Sanders Kill, Hidden Pond, Peters Kill, End of the World

Above Hidden Pond

Another of the truly great walks in the Hudson Valley can be found along the Sanders Kill.  This region of Minnewaska does not have many trails, so one has to do some route finding.  It can be very trying, as it was today and previous times.

Leaving Jenny Lane, the VPo Man and I followed the old dirt road to the Sanders Kill.  From there we picked up a herd path along the Sanders to an excellent swimming hole.  With the rain we've had, the swimming hole looked quite different.  Most likely Hurricane Irene can be thanked for cleaning the area out.  Many downed trees were gone.  I enjoyed a quick dip in the water, despite its frigid temperature.

Sanders Kill

Swimming hole

Lush forest

The real adventure begins when leaving the Sanders Kill for Hidden Pond.  After passing some very lush, mossy areas off a small brook, we started to ascend the hill toward Hidden Pond.  It did not take long for the VPo Man and I to lose each other.  It's very easy to get lost up here.  The herd path repeatedly gets lost amongst the dwarf pines, white slabs of rocks and blueberry bushes.  After doing some serious bushwacking through thick batches of blueberry bushes, I found Hidden Pond.

It's not easy finding Hidden Pond through this.  It's easy to walk in circles.

Great view of the Devil's Path

Hidden Pond

I then backtracked in hopes of finding the VPo Man in one piece.  Who knows?  The rattlesnakes may have corralled him.  Eventually I heard him respond to one of my calls.  The walk back to Hidden Pond would be much easier this time.  Though we still had to make our way through some thick stuff, we made it fairly quick.
Although Hidden Pond doesn't make for a good swimming hole (too much muck and water snakes), it's truly a gem of a place.  We wondered how it even exists.  Cliffs rise up from its western shore.  A herd path leads up to the top of these cliffs.  Excellent views can be found here.

We then made the descent to the Peters Kill.  It flowed iced tea.  Or, at least it looked like it did.  We needed to get to the other side, but this was made very difficult from all the blowdown from Irene.  Of course, none of the blowdown was strategically located across the Peters Kill.  Eventually we displayed our rock hopping prowess to make it to the other side.  On the way to The End of the World, we counted at least 2 other nice swimming holes.

Peters Kill

Amazing color

VPo likes it here

Foam gathered by the Peters Kill

Amazing this tree survived Irene

Irene left a huge scar

The End of the World is a known spot for nudists.  The one other time I've been here, there were two women and a man, baring it all.  Today there would be a nude spotting a slight bit down stream.  Some people like to just be naked.

The End of the World also happens to be a nice swimming hole.  Unlike the last time, the swimming hole had a strong current on the east side.  I went in and decided to swim across into the current.  To my surprise, my initial attempt at reaching for the side failed.  "Oh, F---", I thought.  Eventually, I grabbed hold of the ledge and pulled myself up instead of barreling down the slabs of rock.

End of the World is a great place to sun bathe

VPo getting ready to climb in

The water appeared to flow out of the rocks

We then made our way back to the car crossing the Peters Kill on a couple new bridges.  Looking at the height of these bridges, it's hard to imagine the Peters Kill flooding that high.  We had some great views of Lost City and Sky Top, but no blueberries.  With the weather we've had, it may not be a good year for them in the wild.

VPo

Looking out toward the Hudson Highlands