Winter Has Not Left the Hudson Valley

Windham High Peak from Jenny Notch Road

Many of us in the Hudson Valley woke up this morning with an inch of snow.  The temperature dropped into the 20s with a stiff wind.  Winter still has something to say after those 70 degree days we had.

Since I did not get out much this winter, I thought it would be nice to get out on a real winter day.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), by the time I got out it had warmed up a bit with the sunshine we had.  Despite this, I would not see temps above freezing on my walk.

Since time was short and I really wanted to do something new,  I walked on the Long Path just of Windham High Peak.  I parked at the end of Jenny Notch Road.  The trail mostly followed old woods roads, so the walking was fairly straight forward.  This would be the first hike of the year in fresh snow.  About two to three inches could be found here.

Like this most of the way

Grouse tracks.  I heard them along much of the walk.

The trail got a little crazy as it went around a mountain.  The footing was quite difficult.  Fortunately this did not last long.  The walk did not provide much in views.  There were some heavily obstructed views of the ski slopes of Windham on Cave Mountain and some more obstructed views of Windham High Peak and the Blackhead Range.  But I did not mind this.  I enjoyed walking in the snow.      

Winter in April

Windham

Mt Hayden

The view point

   

Winter Has Left the Hudson Valley

While on my way to Rhinebeck, I noticed the morning light shining on the mountains.  While waiting for the library to open, I figured I would take some photos from different spots.

First I checked out Ferncliff Forest with an expanded parking lot.  The last time I was here, 3 months ago, they had a fire going.  That area is now cleared with a large dug out area.  It's simple amazing.  I'm not sure what that's about.  As I approached the pond, it was blocked off and did not have any water.  They are trying to remove some invasive weeds.  Hopefully, all this work is successful.

As always the views from the tower were excellent.  The snow is gone and the terrain is very brown.  A month from now (if the weather continues to warm) everything will be green.  Maybe it's the harshness of this winter, but it seemed there were more views than normal.  I could make out buildings that I haven't been able to before.  Maybe I'm just a bit more observant.

As I did a month ago, I missed a real money shot.  While taking in the views to the south, I turned to look north up the Hudson before heading down the fire tower.  A hawk flies straight at me.  It happened so fast, I couldn't take a picture in time.  A real shame.  He/She appeared to have some red in its face.  A beautiful creature.  I watched it for a few minutes flying about, hoping he/she would make another pass.

I then took in some views from some of my favorite spots along River Road.  It's no wonder AAA rates the drive along this road as one of America's best.  The views of the mountains are great and the drive past some pretty farms doesn't suck.

Rhinecliff would be my last destination to take some photos.  This is a great little spot to just chill out.  Almost always, there are other cars in the little parking area.  So I'm not the only one who feels this way about the spot.

Ferncliff Fire Tower from the southern end of River Road

    

Black Dome

Originally I had intended to redo all the 3500 Club peaks within the year.  Since I did not get out at all this past winter, my plan now is to complete them by the end of February.  This way I get to capture these mountains at all times of the year.

Blackhead and Black Dome

Today I played it safe and hiked up to North Dome.  Although Spring is starting to settle in nicely down in the valleys, winter is still putting up a fight in the mountains.  Snow is clearly visible on the summits from my home.  In fact, there was enough snow in the parking lot for my vehicle to get stuck in.  Fortunately when I returned from the hike, somebody was kind enough to help me out.

Despite the wind, the 50 degree temps were quite welcoming.  Though this would be a problem on the steeper sections of the climb.  I generated quite a bit of heat, but did not want to take my jacket off and wear only short sleeves.  So I started to do what mountaineers do: walk slower.

The first half mile of the hike was quite undecided about spring or winter.  Some sections were quite muddy and others were packed with snow and ice.  Some of the woods had snow, some parts did not.  The Batavia Kill was quite decidedly in spring.  I don't believe I have ever seen this stream roaring like it was today.

Winter

Spring

Winter and Spring

The ascent up to Black Dome from the end of Big Hollow Road is a little over two miles.  I wore stabilicers the whole way.  I post holed a few times, but not enough to slow me down much.  Surprisingly, I made pretty good time.  I reached the summit in about a half hour.

Black Dome

Plenty of snow to post hole

From the col of Blackhead and Black Dome

The summit allows for some great views of the Devil's Path.  Though the views toward Hunter are somewhat obstructed.  This is a shame, because this would truly be one of the best views in the Catskills if it allowed a more westerly view.  Still, Black Dome provides some great views on the ascent.  From here, one can see some of the Devil's Path peaks, a close up view of Blackhead, Burnt Knob and Acra, the Hudson River Valley north of Catskill and Hudson, and views all the way to Albany.

Blackhead

The Escarpment: Burnt Knob and Acra

Summit of Black Dome

Kaaterskill High Peak and the eastern peaks of the Devil's Path

The walk down was great.  This is what a miss so much about hiking in the winter.  Though I'd rather have snow shoes in fluffy snow, the descent today over a packed trail seemed effortless.  I made it down in less than an hour and ran at times to avoid post holing.  Though this didn't always work as planned.  All in all a beautiful day to be out.

Lots of reddish clay type of dirt found here