Hook Mountain hike

This weekend's hike visited the Palisades north of New Jersey. Having hiked above and below the Palisades farther south, I thought I knew what to expect - trails that were quite flat (except, of course, the few connector trails between the top of the Palisades and the Hudson shoreline). The trails turned out to be hillier than expected, with more variety.

We began in Nyack and hiked north along the bike path along the shore. This trail was mostly flat, but not completely, as it eventually wandered higher than the shore but below the steep cliffs. We stopped at the end of the trail, labelled "Treason Rock" on the NYNJ Trail Conference map, although there was no evidence of said rock at that location. There was a historical marker regarding Benedict Arnold's plans for treason, but we were a bit let down not to find an actual rock.

From there, we headed uphill to the Long Path and then south. This was where the trail was much more rolling than I expected, as we went up and down several hills. We left the Long Path when we hit the highway and circled around Rockland Lake.

The hike ended a bit short by Ramblers standards, at 11.3 miles, but it was a very pleasant hike.

Return to South Mountain

I last hiked South Mountain about three years ago, alone and in the summer. This time, I went with a friend on a snowy winter's day. Of course, I managed to get us lost, which is somewhat embarrassing when you hike with someone for the first time, but you can't get really and truly lost in the park.

The old mill is still fun to explore, although the nearby bridge was closed off. Hemlock Falls, as you can see above, was actually more spectacular when frozen. I had forgotten entirely about the Washington Rock, with its plaque honoring George, which was entirely appropriate for President's Day.

Despite the falling snow, it was warmer than on my hike of the previous day. The only downside was that the snow blanketed out the overlook of Millburn, although frankly that's not the highlight of the trip anyway.

Edited to add: I can't believe I forgot the best part of the hike! Early on, we saw a fox bouncing through the backyard of one of the houses that abuts the park.

Hiking Anthony's Nose

We had planned to hike Anthony's Nose today, and we weren't about to let a little thing like record cold stop us. Besides, it was a clear, bright day in spite of the chilly temps.

From Manitou, we hiked up to the Appalachian Trail and then onto the Camp Smith Trail. We spent a few seconds trying to figure out how to get to the Philips Mine, but it was too cold to wander, so we gave up. The trail goes up to Anthony's Nose, down again, up again, down again, up again, and finally down. Unfortunately, the end of the Camp Smith Trail is right on highway 9D, so there is about a mile of roadwalk with little to no shoulder. Eventually, at an intersection, a walking path appears, and the rest of the walk to Peekskill is safer. We didn't GPS the hike but it was probably 6-7 miles.

The view here is from Anthony's Nose, looking at Bear Mountain and the Bear Mountain Bridge.

Blackhead, again

I had planned to hike Blackhead in winter at last year's Winter Weekend, but the hike was called off the night before. Now it remained as my final required winter peak.

On my summer hike of Blackhead, I'd done it with Black Dome and Thomas Cole as a shuttle hike. In my blog post about it, I'd written, "We took the steepest [route], starting up the Batavia Kill Trail to Blackhead. Unlike Windham, this trail was pure Catskills - rocky and steep. (Blackhead is also a required winter peak; that approach is not recommended in winter.)" Take a guess as to the route we took up Blackhead this time ...

Our leader had also warned that there might be some nasty icy parts and had brought a rope and an ice axe. As it turned out, we didn't need either. There was enough recent snow that the icy climbs had some traction.

We also lucked out in that it was few degrees warmer than the previous day - plus clear and sunny. There are several nice views through trees on the way up, even though it's evergreens from a much lower elevation than most Catskills hikes. The best view, though, is coming off of Blackhead towards Black Dome, with a clear view of Black Dome and Hunter.  (In the photo below, Black Dome is right up front, with Hunter off to the left, recognizable by its ski trails.)

We came out on the Black Dome Trail, back to Batavia Kill, a less rocky approach. Although I felt as though we were hiking more slowly than on the previous day's hike, we still were done quickly. The amount of snow was just enough to smooth out the rocks without impeding our path.

Now, I have all four winter peaks done, and 28 of the 35 finished.

Panther, again

What do you do when a blizzard of epic proportions is heading towards you? Go to the mountains!

It sounds counterintuitive, but the Catskills were a better place to be this weekend than New York City. The snow blanketing the east coast reached only as far north as Poughkeepsie, and we made sure to get out of the city before it started falling. The Catskills already have snow, although much less than normal, and none of it fresh, meaning that driving and hiking was easy.

On Saturday I hiked Panther with the Catskills 3500 Club for the second time. Panther is one of the four hikes you need to do a second time in winter, and I'd already done that last year on the official last day of winter, March 21. I'd hoped to do my other climb in another season, but it was the only hike being offered on Saturday that I still needed. So I strapped on my microspikes and headed up.

The weather was bitterly cold, so there wasn't a lot of lingering. This is kind of a shame, as Panther has some nice views, most particularly at the Giant Ledge. (There is a view at the summit, but it's not as expansive as the Giant Ledge.) Still, even after a ten-minute pause at the top for a snack, I had to get moving again to get the chill out.