Walk and letterboxing - H. G. Reist Sanctuary

This afternoon, Holly and I got out for a walk in the H. G. Reist Sanctuary in Niskayuna. It was a convenient place to meet for a short outing while getting some other stuff done. Although there are a few geocaches in this preserve, today I brought along clues for some letterboxes instead, just for a change. Letterboxing is a little different from geocaching, in that clues and landmarks are used to guide the seeker to the letterbox, rather than using a GPS and latitude/longitude coordinates. It existed long before geocaching, and originally got its start in England.

We don't get into the whole letterbox rubber stamping routine, nor do we normally log our found geocaches. We just enjoy the hunt and finding the hidden items. The three we found today were very easy, but added some interest to a walk on a balmy New Year's Eve afternoon.

Geocaching - Return to Indian Meadows

This afternoon, Holly and I got in another walk, this time at Indian Meadows Park in Glenville. We'd come here a few weeks back and found 4 of the 5 geocaches we were looking for, so today, we tried that fifth one again along with 3 others we'd never tried. We found ourselves way out the far southern end of the park where we'd probably never been before, along the trail that supposedly connects to Van Buren Road near Swaggertown Road. We got in about a 3-mile walk and found all four of the geocaches we were looking for, including the one that had confounded us before. The ground was frozen, and it was a good thing, since there was lots of ice on the trails that would have otherwise been water and mud.

Hiking - Taconic Crest Trail

Today, I joined an ADK and Taconic Hiking Club hike on the Taconic Crest Trail south of Hancock, MA. The trail follows a high ridgetop along the NY/MA border for about 35 miles. If a hiker completes all sections of the trail in winter, a very nice patch is awarded.



Although I received this patch a year or two ago, some friends are still working toward it, and it's a very nice place to hike relatively close to home.

Hiking a section of this trail first requires pre-positioning a car at the day's end point, driving everybody to the beginning point, and then a long steady climb up from the valley below, to about 2,000 feet above sea level. Despite green and brown fields in the valley, we found a few inches of powdery snow at that higher elevation, giving us our first taste of local winter since a freak October snowstorm.



We soon reached Berry Pond, in the Pittsfield State Forest. As the sign says, this is the highest natural body of water in the state of Massachusetts, at 2,150 feet. There are picnic tables and campsites here, and it's a popular place in warmer weather.



Just north of Berry Pond, there's a wide open view to the west, stretching from the Catskills on the left around to the valley we'd left below.



Rain was expected later in the day, but this was a very strong group, and we finished the 6.8 miles by early afternoon, despite considerable ups and downs. Conditions were great, and so was the company, and we all enjoyed a nice wintry day outside.

Walk - Sanders Preserve

After three celebrations of Christmas in the past two days, and with a fourth coming up this evening and a fifth on Wednesday, Holly and I got out for a short walk this afternoon in the Sanders Preserve in Glenville. The usually wet trails were partially frozen, so the walking wasn't too sloppy. Though there were several cars in the parking lot, we didn't see anybody else, and we enjoyed the relative quiet of the not so wintry woods.

Walk - Schenectady County Forest

Cards are sent. Gifts are bought and wrapped. Cookies are baked. Calendars are full for the next week. And today was the calm before the upcoming storm of holiday get-togethers and events. So I got out this morning and took advantage of it.

With a cold rain overnight, I had some slim hopes of finding a dusting of snow at higher elevations. So I headed to Schenectady County Forest, which at over 1,400 feet often gets snow when we lowlanders get rain. Unfortunately it was not to be. I found plenty of mud and standing water, but no snow at all. The only snow anywhere locally is at Maple Ski Ridge in Rotterdam, where a narrow strip of the man-made stuff stands out brightly against the greens and browns everywhere else. Looks like no white Christmas this year.

Geocaching - 4 for 4 at the Woods Hollow Preserve

After a morning of baking Christmas cookies, Holly and I got out for a walk this afternoon in the Woods Hollow Preserve north of Ballston Spa. Though it's now officially calendar winter, temps were in the upper 40s, and there is still no snow on the ground.

We like to include a few geocaches on these walks just to make it more interesting, and it turned out there were four here that we hadn't previously tried to find. We had the preserve mostly to ourselves, with only one dog walker encountered on the trails. We found all four caches easily for a change, and enjoyed a warm afternoon stroll at the same time.

Disc golf - last one of the year?

With sloppy weather coming in later this week, along with the holiday crunch, I ignored the mid-30s temps and the gusty winds to get in another disc golf outing in Central Park. I actually wasn't the only one with the same idea - several other groups were also out. The first round was an abominable 76, a whopping 19 over par, and tempted me not to play a second round. But I did anyway, and came in with a 67, not spectacular, but about average, and much better than the first round. That may be it for the year, with snow possible over Christmas. A good snowfall would be a VERY welcome thing anyway at this point, so fingers are crossed.

Walk - Niskayuna's John Brown Trails

This afternoon, Holly and I got out for about a 2-mile walk on the relatively new John Brown Trails, off Whitmyer Drive near the former Schenectady Museum Preserve. I'd been there several times before, the most recent about 2 weeks ago, but it was new for Holly. We'd actually skied some of these trails many years ago before they were formally marked. It felt good to get out and walk off some of the stiffness and achiness from yesterday's hike. It was obvious that trail work continues in this area, with some big logs recently cut and a couple of new trails marked. Looking forward to snowshoeing here if we ever get a winter this year.

Hiking - Waterfalls and big trees on the NCNST

Yesterday, I joined a Schenectady ADK trip to scout the location for a new section of the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCNST). When completed, this trail will extend over 4,000 miles from North Dakota to Crown Point, on Lake Champlain. The exact route through the Adirondacks is still being determined, and we were checking out a possible route for one of these sections on our trip.

The area we were exploring was adjacent to Berrymill Pond, northeast of Adirondack Northway (I-87) Exit 29. The plan was to follow existing trails southward, and then continue bushwhacking along Berrymill Pond to a beaver pond previously reached on a trip from the south by our leaders Walt and Norm. That would result in an entire road-to-road section having been explored. Other explorers in the group included Susan, Dale, and Herb.

Our route - north to south and back again


Starting south from the car on the trail along Berrymill Brook, we soon came to the first of many waterfalls we'd see on this trip.

Waterfall on Berrymill Brook


Reaching the point where we'd leave the established trail, we started through open woods along the east side of Berrymill Pond, ducking out through the trees for an occasional view.

Southbound along Berrymill Pond


Reaching the outlet of Moose Pond high above, there was another very nice waterfall, the best of the trip.

Waterfall on Moose Pond outlet


The entire route south passed through an area that contained many dozens of huge white pines that towered above us.

One of numerous 2-3' diameter white pines


Near the destination beaver pond, Walt and Norm recognized landmarks that they'd reached northbound on their previous trip, so our mission was accomplished. We stopped for lunch on the shore of the beaver pond before returning north the way we'd come.

Beaver pond - the lunch spot at our southernmost point


We varied our route a little on the return, trying to bypass a few of the tougher areas we'd discovered earlier, but the return trip took about the same time. Reaching the north end of Berrymill Pond, we stopped for pictures in the waning afternoon light.

Owl Pate overlooking Berrymill Pond


As always, the last mile seemed endless, but we finally reached the car not long before sunset after a satisfying day. With its waterfalls, ponds, cliffs, and huge trees, this area will provide a very attractive addition to the NCNST.

Disc golf - A quiet day in the park

Today I took a break from the ongoing Christmas madness and got in a couple rounds of disc golf in Schenectady's Central Park. There were very few people out this morning as I started, but the dog walkers and joggers began to appear as I was finishing up by late morning. I scored a pair of 65s, several shots below my usual average, so it was a good day.

Geocaching - Indian Meadows Park

This afternoon, Holly and I got out for a walk in Indian Meadows Park in Glenville. To make it interesting, we added on 5 geocaches that we hadn't visited before. We wound up easily finding 4 of the 5, but on the other one we were stumped, even though we were probably right on top of it. Unfortunately, we decrypted the wrong clue at that point, and kept looking down instead of up. We didn't discover this until well on our way to the next one (whose clue we had decrypted), so didn't go back. Senior moment. We'll get it next time. Nice day for a walk, with some sloppy weather coming in later in the week.

Hiking - Baldwin Mountain

Yesterday, I joined a Schenectady ADK trip to Baldwin Mountain, a small trailless peak near Newcomb, NY. I was actually the only one who signed up for this bushwhack, so leader and friend Herb and I threw cold-weather common sense and safety out the window and did this one with a party of only two.

Herb had picked this destination based on a large open area on the south side of the summit, as shown below by Google Earth. I had also noticed a smaller open rock area, so we decided to try to get to them both, in addition to the actual summit.



We parked at the entrance to the Santanoni Preserve, a popular cross-country skiing destination later in winter. Signing in, we were somewhat surprised to find a couple of other past entries, also headed to Baldwin Mountain. Then we started the walk down the closed carriage road until we reached the point where we needed to set off through the woods. There was about an inch of new snow on the ground, and we noticed various animal tracks as we walked.

Leaving the road, we headed basically northwest toward the base of what I was now calling a "slide". Herb didn't share my optimism, and would only call it a "possible open area". I was pretty sure we would be ascending the open rock, with wide views behind us all the way up, but he wasn't yet convinced.

In this first leg of the trip, we found sporadic remnants of an old road that made the going much easier than we'd expected. Arriving in the general vicinity of the base of the slide, GPS guided us through some thick spruce and then out onto the open rock of the old slide. The views south were stupendous, and even better than we'd hoped for.





After spending some time here enjoying the views, we headed up the slide and back into the woods toward the actual summit. There were no views here, so after enjoying a snack, we headed down the SE ridge toward the other possible open viewpoint. We tried to stay on the northern side of the ridge, in hopes of finding an open view of the High Peaks to the north, but never found a really good one. With the leaves off the trees, there were several glimpses of the snow-covered peaks, and an occasional small opening like the one below, but nothing that provided wide sweeping views.



Arriving at the next knob that promised the possibility of the other open rock view, we fought our way through some very thick spruce to the top of a sheer drop over an open rock face. This was certainly the other possible view we'd identified, but it paled in comparison to the earlier one from the slide.

Back on the top of the ridge, we stopped for lunch and plotted our next move. We decided to stay on the ridge as we descended back to the carriage road, and looked for other possible views to the north. We didn't find any, but it was worth a try, and was on our way in the right direction anyway.

We managed to hit the carriage road near where we'd left it, and started the easy walk back to the car. All told, we covered a little over 6 miles, most of it off-trail, and got to see some views that few have probably seen. It was an interesting trip, and we were both glad we'd decided to go in spite of our better judgment.

Hiking - Bailey Pond and Hayes Mountain

Yesterday, a rainy day in the Capital District, I joined a Schenectady ADK hike to scout part of a route for the North Country National Scenic Trail as it passes through the Adirondacks. While a general trail corridor has been pretty much decided, the specifics within that corridor are still being researched by boots-on-the-ground efforts such as ours yesterday.

We started at the end of Loch Muller Road, west of Schroon Lake, and our destination was a small col on the south ridge of Hayes Mountain. The approach to this col from the west had been previously scouted and found to be a satisfactory route for the NCNST. We were looking for any traces of supposed old roads in this area that could be easily followed and used as the new location for the trail.



Reaching Bailey Pond, we found it covered by a thin sheet of ice, and Hayes Mountain's summit well up in the clouds. It was just that kind of day, with temps hovering in the mid-30s.



Attempting to avoid the thick spruce thickets surrounding the pond, we took a circuitous route to higher ground and open woods before continuing our route southwest. The two vleis we reached next were no longer flooded, and the edges were walkable. Ascending away from the valley, we soon reached the destination col, and stopped for lunch.

We tried a slightly different route on the return trip, avoiding the vleis by staying higher in the more open woods, and skipped Bailey Pond altogether by doing the same, heading more directly for the trailhead. This worked out well, and cut nearly .75 mile from our original route.

It wasn't a very pretty day, but we never got rained on despite the weather to the south. Though we didn't find any old roads, we got a better feel for the best way to route the new trail, and enjoyed a day outside with a great group of friends.

Disc golf - dodging the raindrops

Weather radar is a really useful tool for sneaking in a short outdoor activity, despite the overall forecast. It was supposed to be a rainy day today, but the radar didn't reflect that when I got up this morning. It looked like at least a few hours of non-rain were available, so I headed to Central Park for my usual disc golf outing. As it turned out, I got in 35 dry holes, and a bit of drizzle on the last one, so timing was everything.

The first round was a 33-34-67, just about average and nothing special. I started off the second round like gangbusters, with a very hot "putter", finishing that nine with a 29, just one over par and my best ever. But on the back nine, the trees apparently got wind of what was happening and decided it couldn't be allowed to continue. They were reaching out and batting down my shots over and over again, ballooning my score to a 39. The resulting 29-39-68 was OK, but could have been so much better. I was at least glad I had been able to get out on a day I had pretty much written off in advance.

Walk - Colonie Town Park

Every two years, the Taconic Hiking Club hosts what's called their "End-to-End" hike of the Taconic Crest Trail. Actually, the trail is over 35 miles long, and this one-day hike only covers 25-30 miles of that total distance, but it's plenty. The total elevation gain up and down on the ridge is over 6,000 feet, and it's a long tough day. I finished it in 2002, and don't care to do it again. Anyway, today was the first organizational meeting for the 2012 event, scheduled for May 12, 2012. I went to the meeting, enjoyed lunch, and volunteered for a couple of tasks that make this event possible, so will now be looking forward to it in the spring.

After the meeting, there were still a few hours of daylight, so I stopped on the way home for a walk in the Colonie Mohawk River Park, off US-9 north of Latham. There are a few miles of wooded trails here, in addition to the pool and ballfields, and I mostly had them to myself on another sunny brisk fall afternoon.

A walk in the park, and a late-season tick

After a chilly morning, I got out for another walk this afternoon, this time in the former Schenectady Museum Preserve, now the Mohawk River State Park. The state has done nothing with this property yet, and it hasn't changed much over the years. Knowing it well, I decided today to do some exploring instead of just walking the usual trails.

I parked at Lock 7, and followed the Mohawk River Bike Path a short distance, until I noticed an unmarked trail heading toward the river, near where the concrete piers jut out into the water. Following this trail, I hugged the river pretty closely, and then returned to the bike path a little further west. From there, I headed up the new Whit-Shaker Trail with blue markers, until I reached the white-marked former mountain bike route that is now a dead end. I decided to follow it and see how that worked. It actually circled around and dropped me very close to the blue trail again, so I followed that to Whitmyer Drive and the main parking area for the "park". Then, after wandering around some of the usual trails, I dropped back down to the bike path and returned to the car.

A little while later, at home, I noticed a tick crawling off my long sleeve and onto my bare hand. A TICK? In December? I threw all of the clothes I was wearing in the wash, including the outerwear, and did a quick body check, but there were no more. I suspect must have I picked it up on that brushy stretch of "trail" by the river early on, but it was certainly unexpected for this time of year. Guess that's the price I pay for my wanderings.

Walk - H. G. Reist Preserve

With other stuff on the plate this morning, I got out for a short walk in the H. G. Reist Preserve, in Niskayuna. It's a property of the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club that covers 111 acres and has a few miles of mostly level trails. There are several wetland areas within the preserve, and it can sometimes be a pretty wet place to walk, based on past experience. I set out today expecting the worst, given the sloppiness of the last few places I've walked. But I was pleasantly surprised by the many sturdy bridges that have recently been installed, many apparently as Eagle Scout projects. I kept my feet fairly dry and covered about 1.5 miles on a much cooler November afternoon.

Walk - Indian Kill Preserve

Today started the return of November weather after a long warm spell, but it was still fairly comfortable and not raining. So Holly and I got out for a walk in the Indian Kill Preserve in Glenville. It was pretty muddy but otherwise pleasant as we made our way to the "Third Falls" and back, about 1.5 miles total. The trail continued from there, but a stream crossing was required, and the water was running too high for that. Tomorrow and beyond we'll be back in the low 40s again, more typical for this time of year, but still way too warm for any prospects of snow.

Walk - Niskayuna's John Brown Trail System

Another fine November day, with rain possible later, so I got out for a morning walk on the new trails that the Town of Niskayuna has added recently near the closed landfill.

I was a little frustrated with this place last time, so this time I decided to actually document my frustrations in case anybody ever asks. I also GPSed the route, and created the map below. I need to emphasize that this first map is my doing, and NOT the Town's, but I believe it to be accurate, both in terms of trail colors and locations.



I started in this time from the closed Niskayuna landfill, where a trail suddenly enters the woods with no prior markings directing anybody to it. This blue trail soon had some DEC postings about a "restricted area" and "endangered species", so I jumped off on the white crossover trail to the main yellow loop, which I then walked counterclockwise. As I walked, I marked spots with the GPS where it seemed like the trail markings were confusing, and noted the location and reason for future reference on a paper copy of the basic map available at the kiosks at some of the trailheads. I had made this paper copy from a photo I took last time out, just so I had at least some kind of map with me that time (in the camera).



Finishing the loop, I followed the bike path back up the hill to Blatnick Park and the car. No sooner had I started driving home than the drizzle began. This may be the last warm day for a while, but it's time for some colder weather and a bunch of the white stuff. I say bring it on.

Disc golf - Schenectady Central Park

November continues to amaze with its balmy temperatures, near 60 again today. It looked like there might be some rain by midday, so I hit the disc golf course in the morning for my now-weekly two rounds. Not much to say, except that both rounds were 67, one shot better than my running average, so not a bad day. Not much going on in the park today, just dog walkers, joggers, and the leaf blowers cleaning up the still very green lawns.

Hiking - Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, MA

We've been trying to connect with friends Dave and Theresa for several weeks now, so with deer season in full swing, yesterday we decided to head for this Audubon preserve near Lenox, MA, for a worry-free hike. There's a fairly strenuous, though relatively short, hike to the top of Lenox Mountain, and its nearby companion Yokun Seat. It's about a 5-mile loop, with some steep spots that got our hearts pumping.



It was a very warm day for late November, sunny with temps in at least the mid 50s, and just a great day to be outside. We lingered for a while atop Lenox Mountain and enjoyed the northwesterly view while we had lunch.



Next, we moved on to Yokun Seat, about 0.8 miles each way along the ridge top. There we found good northeasterly views to the city of Pittsfield and its airport far below.



After returning to Lenox Mountain, we began the long descent back to the car. The Overbrook Trail follows a brook down the mountain, and today, the numerous waterfalls were flowing freely.







About 4 hours from the time we started, we were back at the car and headed for home, less than 90 minutes away, after a perfect day outdoors.

Walk - Avoiding Black Friday in the Lisha Kill Preserve

The title says it all. The last place I wanted to be today was in a crowd of other maniacal shoppers, so I got out for a walk on a relatively warm sunny afternoon. And I wasn't alone. There were lots of small family groups and dog walkers with the same idea. I walked all three loops, about 2 miles total. The ground was pretty wet and there was plenty of slippery mud to negotiate. It was easy to see why the trails here are closed during spring mud season.

This preserve was not spared the recent damage from both heavy rain and wind, but fortunately only a few of the larger trees came down.

Fallen giants


Mostly the trails were in pretty good shape, even though sloppy.

Disc golf, yard work, and biking on the trainer

With morning temps now in the 30s and afternoons growing short, I've pretty much abandoned outdoor bicycling. So it's back to the trainer in the basement, a poor and boring substitute, but I've been feeling sluggish and gaining weight and needed to do something. I used to do this a lot more, and now need it to bridge the gap between bike and XC ski seasons. Add some music and a bunch of stretching, and it's not a horrible way to spend an hour.

Disc golf, on the other hand, knows no seasons. I suppose I'll stop when there's snow on the ground, but 35-40 degrees and partly sunny was just fine this morning. After a pretty good opening round 64, I messed up one hole in the next round, finding water and several trees in a classic series of compounding errors. The resulting 71 wasn't too bad, but could have been much better.

This afternoon, I mowed up the rest of the leaves in the yard, and got rid of a bunch of dead perennials. That should about do it for winter preparations. It was a good day, and a comfortable tiredness, along with a late glass of wine, should lead to a good night's sleep.

Walk - Niskayuna's new John Brown Trail System

Late this morning, I set out for a walk in the Lisha Kill Preserve, on Rosendale Road in Niskayuna. But when I got there, I saw a school group and leader in the parking lot, so thought better of it. Instead, I headed up the road a piece to Mohawk River State Park, aka the Schenectady Museum Preserve, off Whitmyer Drive. I was hoping to explore some new trails I'd heard about adjacent to this park, called the John Brown Trail System. John Brown, a local resident, has apparently been instrumental in their creation and maintenance, in cooperation with the Town of Niskayuna.



Across the end of Whitmyer Drive from the parking area is a trail map and the beginning of the trails. I photographed the map to carry with me in case I needed it, and set off along the fence following blue markers. The blue trail led me to a yellow trail in the area of Shaker Gorge, which the yellow trail loops around coming back to the blue again at the end. The yellow loop was pretty rugged, with lots of steep twists and turns and sharp dropoffs alongside the trail. I'd originally thought about skiing in this area, but I think snowshoeing would be a much better, and safer, idea.

A sign at the start of the loop advises that some bridges over side gorges are not yet in place, and I had a steep scramble across one of these. But more importantly, I found the marking of the trails confusing. Several times, I came to a point where a sharp turn needed to be made, but saw no obvious markers showing where the trail went next. Other times, a marker seemed to just be on the wrong tree, hinting at a direction change that wasn't really intended. The color scheme of the trails may also need to be refined, or at the very least, a better map produced. Otherwise, people are likely to be getting temporarily misplaced in here.

It was an interesting outing, about 2 miles altogether. The trails are new, and bugs like the above will surely be worked out. Meanwhile, it's just nice to have yet another place to go without driving very far.

Disc golf - Consistently inconsistent

After a few early morning showers passed by, I got in a couple of rounds of disc golf in Central Park. The only thing consistent today was the scoring, a pair of 71s. There were WAAAY too many 5s on the scorecard (most are par 3s), and I swear that the trees were making a stronger effort than usual to just get in the way. It was still a nice walk in the park, which was very quiet today, aside from maintenance workers and the usual Rose Garden volunteers. I had the course to myself, but just couldn't seem to cash in with good scores.

Walk and geocaching - J. B. Thacher State Park

With rain coming in for the afternoon, Holly and I got out for a short walk and a few geocaches this morning in John Boyd Thacher State Park, high in the Helderbergs above Altamont, NY. We spent some time on a section of the Long Path, finding 3 of the 4 caches we looked for, and then walked back along the edge of the escarpment to enjoy the views.






On the drive home, the rains arrived in earnest, and we were glad we were able to get out when we did and stay mostly dry.

Hiking - Peaked Hills, Hoffman Notch Wilderness

Yesterday, some friends and I climbed two small summits, the Peaked Hills, west of I-87 in the Hoffman Notch Wilderness Area. We left the parking area, crossed under the Northway though a large culvert/tunnel, and entered the wilderness. We followed an old logging road, then an ax-blazed path, and then another logging road as long as they continued to take us in the right direction. None of these appeared on any maps, so we still needed to pay attention to where we were going, CCW around the loop on the map below.



Finally, we left the road and started the steep thick bushwhack to the northern summit. There was a lot of blowdown, thick spruce, and slippery rock to negotiate, but finally we broke out on the summit rocks. Hoffman Mountain (3704') to the west dominated the view.



We were expecting to see Hoffman close up and not much else, and were really surprised by the fine panorama of the Adirondack High Peaks spread out before us to the north.



Because the direction to the southern peak from here would have dropped us right over a cliff, we descended steeply to the north instead, stopped for lunch in a flat sunny clearing, and then circled the northern peak to continue on to the southern one. There were many fine views along this southern ridge to the south and east. The northern tip of Schroon Lake appears near the center of this shot.



The hazy blue ridges extended off to the distant horizon.



As we descended the southern peak's ridge to navigate back to the original logging road, we got one last view of Pharaoh Mountain (2556') and its cliffs to the east.



Crossing the northern end of a small pond on a soggy floating bog, we eventually rejoined the logging road we'd come in on, and followed it back under I-87 to the car. It was about a 6-mile 2000-foot adventure, with views much better than expected, to a mostly trailless place where people rarely go.

Hiking - Plotterkill Preserve

Normally, if I go for a walk in a local preserve, I call it a "walk", not a "hike". The Plotterkill Preserve is the one exception to that rule. The trails are many and varied, but all involve some level of steepness. Today, with temps again in the 60s, I did the long red trail loop, clockwise, to the lower end of the preserve, about a 5-6 mile distance with 1200-1600 feet of climbing total. That's a little more than a "walk".



The 60' high upper falls had more water going over it than I expected to see after a week or two of relatively dry weather.



I didn't add on any side trails today, or descend to the bottom of any of the major waterfalls. At the lower end of the preserve, I decided to take the high-water route (blue) just in case there might be a problem with the red trail's crossing of the stream. This trail gets much less use, and it had been years since I'd hiked it. I was amazed at the amount of storm debris that had been dredged out of the stream at the culverts that pass under the NYS Thruway. This must have been quite a torrent to see after tropical storms Irene and Lee, and the entire stream bed showed the effects of those storms.

Just after crossing the stream and rejoining the red trail, a yellow side trail leads to one of my favorite cascades here, and I always stop for a drink and a rest to enjoy them.



Next came the 400' steady climb back out of the gorge and up onto the south rim. Once on top, the trail continues along the rim to a mowed gas pipeline junction below the Coplon Road parking area. Here, the red trail descends back into the gorge, recrosses the stream, and climbs back up to rejoin the trail I used coming in along the north rim. It was about a 3-hour walk altogether at a leisurely pace, and until the very end, I had almost the entire place to myself, on what is probably the last of these spectacular warm November days.

Biking. In shorts. In November.

We're having a spectacular stretch of nice weather, soon to be interrupted by a few days of rain. But today was sunny and mid-60s, much warmer than normal, and a day like that is not allowed to be wasted. Biking friend Judy and I have decided to push each other a little harder for the rest of this season, since we've both been seriously slacking off of late. So today, we took on an easy 28 miles that we've both done many times before, the Mohawk River loop between Rexford and Crescent.



It was a beautiful warm calm day for riding, and we just took it easy and enjoyed the ride. This loop requires a stop at Riverview Orchards for cider and donuts, so we fulfilled that requirement. After another brief stop at Stewart's in Crescent, it was back up the US-9 hill and onto the Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway back to the start at Lions Park in Niskayuna. There were lots of others out enjoying the sun and warmth, the right idea at this usually unsettled time of year.

Disc golf - A crowded day in the park

After a busy morning of various errands and stuff that needed doing, I headed to Central Park this afternoon for some disc golf. Much to my dismay, there were 5-6 cars already parked near the first tee, so I knew I'd be catching up to some traffic at some point. I was alone until #9, where some major-league leaf-blowing was in progress, halting play for another guy, Neil, and me. We finished that 18 together, catching a couple of other groups near the end, and played another 9 together before he headed for home. This guy got some serious distance on his throws, and it was a lot of fun to watch, and envy. I continued through my second 18 after he left, improving my not-so-good first round 71 with a 66, much better. It's great to see so many people out using this fairly new feature of the park, but I much prefer having it to myself.

Hiking - Ragged Mountain, MA

Ragged Mountain is a rugged furrowed ridge just below and to the east of Mount Greylock, the high point of Massachusetts, near Adams, MA. We followed the Bellows Pipe Trail, an old road, to just below the southern summit of Ragged, and then an unmarked trail steeply to the summit. There were great views here of Mount Greylock, but not of much else.



The plan was to next bushwhack a short distance down the rugged ridge to some more expansive views. We soon decided against the further of the two, mostly because of increasingly deep snow and the distance/time involved. But we did find great wide-open views from Raven Rocks, on the east side of the ridge.



After enjoying the warm sun there for a while, we headed back to the summit and the trail back to the car. It was just a beautiful day for hiking.

Biking - With a good lunch stop

Another 21/2 weeks off the bike, after an equal hiatus before that. A November day with sunny skies and temps near 60. Yard work temporarily caught up. Gotta get back in the saddle and just do it.

For the rest of this season, I'll be sticking to 20-30 mile rides, since that's about what my fitness level has deteriorated to. Today, I biked from Schenectady Community College to the Charlton General Store for a great lunch. That got me about 11 miles. Then I continued east along Charlton Road to the east side of Ballston Lake, returning via Schauber Rd, Ashdown Rd, Blue Barns Rd, the Rexford Bridge, and the bike path. That came out just over 30 miles, but honestly, 20 would have been enough. I found hills that didn't used to be hills, and used much lower gears than usual. Amazing how a long layoff leads to slothdom.

Disc golf - A couple of good rounds

After the day warmed up, I got out today for a couple of rounds of disc golf in Central Park. I picked up right where I left off after last time out's personal best of 63, throwing a 65 and a 64 (par 57, avg 69). These new discs definitely give me more control, and that's reflected in the scoring. Now if I could only learn to "putt"...

Walk and geocaching - Galway Preserve

Today, Holly and I got out for a short walk in a preserve we'd never before visited. The Galway Preserve is a fairly new property of Saratoga PLAN, on Crane Road in Galway. In its 49 acres, there are 8 geocaches and one letterbox, and a loop trail of about 1.3 miles that passes many of these. We found the letterbox with no problem, but only 2 of the 5 geocaches that we searched for. We'll go back for the unsuccessful three and the three we skipped some time after this preserve dries out, possibly even in winter. There was a lot of mud here, and a beaver dam that was threatening to overflow the trail. It was a nice walk, and good to get out someplace new, and we'll be back to try again another time.

Disc golf - Sneaking some in between showers

After spending the morning inside catching up on miscellaneous stuff, I really felt like getting out of the house this afternoon. Since the radar showed no more rain in the immediate future, I decided to head over to Central Park and see how many rounds I might get in. It was cool and raw, and the ground was very wet, but this was an activity close by that would also get me a walk, so what the heck?

After breaking a disc earlier in the week, I bought a couple of new ones that have different curve ratings, the new ones supposedly flying straighter. Straight is good with all the trees on this course, but not always possible up to this point. The first round was about average, though messing up the last two holes inflated my score to a 32-39-71. But in the second 18, I figured out these new discs, or so it seemed. I threw a 33-30-63 for my best round ever, and also the best back nine ever. That's only 6 over par for the round, and it really surprised me. These discs do indeed fly straighter, once I got the right throwing motion. Almost time to move on to the longer tees!

Trail maintenance - Featherstonhaugh State Forest ski trails

Each autumn, the Environmental Clearinghouse (ECOS) gathers at Featherstonhaugh State Forest to clear our adopted ski trails before winter. Today, a group of about 20 of us converged on the forest and gave it our best shot. We spent the morning on the figure-8 loop west of Lake Road on the map below.



There was plenty to keep us all busy, with a variety of tools including loppers, axes, saws, and our own brute strength. This large tree, and another like it, were each cut twice by a couple of men skilled with axes, and the remains rolled off the trail with considerable effort. It was amazing to watch these guys, who obviously knew what they were doing with an axe.



This bridge had been lifted off of its supports by the root ball of a falling tree, where it now rested.



It's now back in place and skiable again. It took many of us to move it off of the tree and back into place.

The trails to the east and south of Lake Road were heavily impacted by logging over the past few years, and will likely be rerouted. At any rate, that area is too wet to address in warmer weather, and we'll be going back in winter to see how things are in there.

(Thanks to Will and Nancy for the "before" photos above.)

Disc golf - Schenectady Central Park

Today was warmer than normal for October, with rain forecast later. I had some other things to do, so took care of them in the morning, and headed out for some disc golf after lunch. Today in Central Park was the girls' sectional tennis championships, so there was a lot more than normal traffic, both motorized and pedestrian.

I got most of the way through one round before one of my two discs, one that had been semi-cracked before, now broke most of the way, and I was lucky I finished the round. It was a good round, but I was done for the day. Went home, did some online research into the plethora of discs available, and headed off to Play It Again Sports in Latham to pick up a replacement. They carry the widest selection I've seen, and I left with a replacement and a new "driver" disc, one that supposedly curves less than the one I have. Maybe now my scores will start to come down....

Hiking - Trail maintenance and a couple of small mountains

This weekend, there was an informal gathering of Northville-Lake Placid trail stewards at the historic Adirondack Hotel in Long Lake. We'd be meeting for dinner on Saturday evening. And since we'd postponed our October 15th trail steward trip because of weather, we rescheduled it for Friday October 21, the day before the gathering, and booked two nights at the hotel. It was good that we did reschedule, since friends Mary and John were available and eager to give us a hand on what turned out to be a pretty tough day, much more so than usual. The trail was extremely wet and muddy after recent rains, and many (MANY!) drainages were clogged with downed leaves. There was much work to be done, but our crew rose to the occasion and left the trail in better shape than we'd found it. Many thinks to Mary and John for all of their help!



We crashed early after dinner Friday night, and then got in a couple of short hikes on a fairly dreary Saturday. We went first to Mount Arab, one of the fire tower peaks included in the ADK Fire Tower Challenge. We had previously completed enough of these mountains to achieve the patch award, but there still remain a few of the others we haven't climbed. Mount Arab was one, and Saturday was the day. It's only about a mile to the summit and its tower, and the views were good enough to warrant a return trip on a better day. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died, and I have only this one misty shot of Eagle Crag Pond far below.



After Arab, and with new camera batteries, we drove east a short distance and climbed little Panther Mountain, just south of the junction of NY-30 and NY-3 north of Corey's. This one was only about a half-mile each way, and again, it demands a return trip. The High Peaks were not visible this day, aside from occasional glimpses of Emmons and Donaldson in the nearby Seward Range. And Blue Mountain to the south had its head in the clouds. On a good day, the effort/reward ratio would be outstanding. It was a steep but short and rewarding hike, and we'll be back here again, also on a better day.



Returning to the hotel, we got cleaned up and joined the gathering downstairs for dinner. There's a lot happening right now with the Northville-Lake Placid Trail, including its new web site and ADK chapter, and it was interesting to get together and share stories among fellow trail stewards.

Sunday saw us on the road early headed for home, with other commitments to keep. It was a good weekend, with less rain that we'd expected, and a lot of quality time spent with friends, old and new.

Disc golf - Schenectady Central Park

It's been two wet weeks since I last got in a round of disc golf, and with nothing else on today's calendar, I got out for an early start. It was cool this morning, near 50F, and the park was very quiet. The tennis courts were mostly empty, and the only people out were walkers, joggers, park maintenance workers, and the usual volunteers maintaining the rose garden. I got in two quick rounds, and the 2-week layoff was reflected in the scores, first a 72 and then a 66 as I rediscovered whatever groove I may once have had. The second round was only one off my best ever, so that was satisfying, while the inconsistency was maddening. Golf - a good way to ruin a nice walk. Not really - it was still a nice walk.

Biking - Mohawk River Loop, Again

Today, some biker friends and I decided it was time to get off our butts and get in some more miles. The weather hasn't been great lately, or all summer for that matter, and we've all been feeling a little sluggish. We chose an easy ride, the same loop I did a few weeks ago, my last time on the bike. We rode a loop from the Niskayuna Railroad Station and park, along the Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway, crossed the Rexford Bridge, along the north side of the river to the Crescent Bridge, and then returned to the start again via the bike path. Along the way, we stopped at Riverview Orchards for warm fresh cider donuts, and at Stewart's in Crescent for a light lunch. It was a relaxed ride at a comfortable pace for everybody, and it was just good to get out again.

Walk - Charleston State Forest Ski Trail Exploration

Yeah, I know - it's only October. But deer (bow) season starts shortly, and I wanted to get this in while it was safe.

I remembered reading something about a so-called "Overlook Trail" at Charleston State Forest, and needed to find out what that meant. Most of the ski trails there are in deep woods, with no chance of a distant view anywhere. Google turned up an old Times-Union article with the following intriguing reference:

"A bit further west, there are a number of great cross-country ski and hiking trails in the Charleston State Forest in Montgomery County. More than 20 miles of trails loop among several roads. From Route 30A, the trails can be accessed from Hughes Road, Burtonville Road, Gordon Road and Gidley Road. The trails are divided such that several trips are possible. The trails off of Gordon Road are interesting, winding through the swamps and beaver ponds. From Gidley Road, the Overlook Trail winds around a hardwood ridge that offers a great view of the Schoharie Valley. The terrain on this trail is a bit steep, though."

The article was from 2001, and 10 years of growth might mean there was no longer any overlook. I needed to find out.

I let my GPS get me to a parking area on Gidley Road that I assumed was where I wanted to start. This was some distance from the main parking area and kiosk on NY-30A, circled on the map below. Click on the map to enlarge it.



This was a delightful loop, about 2.6 miles long, which I walked CCW. The climbs and descents were long and gradual, not as steep as exaggerated above, but more rolling than some other trails we've skied here. And, at the far northeastern end of the loop, there might have even once been a view. In winter with the leaves down, it's likely there still is. In fact, the stretch of trail immediately NW of that point should also have something of a view.

This loop begs for a return trip on skis this winter. The only problem is that it may not get enough traffic to count on this trail being broken. And this forest gets a LOT of snow, which could mean a tough slog for a too-small group. I'll have to recruit some willing sloggers and get back in here to check it out.

Hiking - Fall colors at the Berry Pond Preserve

The Berry Pond Preserve, a property of the Lake George Land Conservancy, opened to the public in 2008, adjacent to the Village of Lake George Recreation Center Trails. There are two trails in this preserve, a blue trail that climbs steeply to an unnamed summit, and a red trail to Berry Pond itself. Today, Holly and I walked them both.



We wound our way through the Rec Center XC ski trails, following the blue markers to lead us on to the Preserve. This part was a bit confusing, mostly due to an over- or under-application of the two-markers-for-a-turn trail marking convention. Eventually, we entered the Preserve and climbed steeply to the ridge, where we found a spectacular view of Lake George below. This was a great lunch spot.



Continuing on to the second, south-facing, view nearby, looking into the sun muted the colors somewhat, but it was interesting nonetheless.



Leaving the summit, we descended down an old logging road to the junction of the Blue and Red trails near Berry Pond. Reaching the pond, there were eye-popping fall colors everywhere across the glassy surface.



As we walked the loop around the pond, there was evidence of beaver activity at every turn. We saw at least two lodges, and stumps everywhere. At the south end of the pond, there was also a small heron rookery, though we didn't see any actual herons today.



Now heading back to the car, we were amazed at how much we were descending along the red trail back to its eastern junction with the blue. Retracing our route along the blue trail, we noticed a waterfall we'd failed to see on the way in. There's a leanto at this location, facing the waterfall, a nice place for a break.



We returned to the car and tried to figure out a good ice cream stop. After two end-of-season-we're-closed failures, we wound up at Stewart's in Corinth on the way home. Later, totaling up the mileage and elevation, we had covered about 5.3 miles and almost 1,500 feet of climbing, convincing us we'd earned that ice cream stop.

This was a nice hike with a little bit of everything - views, fall colors, wildlife, and a waterfall. We'll probably be doing this one again.