Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Disc golf - Taming Schenectady's Central Park course

With rain overnight, and more forecast for the afternoon, I took advantage of a morning lull to sneak in a couple of rounds of disc golf.  The ground was wet, and so were my shoes before long, but the park wasn't crowded, and I had the course to myself.

Starting out by missing easy birdies on the first two holes, I followed that up a few holes later with a stupid double bogey, so that first nine wasn't very good.  But then I settled down and managed to recover and shoot my average of +6 (63) for that first 18.  The second 18 was MUCH better, as the good shots continued.  I shot my best back nine ever (-1) by a couple of shots, including some unimaginable birdies and pars, and tied my best-ever 18-hole score of +1 (58).  Hard to believe that only a year ago I was happy to shoot low 70s here.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Hiking - Dibble's Quarry and Kaaterskill Falls

Today Holly and I joined friends Beth and Mike for a couple of short hikes in the Catskills.

Dibble's Quarry is an old bluestone quarry about a mile from the parking area for the Pecoy Notch Trail near Elka Park.  It's said that the stone quarried here in the late 1800s was used for some of the sidewalks in New York City.  The quarry is long abandoned, but the stone has since been used by persons unknown to create a variety of structures on the hillside overlooking Platte Clove.  It's an easy hike, and the surroundings upon arrival are pretty unique.  We had lunch in the "Throne Room", where Beth and Mike occupied the king and queen seats side by side.


Holly tried out the "Druid's Throne", with its brand new cupholder, my contribution.


The structures continued further back into the woods, where we found a dining room table and chairs, and down the hill from the "Throne Room", an overhanging rock shelter with a fire pit and more chairs that we dubbed "The Den".  It's a very interesting place to explore.  But the stones aren't the only enticement.  There's also a terrific view of Kaaterskill High Peak and its smaller brother Round Top across the valley.  Huckleberry Point and the Hudson Valley are visible in the distance, and Twin Mountain looms far above.  Fall colors were way ahead of where we expected, adding to the beauty of the scene.

Round Top and High Peak
Heading home, we had to pass the trailhead for Kaaterskill Falls, always a spectacular sight, so we decided to stop and tackle the half-mile climb to the base of the falls.  This smaller waterfall is what most people see when driving by on NY-23A, and the trail starts just to the right of this picture.


The short walk to the base of the falls was well worth it, with more water flowing than we'd expected, and a great view of the double waterfall above.


It was a perfect early fall day to be outside, and we were all thrilled that we'd taken advantage of it with such wonderful scenery fairly close to home.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Walk - Featherstonhaugh State Forest

Yesterday, I got out for an afternoon walk at Featherstonhaugh State Forest.  I haven't done much walking in local areas this summer, focusing more on biking instead.  But for some reason, walking has more appeal at the moment, so I'm going with the flow.


Featherstonhaugh is not a great place to walk outside of the winter season.  Normally, it's very wet, and even in a dry year, the main ski trail is pretty overgrown until the ferns and undergrowth start dying off in the fall.  And that was what I found yesterday.  The trail was mainly dry, but the ferns and goldenrod were often up to my chest, even in the middle of the trail in spots.  Trail markers also seemed a little sparse, making this walk almost a bushwhack in places.  I did manage to follow the trail around the entire loop to the south and east of Lake Road, but not without some difficulty.  There were several occasions where large trees had fallen across the trail, further contributing to the confusion.  The annual ECOS trail maintenance trip here in November will have plenty of work to do if these large ones are to be cleared.

A new feature was a beaver dam on the small stream that runs through the forest.


This dam is new this season, and has quite a pond backed up into the very flat forest behind it, not affecting the trail, but clearly visible from it.

After pushing through all that underbrush, I was relieved that a tick check when I got home revealed nothing, which was actually pretty surprising.  Looking forward to XC skiing here this winter when trail conditions will be much improved.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Time for some catching up on this blog

I've been letting this go for the past week, partially because there hasn't been much to write about, and partially out of sheer laziness.  So, time for a few quick notes.

Holly and I were on Cape Cod for the weekend, the occasion being a family gathering on Saturday.  We also drove around a lot to some favorite places, Holly and her mother went to a baby shower, and I walked 4-5 miles on various trails instead.  No pictures, so that's about it on that one.

Yesterday, I got out for a walk on the John Brown Trails in Niskayuna.  I walked the blue trail from Whitmyer Drive to the yellow loop and back again, clearing out lots of Tuesday's smaller storm debris along the way.

And today, I got out for a couple of early rounds of disc golf, a mediocre 67 and 65, somewhat worse than average.  Now it's time to focus on some much needed yard work.

Nothing very exciting, but despite appearances here, I have been getting out at least a little.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Biking - A relaxed ride and a great lunch

I've become a real fan of lunch rides, so I was pleased today when friend Karen suggested we stop during our ride and grab a bite to eat.  I'd had a choice of 2 rides today with different friends, but I chose the easier shorter one, and now a lunch stop was going to be included.  Great choice!



We met in Glenville and headed north through the outskirts of Charlton toward Galway, but turned east before we got that far.  A favorite destination is a goat farm on Crane Road, where a flock of goats often can be found standing on top of a rock pile next to the road, and making lots of goat noises.  Unfortunately, today they were off in a distant field, so we missed that entertainment.  The next stop was a beaver impoundment that flowed under Paisley Road south of NY67.  We found the water really low here, down to little more than a puddle, with dozens of small turtles swimming about and hoping for more water to increase the size of their home.

Turning back toward Charlton now, we stopped at the Charlton General Store for lunch.  This has long been a favorite destination, with good sandwiches and wraps in a country atmosphere.

All told, we'd covered just shy of 28 miles when we finished, at a relaxed pace on country roads with good conversation.  And there was lunch!  This was biking at its best.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Disc golf - Schenectady Central Park

It's been a couple of weeks again since I played disc golf, and since it was a nice cool morning and the rest of the day was relegated to catching up on stuff at home, I got out for a couple of early rounds.  A birdie on the first hole augured well for the rest of the morning, and I finished that round with 2 birdies total and a score of +4, a couple shots better than my average.  But the next round evened things out.  In addition to 2 more birdies, I also had a double bogey and a triple bogey, which killed any chance of a good score.  Still, it was only a +9, and the rest of the holes on that round were more like normal.  Just a couple of stupid mistakes on long par 4s, as usual.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Biking - Another relatively short ride on a beautiful day

Rode the MHCC quarter-century route from Saratoga today on a crisp fall-like morning.  Long Island friend Phil was up for a few days at his cabin in Thurman, so we usually meet in Saratoga and ride from there.  Easy 25+ rolling miles in horse country and good conversation.


Monday, September 10, 2012

Biking - An easy 10 miles to test the knees

After last week's hiking sufferfest in the mountains, my knees have just not been the same.  I had arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus on the left knee in 1995 and it's been fine ever since.  The right knee may have a milder untreated version of the same problem, to the extent that it no longer wants me to run regularly.  After returning home this weekend, both knees were twinging occasionally, bringing back unpleasant memories.  Today felt somewhat better, so I decided to get on the bike and see how it went.

I planned to do about a 15-mile ride west from SCCC to Lock 9, and to cross the Mohawk and return via NY-5 on the north side.  Starting out, I had a few minor twinges in both knees, but then things settled down and were going OK.  Unfortunately, the headwind was ridiculous, so I cut the ride short at the Exit 26 bridge and headed back to SCCC for just 10 miles.  At least the knees seemed basically OK, so I should be good for a longer ride tomorrow.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Hiking and paddling - A week in the Adirondacks

Last week, Holly and I spent a week at a rental cottage in Newcomb, NY, just south of the Adirondack High Peaks, and on a connecting stream between Rich Lake and Harris Lake.


This cottage was wonderful, with great privacy, a screened porch, front deck, hummingbirds, and the constant sound of the babbling rapids just outside our door.


One of our main purposes in choosing the Newcomb area was to be near the Upper Works trailhead to the High Peaks.  Holly was anxious to check off a couple more summits on her journey toward finishing the Adirondack 46, and there were a few we wanted to climb from this area without the 2-hour drive each way from home.

Sunday, September 2

Today was the day we'd climb Santanoni Peak, at 4,606 feet the 14th highest of the Adirondack summits.  We were up at dawn and got an early start at the trailhead, only 20 minutes away.  We followed the Bradley Pond Trail, now much improved over years past, until we reached a cairn marking the start of the so-called "new old trail" to Santanoni.  This used to be an official DEC red-marked route to the summit back in the 1970s when I last climbed it, but then it fell into private hands for many years, and was off-limits.  After a purchase by the Open Space Institute, it's now coming into common use again, though not marked or maintained.  It's a shorter route to the summit than the traditional route via "Times Square", cutting the total distance to under 12 miles.  But with about 3,000 feet of elevation gained, some of it pretty steep, it's still a challenging day hike.

Reaching the summit, we celebrated Holly's 38th peak, and enjoyed the expansive views of many of the other High Peaks.

8 more to go!

Couchsachraga and Panther (foreground) and Seward Range (background)
After what always seems like a long walk out to the car, we headed back to camp to relax and have some dinner.

Holly enjoying the hammock

Monday, September 3

Monday morning found us sore and tired, but one of us more so than the other.  I took a cup of coffee outside and enjoyed the morning mist rising off the river while Holly slept in a little longer.


After breakfast, I was feeling pretty good, so I headed off to climb nearby Goodnow Mountain, a 1.9-mile climb to a restored fire tower with great views of the High Peaks.  After the slow grind up Santanoni the day before, I turned the legs loose on this one, and reached the top in about 40 minutes.  The views from the tower did not disappoint.

Rich Lake at lower left and High Peaks in the background
In the afternoon, we took a short walk at the Adirondack Interpretive Center just to loosen up the legs, and then returned to the camp and paddled upstream from the camp into Belden Lake, a smaller body of water just east of Rich Lake.  My legs were getting sorer now from doing the morning climb instead of recovering, so this was a good choice.  Then it was dinner, reading, and an early night.

Tuesday, September 4

Tuesday's weather didn't look very promising when we drove to the nearby high school to use the public wi-fi connection there.  (No cell service and no wi-fi took some getting used to, but it also had its obvious advantages.)  We decided to visit the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake in the afternoon as the weather deteriorated, and to get out for some paddling first in the morning.  We put in downstream from the rapids in front of the camp, and paddled through tiny Lake Julia and on to the Santanoni Preserve Gatehouse, where we had a short carry to get us into Harris Lake.  After paddling the narrow part of the lake, we then returned to the camp for lunch.

We hadn't been to the Adirondack Museum in many years, so it was a good thing to do on a supposedly rainy afternoon.  The rains never came, but we spent the rest of the day there until closing, and still hadn't seen it all.  With a successive day entrance fee being free, we thought we'd come back in the morning and finish up.  It was enough walking for one day, so we headed "home" for dinner.  The rains finally came overnight, dropping 2-3" in some heavy downpours.

Wednesday, September 5

The plan for Wednesday was to return to the Adirondack Museum in the morning, and then do some short local walks in the afternoon after the woods had had a chance to dry out a bit from the overnight rains. 

In the afternoon, we walked some more trails at the Adirondack Interpretive Center, where we were pleased to see a juvenile bear run across the trail and through a marshy area ahead of us.  It did leave us wondering where momma was, however...

Behind the Newcomb Central School is a short nature trail that leads to Woodruff Lake.  It was a beautiful spot, and seemed seldom visited.

Woodruff Lake and Goodnow Mountain

Thursday, September 6

This was the big day.  There are no short day hikes left for Holly's remaining peaks, but we decided to give the shortest of those a try, Cliff Mountain at 18 miles r/t.  It would be a long day, but we figured there was time between dawn and dusk to get it done if we had the legs.  We were up before dawn, and started in the Calamity Brook Trail at sunrise.  The trail was wet from the earlier heavy rain, in addition to being full of rocks and roots.  We really didn't want to be coming out this way in the dark.  Continuing over some annoying ups and downs, we arrived at Colden Dam and Lake Colden, mirror-like in the early morning nearly 6 miles from the car.

Lake Colden Dam
Mount Colden towered over the lake and Avalanche Pass below in the morning light.


Crossing the dam, we now followed the Opalescent River up to Uphill Leanto, where we would leave the marked trail and head for Cliff.  The Opalescent was raging and roaring alongside as we climbed steeply away from the dam.


Finding the cairn that marked our jumping-off point, we followed a muddy eroded former trail upward to where a path led to the slopes of Cliff.  "Slopes" seemed like a misnomer in spots as we clambered over steep open rock as the path wound upward.  Finally reaching the ridge, we had to drop down and then reclimb a more distant bump that was actually the summit.  Checking the time, we knew we had to keep this visit short, so I changed Holly's number to #39, ate a quick lunch, and briefly admired the somewhat unexpected views.

McIntyre Range at left, and Mount Colden from Cliff's summit
There was thunder in the distance as we turned around and started down, but the steep rock meant we weren't going anywhere fast.  Fortunately, any storms bypassed us to the north or south, and we returned to Colden Dam without any rain at all.  Now came the hard part:  the long 6 miles back to the car on a very wet and rugged trail.  There was one brief shower as we plodded on, but nothing serious, and we reached the car around sunset after a very long and tiring day.  Holly was now at #39 out of 46, and I was at #41 of my second time around, having finished my first round in 1990.

On the drive back to camp, we stopped at the Newcomb House Bar and Grill and ordered a well-loaded pizza for pickup later after we'd cleaned up.  It may have been the best pizza I'd ever eaten.

Friday, September 7

I really didn't expect to be doing any more walking on Friday after that Cliff trip, and Holly certainly wasn't interested either.  But once again, I was feeling pretty good, and couldn't just sit around camp all morning.  We planned to paddle on Rich Lake in the afternoon, but that left me some time to get out and do something while Holly took it easy for the morning.

Somewhere recently in one of the "Adirondack" publications (Explorer, Life, etc), I'd read about a newly constructed trail up Coney Mountain, between Long Lake and Tupper Lake.  It sounded like a short hike with good views, so I decided to give it a try.  I found the trailhead at the Hamilton/Franklin County line on NY-30, a blue-marked trail sign pointing the way from the east side of the road.  It was only 1.1 miles and under 650 feet to the summit on a gently sloping trail, and the views were tremendous, wide-open in all directions.  Normally, I like to shoot panoramas from summits, but this one was pretty much impossible.  And there was also very little that I recognized in this part of the Park.  I could see the western High Peaks off to the east, and the looming hulk of Blue Mountain to the southeast, but that was about it.  I did find some nice early fall color, so settled for that and just enjoyed the rest of the view for a while.

Fall colors with Big Tupper Lake in the background
After a stop at the store in Long Lake and lunch back at the camp, we headed out for some paddling on Rich Lake, near the Adirondack Interpretive Center.  There's a public access point on SUNY-ESF property that has a nice beach where we put in and paddled around for a while.

On Friday evening, there was a special event at the Adirondack Interpretive Center, a quilt show and a free concert by Peggy Lynn, one of Holly's favorites.  The Newcomb High School Class of 2015 was hosting a barbecue there beforehand, so that made dinner easy.  After enjoying the concert and the many amazing quilts, we headed back to camp for our last night there.

Thanks to our hosts Nancy and Mike Tracy for this lovely camp and their local knowledge during our stay.  We'll definitely be back.