Hiking - A fine spring day on the Taconic Crest Trail

On Saturday, I joined a joint Schenectady ADK/Taconic Hiking Club trip on the Taconic Crest Trail. We were going to do the southernmost section of this ridgetop trail, from Lebanon Springs to US20.

We started out by following a private access road (with permission) 2 miles up to the TCT on the ridge, and then we turned south.



The snow was only patchy, and mostly on north-facing slopes, so we bare-booted the entire hike. Microspikes weren't even necessary with the sunny mild conditions. Soon after turning south along the ridge, we came to a large beaver pond. What the heck were they doing up so high?



After ups and downs too numerous to count, we arrived at Twin Pond, where we stopped for a leisurely lunch in the alternating sunshine and light snow flurries.




With less than two miles to go, we finished this hike early, before 2pm, retrieved the spotted cars, and were all home well in time for dinner.