Sunday's Rambler's hike was in an area I didn't know well, on the east side of the Hudson River across from Bear Mountain. The day was forecast to be rainy and, while cold, at least above freezing. I didn't realize that there would still be significant snow on the trail, which was an error.
After getting off the train at Manitou, we walked around Manitou Point Preserve. It has some modest elevation changes, but one or two of them were treacherous due to the very wet snow that slicked the trail. The nice views of the Hudson River made up for it, though.
We roadwalked over to Manitoga, which was new to me. Here we started gaining elevation in earnest. Here also I realized I'd made a major tactical error in wearing my regular hiking boots, which are low and not waterproof. Surprisingly, my feet weren't cold, but they were very wet. I thought that after we ate lunch I'd bail out early.
However, going back the way we came wasn't all that short, and while most everyone else was dry, they were going slow because of the wet snow. Collectively, we decided to continue north on the Appalachian Trail as planned but skip Lake Lucretia. Although we didn't discuss it, we also skipped Arden Point.
We came out at the train station at Garrison, which was better than going to Manitou would have been because it has a covered, heated area to wait for the train in.
All told the hike was 12 miles, elevation unknown (the batteries are dead in my watch).
No comments:
Post a Comment