Hiking - Plotterkill Preserve

As I was putting on my boots for Monday's Moose Mountain hike, I noticed that they were starting to fall apart in several places. Later, at home, I discovered that I had been wearing these same boots for 11 years, and a lot of miles. That's nearly a third of my total hiking career. That fact made it very easy to justify buying a new pair, which I did yesterday.

Today, I thought it might be a good idea to give the new boots a trial run someplace nearby, before committing them to any kind of serious hike. The Plotterkill Preserve has about a 5-6 mile loop trail that's as rugged as anything we have around here, and it would provide a good test.

For the first part of the hike, I was concentrating more on the boots than the scenery - they were a little stiff and I was noticing a couple of potential hot spots. But as time went on, they became more comfortable, and I was able to relax and enjoy the hike. I stopped at one of my favorite cascades near the lower end of the preserve.



Climbing up from the stream to the South Rim, the sunlight was streaming through the trees, bathing everything in a yellow light.



The colors across the gorge were especially bright.



Dropping back down to the stream near the Coplon Road entrance, I decided to bushwhack upstream to the base of the 40-foot Lower Falls, since there was enough water flowing to make it interesting.



From there, I bushwhacked steeply up to the South Rim and the Blue Trail back to the car. The climb had obviously been done by many before me, and was no more steep than many Adirondack or Catskill pitches I'd done over the years. It avoided a long circuitous route back down stream and up to the North Rim and back to the car.

In the end, the boots were pretty comfortable, and are ready for a more serious adventure.