Thunder Mountain(Greenwich, Washington County)

With temps soaring through the 60's and into the low 70's, I had to take the opportunity to get out and do a little exploring.  Sitting in an unassuming little corner of Washington County, the town of Greenwich is very rural in character, with backroads passing through rolling hills and farmland.  Just north of the village on the east side of North Road, the Village of Greenwich Recreational Park offers one of the few hiking options in the county.  The parking area sits at the end of a quarter mile dirt access road(which can be very muddy-like today).  A kiosk with trail map is found in the corner of the parking lot.

Dropping directly down beyond the kiosk, the yellow trail arrives at the shore of a small, pretty pond.  Even with the sun pushing temps into the 60's, the shaded pond remained mostly ice covered.

I continued around the pond, climbing up through a dark, red pine plantation, before eventually entering a deciduous forest near the top of Thunder Mountain. 

From the top of the small peak, a nice, framed view to the south can be found towards Schuyler, Whelden and Willard Mountains.  Unfortunately, posted signs prevent you from going out further into the clearing for better views.

I continued the yellow trail loop, dropping down the NW slopes of the peak and back to the quickly melting ice covered pond.

Leaving the muddy trails down near the pond, the red marked trail quietly climbs back up to the east, where drier ground can be found.

At a high point on the red trail, you will pass beneath power lines that offer up long distance views to both the east and west.  Here, near a bench, the east facing view stretches all the way into Vermont.

Continuing west under the power lines, the west facing views reach into the Hudson River valley and Saratoga County.

Once back down low and into the shaded woods, the dry trails quickly transition back into mud and ice.

Nearing the parking lot to complete my hike, I suddenly heard a lot of buzzing nearby.  Much to my surprise a beekeeping operation sits just a few mere yards off the trail.  Luckily the bees were more interested in the honey than they were to me.

My car read 70 degrees as I put the windows down for the ride home.  A nice little gem of a park, with 2.3 miles of hiking and 450 feet of elevation gain.