Cross Mountain via Traver Hollow(Slide Mountain Wilderness-Catskills)

Took advantage of a beautiful late winter day by heading down to the Catskills to do a part trail/ part bushwhack hike up to Cross Mountain in the Slide Mountain Wilderness.  Got started from deep in Traver Hollow near the end of Bradkin Road(Elevation 1075 feet), bushwhacking west into the woods and almost immediately picked up an old woods road, steadily gaining elevation.

After a bit of climbing, I left the woods road and bushwhacked over to one of the branches of Traver Hollow Brook, which was flowing nicely following recent snow melt and rain.

I followed the brook up, slowly but steadily climbing through the open hardwoods, with occasional views of Mount Pleasant's long SE ridge to my northeast.

The ascent was pretty straightforward and a typical Catskill bushwhack.

Most of my route up the mountain was due west, closely paralleling a branch of Traver Hollow Brook, where I enjoyed many small cataracts pouring down the steep slopes.

The terrain grew increasingly steeper above 2000 feet, until I hit a massive ring of cliffs just below the marked trail at around 2650 feet.

This section of the bushwhack proved to be the toughest part of the day, as I had to carefully weave my way up through the steep ledges.  Once I made it up, I almost immediately hit the Long Path, and then quickly arrived at a spectacular view point on the marked trail.  Looming over 1000 feet above and less than a mile away to the west is Wittenburg Mountain.  

From the same rocky clearing, the view north is a bit obscured by treetops, but quite nice and unique too.  Much of the northern Catskills can be seen from this vantage point.

After leaving the barren, rocky clearing, I descended on the trail for a short distance, before circling over to another steep set of ledges to the east.  I momentarily left the trail, pushing my way through a spruce tree, and voila...a majestic, sprawling view to the east unfolds.  This view looks directly up Traver Hollow, with Mount Pleasant's slopes to the left and Samuels Point to the right.  in the center is Ticetonyck Mountain with a sliver of the Ashokan Reservoir just beyond.

From the same ledge, looking north at neighboring Mount Pleasant.

Back on the trail, I encountered my first area of ice for the day on a spot known as the grand staircase(an area of stone steps created by trail workers), but even that was minimal and only in shaded sections.

 

I continued north on the trail for over a mile towards Cross Mountain, with occasional filtered views through the trees.  Once on Cross Mountain, just before the summit area, I found some very nice views back across Traver Hollow towards Wittenburg once again.

Looking directly across Traver Hollow at the ridge connecting Samuels Point and Wittenburg.

 

From the same spot, nice views towards the Ashokan Reservoir and Samuels Point.

Just a short distance beyond that vantage point was yet another view, with a slightly different perspective of the Reservoir.

After enjoying the views, I climbed up the remaining 1/10 of a mile to Cross Mountain's wooded 2503 foot summit.  The Long Path continues north from here over towards Mount Pleasant but this was my end destination for the day, so it was time for me to head back down.

 

After leaving the summit I immediately left the trail, dropping steeply back down the east slopes of the mountain down into Traver Hollow.  A slow SE descent eventually dropped me back down to Traver Hollow Brook, which I followed all the way back down to my car.

Another wonderful day in the woods, covering about 5 RT miles and 1700 feet of combined ascent.  Side note:  Ticks are back.

Map below for reference.

Blue X=Parking        Black X's=Views

 

Kaaterskill Clove Ledges, Palenville Overlook, and Indian Head(Kaaterskill Wild Forest-Catskills)

 Spring Fever!  With temps soaring through the 60's and any snow or ice disappearing quickly, I decided to head down to the Catskills to do some exploring in Kaaterskill Clove from the bottom up.  Started from Harding Road Trailhead along Route 23A(Elevation 695 feet) and was not surprised to see several cars already there on this pleasant spring morning.  Started out pretty straightforward, climbing steadily along the old road bed, quickly gaining elevation above the depths of the Clove.

At a sharp bend in the road, just under a mile into my hike, I left the marked trail and headed into the woods, following a good herd path, which is used mostly by rock climbers.  Just a few moments into the woods, however, I split from the main herd path and picked up a secondary path which heads east.

The rough herd path quickly dissolved, but the woods remained open and easy to navigate, as I made my way along the edge of the steep slopes of the Clove.  Several nice view points opened up along the way down towards Route 23A.

An off trail view down towards Palenville from about 1300 feet.

Circling around the remains of an old quarry, I found some really spectacular views to the east/ southeast.

More off trail views towards Kaaterskill High Peak and Roundtop from an abandoned quarry.

As I made my way up the slopes, the contours lined only grew tighter, as view after view opened up behind me.  Here is a large clearing around 1500 feet, with nice views back south across Kaaterskill Clove.

The stone work near the quarry roads is quite impressive and one can only marvel at the hard work and labor put in by these 19th century workers.

A bit further up the mountain, and only a couple hundred feet below Palenville Overlook, I found more spectacular off trail views from more ledges.

A large area of jumbled rocks near another abandoned quarry below Palenville Overlook.

Just below the marked horse trail, I picked up an old quarry road, which was in good shape and lead me right up to Palenville Overlook.

 

 Just prior to the marked trail, I found one more great view from the quarry road.  This is the wide open view east to the Hudson Valley.

 

Just a few strides past the last view, I arrived at the historic Palenville Overlook, with its amazing views.  This view encompasses much of Kaaterskill Clove, with Route 23 threading its way down deep and Indian Head to the right.  The familiar view of KHP and Roundtop across the Clove.

Killer views southeast across Palenville and much of the Hudson Valley.

After enjoying the views from Palenville Overlook, I followed the marked trail and then herd path over to Indian Head/ Profile Rock, which is just as spectacular.  Here is an amazing up close view of the slopes of South Mountain across a nearby drainage.

A dizzying drop off below Indian Head down to Route 23A(A spot historically known as Tremper's Clove) makes this a popular rock climbing destination.

Kaaterskill Clove views from Indian Head.

From Indian Head, looking east at Palenville Overlook and into the Hudson Valley.

After all of the incredible views, I finally decided to turn back and retrace my steps down off the mountain, exploring a bit more off trail below the quarry roads and even found this large vernal pond down low.

An easy bushwhack eventually brought me down to Harding Road, which I followed back down to the car.  Covered about 5 miles RT, with over 1200 feet of ascent.

Rough map below.  Blue P=Parking   Blue X=Indian Head   Black X=Palenville Overlook

Numerous unmarked ledges below P.O. and Indian Head
 

Bozen Kill Preserve(Town of Guilderland, Albany County)

Headed out into rural Albany County to visit the new 225 acre addition to the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy's Bozen Kill Preserve, accessed from the end of Bond Road.  There was just enough snow to support the use of snowshoes, so I put them on and headed out past the brand new kiosk and onto the trails.

 

A nice, smooth snowshoe track made for smooth sailing as I initially set out on the green blazed West Trail.  This trail is mostly level, but closely hugs the edge of the deep ravine of the Bozen Kill, offering up screened views to the south.

From the green trail, I then picked up the scenic red marked Birch Hill Trail, which basically heads east.

Stopped briefly to enjoy the view north across a sprawling wetland from the red trail.

After picking up the orange blazes of the Upper Main Trail heading south, I jumped onto the Ridge Trail, blazed with yellow trail markers.

The Ridge Trail hugs the upper rim of a deep ravine and provides some of the best views that I was able to find.  Here is a view SE towards Altamont, with the edge of the Helderberg escarpment to the right.

 

I turned around on the Ridge Trail just before the steep drop down to the lower trails along the Bozen Kill, heading back north and then east, eventually to the white blazes of the Hemlock Loop Trail.

The Hemlock Loop Trail also provides more screened and peek a boo views to the south from the edge of a steep ravine wall.

 

After completing the Hemlock Loop, I took the orange and red trails back to the car, covering about 3.3 miles total on a halfway decent winter day.  I'd like to tip my hat once again to the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy on a wonderful job on this newest addition to the preserve.  Thank you for all you do.

Kinderhook Creek Preserve(Town of Nassau, Rensselaer County)

Got out for the first time in months late this afternoon, taking a quiet stroll at the Kinderhook Creek Preserve on a brisk winter day.  Covered about 2 miles total and sure felt nice to get out and stretch my legs.

 

More Life Changes

Hope everyone is having a great New Year and enjoying the outdoors if they are able to.  I just wanted to take a moment to give an update on why I have been absent the last couple of months.  As alluded to in previous posts,  my wife and I have been going through a long and difficult pregnancy, but thankfully in late December we welcomed our second son into the world.  Both he and my wife are both doing well and I feel so incredibly blessed.  Having a newborn and a just turned two year old toddler can, however, be quite time consuming, so I've been unable to get out much lately.  I hope to get out a bit more sooner than later and explore new areas.  I appreciate all of you who follow my blog and look forward to what 2025 has to offer!

Unnamed Rounds Mountain North Summit(Misery Mountain WMA/ Taconic Ridge State Forest-Berkshires/Taconics)

With a just turned two year old toddler and an 8 month pregnant wife at home, my opportunities to get out hiking are very limited these days, but I was able to take advantage of a rare afternoon free to do a little exploring close to home in the nearby Taconics.  I decided to explore an east ridge of Rounds Mountain from Kittle Road on the Massachusetts side of the peak, up to an obscure summit north of the named peak.  Parked in an unmarked pull off on the north side of the road(Elevation 1500 feet) and headed north through an open meadow with nice views back towards Jiminy Peak's ski slopes.

Above the meadow I slowly gained elevation heading north through an open hardwood forest.  Once I gained the ridge, I turned NW and continued my climb towards the New York state border.

Hitting the yellow blazes of the NYS DEC at the state line, around 2080 feet elevation.

Once in New York, I continued my ascent NW high above the drainage of Jones Brook, with filtered views east towards Brodie Mountain.

I headed due west below the summit, crossing momentarily over the Taconic Crest Trail in search of some peek a boo views out over rural Stephentown, NY.

West views from a small break in the trees towards the Rensselaer Plateau.

 

The west side of the summit was pretty exposed through the bare trees and being battered with strong winds, making it feel quite a bit colder than it actually was.  The true summit sits at 2458 feet and sits unassumingly a few feet off the marked Taconic Crest Trail, which traverses the peak north to south.

 

Once I hit the top, I headed back SE towards Massachusetts and my waiting car, barely beating the early November sunset.  Covered about 3.1 miles RT, with 1000 feet of climbing.