Escarpment Trail(Capital District Wildlife Management Area-Rensselaer County)

With an iffy forecast today, I decided to stay close to home and explore an area just east of Cherry Plain State Park and part of the larger Capital District Wildlife Management Area along the Escarpment Trail.  While this is a well known area for summer swimming and fall hunting, it has never been an incredibly popular hiking area, which is fine with me. I parked in the designated parking lot east and uphill off Miller Road(and just east of Black River Pond)and got started at an elevation of 1465 feet.  As expected, I was the only car in the lot when I arrived.  The trail is marked in yellow and leaves the east corner of the parking lot, heading uphill northeast following old logging roads.

While spring is coming to life in the valleys, the woods are a bit further behind at this elevation and there is quiet stillness to the trails.  There has been extensive logging in these woods over the years, which has left behind large swaths of prickers and briars to contend with, although thankfully not fully grown in yet. 

Up and over 1700 feet and just west of the trail I spotted a large open area that looked like it had been logged so I decided to give it a look.  Once off trail the woods were wide open and easy to navigate over to the clear cut area.  The logged area, unfortunately, was inundated with thick prickers so it was slow going from here.  I did manage to find some nice west facing views from a small open knob.  The hills just west of Cherry Plain can be easily seen, and from here it is clear why they call these high elevation woods the Rensselaer Plateau.

Back in the open hardwoods, I came across handsome old stone walls.

A short bushwhack brought me back over to the yellow blazed trail, which continues east, soon crossing a pretty tributary of West Brook.

Just a few yards off trail and near the stream crossing is a large beaver meadow. 

If you were to ever spot a moose, this seemed like the perfect, rugged spot.

Continuing east, the trail soon comes to Shaeffer Road, which is no longer maintained in this section.  Today, it is used as a snowmobile corridor. 

The escarpment trail follows Shaeffer Road north for a very short distance before heading back into the woods, heading east.  This junction can easily be missed if not paying attention, but it is found at the edge of a large clearing.  Once back into the woods, the trail hugs the eastern edge of state land, coming very close to Buck Rock which unfortunately sits on private land.  Continuing north, I soon arrived at an even larger logged area at around 1900 feet, looking north.

 

The yellow blazes head right through the logged area, so I followed along, carefully avoided down trees and branches which littered the ground.  The silver lining to this open clear cut, are the good views east towards Misery Mountain and the Taconic Range, which were shrouded in low clouds and drizzle. 

With a little bit of a steadier rain starting to fall, I decided to turn around at the north edge of the logged area and headed back.  I did make one small pit stop off trail about 1/10 of a mile, atop the wooded 1935 foot "peak" just NW of Buck Rock

A nice and easy return hike on the yellow trail brought me back to the car, with a light rain shower falling on my head.  Hiked about 3.8 miles RT(mostly trail/some bushwhack), with 800 feet of combined ascent.  Didn't see another person the entire day.