Snowshoeing

As you almost certainly know, January this year was rough in terms of the weather. We had the snowiest January in New York history, several big storms dropping 56 inches of snow all over the tri-state area. Most people thought it was awful, but I gotta tell you, all I wanted was another 10 inches. The snow stuck in Westchester the way it never does in the city, leaving everything blanketed in gorgeous white ... and most importantly, it left an incredible snow pack in the mountains and parks nearby. The icicles to the right are found in the ice caves up at Sam's Point preserve near the 'Gunks ... more about that later.

Snowshoeing.

So each Sunday for the last two weekends, I have been out snowshoing, first in Sam's Point (just south of the gunks) with Cheo and Jurrian, and then with Aviva at Ward Pound Ridge preserve near Katonah.

The first trip, with Cheo and Jurrian, took in a trail Cheo and I had done two winters ago out to an ice cave and then down to Verkeerder Kill Falls. Both times the we have done it, we have not been able to complete the whole trail, and this time was no different ... again we had to turn around at the waterfall. However, the trail out to the falls was much tougher this time, about 3 feet of snow obscuring most of the manzanita that lines the trail in the summer and fall. The whole day was awesome, deep snow everywhere, with massive icicles everywhere. The ice cave was just as cool as last time ... although the insides were not coated with ice the way they were last time. Still, Cheo brought his snow chains for boots, allowing us to climb up the icy staircase we had not been able to navigate two years before.

After the caves, we trekked out to the falls, only stopping for lunch once we reached the top. After lunch we were about to leave when Cheo walked a bit farther for a look at the front of the falls, and I am really glad he did, because the view was of the frozen falls was spectacular.




Cheo wanted to keep going, but it was already pretty late in the day, so we headed back towards the caves, walked out and took in the frozen Lake Maratanza and headed back to the car, stopping at an overlook on the way back to take in the magnificent views of the Hudson to the east and the Gunks and the Catskills to the north. Even though we did not get close to finishing the trail, we went about 8 miles and were exhausted, soaked and thrilled when we got back to the car.

The next weekend Aviva and I headed up to Ward Pound Ridge State Reservation, near Cross River about 35 minutes north of here. One of the things I love the most about where we live is the incredible access to so many beautiful little parks and preserves that are easy to use for a quick hike or just easy access to the outdoors. On the way into the park, the ranger recommended the brown trail along the river in the far side of the park.

Good choice.

The trail was beautiful and empty, with a gorgeous blue sky, great tempteratures and a solid snow pack it was about as perfect as a day as we could have asked for. The park has good trail markings and the trails are well used, making the trail easy to follow and fun to move on. We only saw one other person (and her wonderful dog), as well as a small group of white tailed deer. The whole trail was only about 4 miles long, which was perfect, because we got a late start (I had to work in the morning) and snowshoing is pretty rigorous, so 4 miles was plenty. We got back to the car, tired and sweaty, around 4 in the afternoon, and quickly headed home to eat the pasta calabria (with shrimp) I had made the night before, and then headed upstairs to watch the Super Bowl with Zeke and Ali.

Back to Sam's Point

The last time that I went hiking at Sam's Point Preserve, a smallish, private nature preserve just south of the Shawangunks in Southern New York, it was mid-October and fall was in its full glory. A few months have made quite a difference, as these days the preserve is blanketed with a moderate dusting of snow, Lake Maratanza is frozen over and three quarters of the trails, including the one out to Verkeerdeer Kill falls, are closed due to hazardous conditions. Most importantly, the ice caves were closed because of hazardous trail conditions caused by too much ice ... I know, I know, with ice caves one would expect a lot of ice. It did not make much sense to me either.It was also a major disappointment to both Cheo and myself, as we had gotten out here pretty early so that we could spend the day playing in the ice cave and tromping around in windy, sub-twenty weather. However, we were quickly heartened when the staffer went on to say that even though the trails were closed, people were still hiking them ... so we quickly went back to the van, got dressed for the cold, and hiked the mile up to the central ridge and down towards the ice caves. Once onto the ice cave trail, we quickly discovered why the trail was closed ... the ice covering the steps was so thick that I don't think we could have gotten down it even with crampons. Fortunately, we had been here before, so after a bit of exploring we found our way down to the back of the caves and got in and around them. A few sections of the inside of the caves were intermittently lit by some flickering lights, but generally the caves were dark, quiet and covered in ice. The other end of the caves led us out to a series of really amazing winter constructions, huge icicles and ice falls and a beautiful wintry landscape. We spent serveral hours running around the snowscape, gawking at huge icicles and icefalls as we made our way back along the path to where we started, eventually running into the same mass of ice that kept us from coming down the front section of the trail.

Unable to get up through this massive ice fall, we returned through the cave and made our way back up to the trail and then out to Lake Maratanza. Cheo had guessed the lake would be frozen, but I thought not, as the lake is a pretty good-sized body of water. As you saw above, I was entirely wrong, and when we reached the lake we saw that there was in fact frozen, windblown snow atop hundreds of bright orange rocks fixed halfway into the frozen tributaries of the lake, making an otherworldly landscape. This was the windiest place we spent any time, taking pictures and wandering out onto the icy edges of the lake and the other frozen areas around the lake. It was really beautiful, and again reminded me why I really enjoy being on the East Coast in the winter despite the hassle and bad weather.

After hanging around the lake for a while, we walked back to the overlook above the visitors center, took in the gorgeous vista around the preserve, and I, being less used to winter landsacapes, commented on how the winter managed to make this very small preserve seem like an entirely separate place from the park we had visited two months before. Then, cold and happy, we made our way back down to the car and headed back to New York so that I could get into the city to have dinner with Aviva and Erez in Manhattan.

Directions - I gave directions to Sam's Point Preserve in the last post I wrote about going there, but since then I have discovered a much faster way to go. To get there from New York City, take I-87 north and cross the Tappan Zee bridge, then continue on to exit 17. Get off at exit 17 and take route 300 north to highway 52. Take highway 52 west for a while, going through Walden and eventually the tiny town of Walker Valley, before turning right on Cragsmoor road and following the signs to Sam's Point Preserve.

Update - Though my camera no longer has the capacity to take videos (such are the things you sacrifice to go to a digital SLR), Cheo was able to make this short video of us taking pictures on Lake Maratanza.

Hiking at Sam's Point

So its been a while since I had a chance to get out of the city an explore the wilderness that makes up a good part of this state, so last Saturday I picked up Cheo and we headed up to the Shawnagunks to explore a small preserve just south of the main ridge named Sam's point. I always like to get out of the city a couple of times during the fall to catch the leaves changing, it is probably the best thing about having seasons. As you can see in the pictures on the left and right, this trip certainly did not disappoint. It took about two hours to get up there due to some unfortunate traffic, but who knew that the New Paltz apple festival was ... well, who knew New Paltz even had an apple festival?

After we parked, got our boots on and headed out, but because the incredibly poor signage and the fact that the terrible signage had arrows pointing the wrong direction, we immeadiately took the wrong trail. Still, this trail walked us up through a dense forest where the leaves were just beginning to change, and onto a large plateau covered with dense, red manzanita and dwarf pines. It had been raining when we left in the morning, but the sky was clear at this point, with small groups of white clouds highlighting the gorgeous blue.

Although we had an inkling that we were not on the correct trail when Lake Maratanza appeared on the wrong side of the trail, the constant stream of bonneted women passing us assured us that we were in fact going the right way. We spent a few minutes on the lake shore, enjoying the contrast between the pristine blue of the sky with the darker lake and the green and brown shoreline. Only later in the day, when we ran into a couple with an actual map (who had make the same mistake we did) did we realize that our map simply did not show the trail we were on, clearing up our confusion while at the same time explaining how we had gotten so turned around.

None of this really mattered though, as the preserve was really beautiful, with leaves changing throughout the lower forest and huge stretches of red manzanita highlighting the amazing views we were getting from on top of the ridge. We trekked around the lake and down into the forest, explored an ice cave (okay, really just a cave with ladders and bridges and lights, but in the winter I am sure there is a lot of ice) and finally found the right trail and headed down through the lower forest again until we got to Verkeeder Falls. The falls, a gorgeous 75 foot fan, tumbles in a single stream over a V-shaped rock wall at the base of a massive green valley, which had just started to dot with red as a few of the leaves changed. We spent about half an hour here, running between various overhangs to get the best possible view of the falls, then hightailed back out to get back to the car before it got dark.



Even though we did not get the distance we wanted, we saw caves and lakes and a waterfall and a ton of amazing scenery, overall a spectacular hike and well worth the trip.

Directions : To get to Sam's point from NYC, cross the Tappan Zee bridge and drive north up I-87 to exit 18. Head west through New Paltz, cross the bridge over the Wallkill river and turn left at Libertyville Road (CR 7). Go 15.5 miles (which is a longer way than you think) until you hit NY 52, and then turn right. Drive 6 miles on NY 52, then turn right on Cragsmoor road and stay to the right at each split as you follow the signs to Sam's point preserve. The parking lot charges a 7$ fee, but you can park just outside the lot for free.