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.
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.
Now that we live in Tennessee, I miss roaming around in the snow-covered woods. We did get 6in. this year but never got to enjoy it.
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