Bentley's Karst Preserve(Town of Berlin, Rensselaer County)

Got out for a little hike this afternoon at the Hudson Taconic Lands 91 acre Bentley's Karst Preserve along the eastern escarpment of the Rensselaer Plateau under early winter conditions.  Got started from the  new and improved parking area(Elevation 900 feet) off of Route 22 in Berlin which is much more accessible than the old one was.

As I set out on the yellow blazed trail, the snow was falling quite heavily, and seemingly picking up by the minute.

The fresh snowfall made for perfect wintry conditions and I felt a true sense of peace and solitude in the quiet woods.

A steady climb brought me up towards a large set of cliffs, where Bentley's Cave can be found.  Visiting the cave wasn't on the agenda today, however.

 

A steady snowfall on a pool of standing water near Bentley's Cave.

Beyond the cave and high spot on the trail, at over 1250 feet, a steady descent brings you back down towards Route 22.

 

Completed the full loop and eventually dropped back down to the car under a heavy snow squall.  By the time I got back to the car, there was probably over 3 inches on the ground.  Covered about 1.5 miles with over 350 feet of ascent.  

 

Wagon Wheel Notch(New DEC Acquisition/ Sundown Wild Forest-Catskills)

Headed down to the Catskills today to check out a large area of new state land just south of the Ashokan Reservoir and east of Ashokan High Point.  The 900 acre acquisition is the largest addition to the Catskills in well over a decade and I have been anxiously waiting for the opportunity to visit the land.  Today, that opportunity finally presented itself, so I parked at the corner of High Point Mountain Road and Ulster County Route 3(Elevation 775 feet) and set out on a cool, breezy fall morning.

Followed a good woods road west, passing by stone walls-a Catskill staple- along the way.

Initially the terrain was fairly flat and easy going, with just a bit of ascent.  As the woods road I was on swung to the south, I left it and bushwhacked west, quickly finding steeper slopes and ledge bands.

Stumbled across a small quarry and quarry road a bit further up the mountain.

The slopes of the mountain were steep, but very open and easy to navigate.  As I neared the summit area, screened views back down to the valley began to open up behind me.  

Made my way over to an obvious area of wide open ledges, with spectacular views west, across Wagon Wheel Notch, towards Ashokan Cobble aka Little High Point.

Great views NW from the eastern ledges on Wagon Wheel Notch towards Cornell, Wittenburg, Samuels Point and Mount Pleasant.

Views west/ southwest towards the ledges on the west side of the Notch.

After enjoying the views, I continued a short ascent up the 1560 foot summit of Little Point.

From the top, I carefully made my way down, in search of a safe descent into the Notch.  Although the views were great, there was no clear route, with nearly vertical ledge bands dropping down into the Notch, forcing me much further south than originally planned.

With no way down into the Notch, I carefully weaved my way south to the very edge of state land, directly over CR 3 and a residence steeply below a large cliff band.

 

After a heart pumping climb west around a long series of ledge bands, the woods thankfully opened back up for more pleasant bushwhacking. 

Once back in the open woods, it was an easy 'whack north towards the west ledges on Wagon Wheel Gap, with a very steep drop off below.

Numerous view points opened up from a series of ledges with the last of fall's fleeting colors hanging on down in the valley to the south.

Views across the Notch towards Little Point and the east ledges that I had just been on.

Wide open views south to the Gunks.

I was able to find more and more views from the west ledges, with this view east towards Little Point and a sliver of the Ashokan Reservoir visible, with Overlook Mountain beyond.

j

Amazing views east over a large swath of the Ashokan Reservoir.

Zoom view of the Reservoir.

As I made my way north along the west ledges, I was able to find one last view back across the Notch towards Little Point. 

Finding a route down from the west ledges was also a challenge, as I had to make my way north for quite a distance, before finally finding a safe descent.  Once down, I found this view south into the northern entrance of Wagon Wheel Notch.

A good woods road lead me east around Little Point's north slopes before it left state land and left me to bushwhack the rest of the way.  Along the way, I literally stumbled upon this large vernal pond on the east slopes of Little Point.

From the vernal pond, a nice and easy descent east brought me down to my car.  Covered about 4 miles total, with 1200 feet of ascent.

Map below.   Red P=Parking    Red X=Little Point summit   Blue X's=Ledges 

Littles Lake(Town of Colonie, Albany County)

 In honor of my father, who unexpectedly passed away last week.  

Did a short, local hike at Littles Lake in the town of Colonie on a brisk November morning.  This 25 acre property is a wooded oasis along Van Rensselaer Boulevard and makes for a perfect escape from the nearby hustle and bustle.

Covered all of the trails here for a total of about 1.1 miles.
 

Windham High Peak via Bushwhack(Windham-Blackhead Wilderness-Catskills)

Took advantage of a beautiful fall day and headed down to the Catskills to take a different route up a familiar mountain.  There are a few different trail options to access 3524 foot Windham High Peak, but today my objective was to bushwhack up to the summit from DEP land(NYC Watershed) along Big Hollow Road to the south.  I parked in a large field near a DEP sign(Elevation 1965 feet) and headed north through the field and into the woods.

Within just a couple of minutes, I picked up a wide and easy to follow woods road that was ablaze in fall foliage.

There are a myriad of woods roads on the south slopes of Windham High Peak, but I stuck to the one that closely hugs a drainage to gain some elevation.  As I got higher up on the mountain, I opted to leave the woods road and do some true bushwhacking through the beautiful forest.

Fall colors are well past peak at this elevation, but there are small pockets were the foliage is still hanging on and even "popping".

Nearing the set of ledges that were today's main objective, around 3200 feet.

From atop these ledges, views south towards the across Big Hollow began to really open up.

From an open, off trail ledge, this view provides a unique SE view towards Burnt Knob and Acra Point.

From the same ledge, nice views towards the Blackheads.

Lesser SW views across Big Hollow towards Hunter Mountain from a different off trail ledge.

After enjoying the views from the ledges, I continued my ascent up through a couple more large cliff bands.

Eventually I made my way up to the blue Escarpment Trail, where it was an easy climb up towards the summit.

Summit views east towards edge of the escarpment and into the Hudson Valley.

Broad NE views towards Albany and the Hudson Valley.

Continued up and over the true summit and onto another ledge, with great views towards the Blackhead Range(Left to Right-Blackhead, Black Dome and Thomas Cole).

After enjoying the summit views, and only seeing one couple on trail, it was back into the woods to bushwhack back down the mountain.  I quickly picked up the woods road once again and easily made my way back down towards the car.

Utilizing woods roads made for a speedy descent, and I covered about 5.2 miles RT, with 1650 feet of total climbing.  An absolutely beautiful fall day in the northern Catskills.  

Map below.  Blue P=Parking   Blue X=Summit    Black X=Ledges 

Camels "Bump"(Dix Mountain Wilderness/ Eastern High Peaks Wilderness-Adirondacks)

Finally got out for a real autumn hike, heading up into the Adirondacks to do some off trail exploring in the Dix Mountain/ Eastern High Peaks Wilderness near the Northway.  The goal for the day was to utilize the lightly used West Mill Brook access trail/ road to the west side of the Northway and eventually bushwhack up to a small, 2405 foot rocky knob NE of Camels Hump, dubbed Camels Bump.  It is possible to drive all the way to the gate and state land, but I do not have a high clearance vehicle so I simply parked along Route 9(Elevation 985 feet) and walked the 1.1 miles along the rough road.  The walk was uneventful, although there is one stream crossing, which was a non issue.

Fall conditions were simply perfect on this day, with temperatures close to 60 and a carpet of fallen leaves underfoot.

The access road/trail is in remarkably good condition for not being a maintained trail and basically parallels West Mill Brook for over 3 miles before finally petering out. 

After a 3+ mile walk, the trail is lost somewhere around a large and scenic wetland deep in the valley between Camels "Bump"and the eastern slopes of Macomb Mountain.

A wonderful area to explore, the wetlands provide marvelous views NE to Buck and Bear Mountain's(which are also both great bushwhack peaks).

West facing views towards the dazzling fall colors on Macomb's lower slopes.

After enjoying the wetland views, I headed southeast into the woods, bushwhacking steeply up towards Camels "Bump".  It was mostly easy going through hardwoods down low, but became more mixed, with more scratchy spruce up high.  I was able to find one nice east facing view on my way up into the many peaks of the Hammond Pond Wild Forest.

The woods opened up to several areas of moss covered rock as I neared the summit.

One final, steep push brought me up to the wide open, rocky summit cone of Camels "Bump".  The views were nothing short of spectacular.  This is a look north towards(L-R) Grace, Wyman, Bear and Buck Mountains, with Giant and RPR in the distance beyond.

Incredible views SW, with Sunrise Mountain rising to the right and the Niagara Brook valley below.

A look to the true summit of Camels Hump, just over half a mile away, to the south.

North views towards Macomb and Grace Peak.

Looking directly across the deep valley at Macomb Mountain's east slopes.

At a lower ledge, a view SE towards neighboring Camel Mountain, with more fall foliage all around.

Looking back up towards the open summit of the knob.

After enjoying the views, a steep descent NE through mostly open hardwoods brought me down to the West Mill Brook trail once again.  

Once back on the road, it was an easy hike back to the car.  Covered 8.2 miles round trip and over 1450 feet and didn't see another soul all day on a spectacular fall day.

Map Below.  Blue P=Parked Car      Blue X=Camels "Bump" summit     Red X=Wetland