moment.  Well, except maybe the start when my hands were freezing.     

Last Full Moon of 2012

I headed over to Burger Hill with my friend Pat to watch the last full moon of the year rise up.  Despite a bit of cloud cover on the horizon, the moon was fairly impressive.  With the storm coming, this may have been the last chance to get a good glimpse of the moon in 2012.

Ferncliff Forest

It's nice to have such a great place so close by.  Only minutes before the sunset, I decided to head here and enjoy the splendor.

Crystal Lake, Rhinebeck, NY

I went for a little stroll through Rhinebeck to a half frozen Crystal Lake.  Upon arriving I caught a glimpse of an object frozen in the lake.  I immediately thought of two things:  (1) an animal with its head cut off, or (2) a stick that looks like an animal with its head cut off.

Many times when walking in the woods I will see rocks and sticks that look like some sort of object.  For instance when Johnny Rocket and I went to Maine we were walking on a trail and the Rocket stopped, "Chris, What do you see?"  "A bird."  "Yes.  See you have it.  Many people don't see that."  It is funny how certain objects display themselves in your imagination.  Though to this day I have yet to see the Virgin Mary on a stone or in a tree.

Also when I came upon this object, the vision of the dead rabbit I saw last week left in half by a coyote was still fresh in my mind.  So then what is it?

Ninham Mt Fire Tower

The woods road leading to tower

Sunrise.  And of course there are clouds on the horizon

The trail up

West Branch Resevoir

The Gunks in the distance

The Catskills

Thanks for the gesture, but no

Breakneck and Storm King in distance

This fire tower had an open roof

I came upon a couple of these

I took advantage of my present locale and headed to Carmel to hike up to the fire tower on ninham Mountain.  Until recently I had no idea there was such a place.

Located about 3 miles from the village of Carmel (kind of like what Ferncliff Forest is to Rhinebeck) Ninham is a short half mile walk to the tower.  Once there I had problems knowing what I was looking at.  Mt Beacon can be viewed from here, but somehow I could not find it.  The NYC skyline is in view from here, but not today.  In the distance I could make out the Shawangunks and the Catskills.  I also spotted Storm King (I think).  Although sunrise was not great, I enjoyed taking in the views.  This most certainly is one of the great Hudson Valley Low Effort/High Reward walks.

Escarpment Trail Training Run (Part 2)

Windham High Peak as viewed from the start

The mighty Escarpment Trail

A new bridge after Hurricane Irene

I've always loved this section of the trail

The tri peaks.  Blackhead is on the left.

Looking north toward Albany

Down into valley and Big Hollow Road

Blackhead looming large!

Yesterday I scouted the last section of the Escarpment Trail, today I set out for the first 8.5 miles of trail.  This section of the trail is the easiest.

Now easiest is clearly a relative term.  Nothing on this run was easy.  It starts out with a nice 1700 foot climb of Windham High Peak.  The trail is mostly runnable here, but I stopped quite a bit since my legs were far from fresh.  There are some areas where you really had to watch where you placed your step.  In my imagination this run was more similar to Overlook, but in practice it's a bit more difficult.  Less elevation, but lots of rocks keep you on edge for much of the time.  

From the summit of Windham my expectation was to run the rest of the way to the base of Blackhead.  This was not to be and I knew it after just a short bit of running.  Although this bit of trail may be some of the easiest terrain the trail has to offer, it would be difficult for me the entire time.  After getting into a groove, I'd then be met with a bunch of rocks.  At other times I'd be met with a steep, rocky ascent.  Very tough to maintain any sort of consistent pace.  Welcome to extreme trail running!

After almost 3 hours, I finally made it to the base of Blackhead.  For much of the day the view points showed Blackhead looming large.  I'll save the ascent of Blackhead for another day.  I know it well and it's treacherous.  Hiking.  I cannot fathom trying to run up it.

From there I left the Escarpment and continued my run/walk down the trail to Big Hollow Road.  From here I could run normally to the end of Peck Road.  As sunset approached I walked the last 2 miles of trail back to the car fully exhausted.  I definitely have a lot to learn about trail running.  Although it's far more difficult and extremely frustrating, it's far easier on the body.  My quads tend to be far more appreciative after a trail run than when I'm able to maintain an 8 minute per mile pace on the roads or some other hard surface.