Hiking to Nimham fire tower

Of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit a fire tower, even if I couldn't climb it. Nimham Multiple Use Area is east of Fahnestock so I went out for a late-afternoon jaunt on Tuesday.

   

The trail is a well-maintained gravel road, closed to the public. While it's reasonably steep, it's only two-thirds of a mile. 

Obviously the highlight of the trip is the tower itself. Now, the tower is closed for COVID. I'm not sure that's necessary - limit it to one party at a time, sure, with no passing on the stairs. But the tower only holds six people and is open-roofed. I suspect handrails are the concern. Also, let's just say that I did not observe folks following this rule. (I did. It doesn't mean I'm extra good, but if I visit I want to be able to share my photos, etc.!) But I was told the view is very nice. I will have to return here on another occasion to see the view for myself.

 

Hiking the School Mountain Road area

On Tuesday, I looked for a more solitary hike, and headed west to the Hubbard Lodge trailhead. From there I did a clockwise loop over Round Hill, East Mountain, and back along School Mountain Road. 

   

I started early on a misty morning, seeing a suprising amount of wildlife, including three deer. (And only four people.) Some of the supposed viewpoints were long overgrown; there was no view off of East Mountain at all. But there was an interesting variety of terrain, including old settlements.

   

School Mountain Road, at the end, was nice, since it was wide, easy walking. A lot of the park has narrow trails that could use some trimming back. (This, I am sure, is the result of COVID, which has curtailed a lot of trail work. Come back another year and I'm sure things will be different.)

 

Hiking the Pelton Pond Loop

On Monday evening - and again on Wednesday - I took a stroll around Pelton Pond, which is right next to the campsites. According to sources, it's 1.1 miles, but my app measured it at .8. Either way, it's not a long hike, with uneven terrain but no real hills.   

There are plenty of scenic photo ops along this trail, with view of the pond, rocky edges, or reflections, depending on your angle.

 

The most popular hike at Fahnestock

My big summer getaway was going to be a trip to the Adirondacks to hike some fire towers. But under COVID, everything changed. The admonition to "stay local" plus the risks of travel led me instead to a camping trip at Fahnestock State Park, an hour away.   

 

I drove up there Monday morning, which turned out to be the hottest day in a very humid week. For my first hike, I chose what I correctly suspected was the most popular one - a hike along the AT to a viewpoint overlooking Canopus Lake. 

On my first visit to the park, I had done this hike; this time, I went further north along the AT to Shenandoah Mountain. I saw six groups/solo hikers, including one group of about a dozen people, only two of whom were wearing masks. In general, the hikers I saw this day were the least likely to mask up when they encountered people. 

At the overlook, pictured above, I could see and hear the beach-goers at Canopus Lake. But I didn't linger, since standing in the sun was hot.   



Shenandoah Mountain, above, had a nice view - one of the better views I was to see on this trip. It was worth the added distance. Plus, the crowds dropped off dramatically after the overlook.

At just over 4 miles one-way, or 8 round-trip, this was the longest hike I did - no record-setter, to be sure, but the weather was brutal. Plus I'm still not in my finest fighting trim.

Heading on up to the Bronx

I had told myself that come July, as long as NYC was still on the right track, I'd try taking the subway.

So I put a bandana on over my mask and hopped on the 1 train up to Van Cortlandt Park. The train was relatively empty, even though it was "rush hour" - albeit the wrong direction. Everyone masked up and kept a social distance.



I spent the morning pulling up mugwort, then took a short hike. The hike was not particularly notable for its route or length, only 4.5 miles. However, I did get to see the brand-new goats!

Perhaps it was my imagination, but the animals seemed to be more abundant - I saw a bunny, and an infinite number of chipmunks. And it definitely wasn't my imagination that the Putnam Trail was now paved. It was still closed off, because the project isn't finished, but the paving is there.



I discovered that I am not in great shape, as the mugwort left me incredibly sore. However, I already knew I wasn't in great shape from Sunday, when I biked seven miles and burned out my quads. Note to self, walking isn't strength training ...

However, it was absolutely exciting to get to a place I haven't been in months, and even the less wild sections of the park looked amazing after the manicured parks near me.

As long as our COVID rates stay low and the trains are empty, I feel safe taking the subway maybe once a week. I'm nervous about traveling too long, or multimodally, still, and and all of this will change if infection rates start to rise again in NYC.