Jiggs Highway/ Waterfalls Trail(Capital District Wildlife Management Area-Rensselaer County)

Took a break from changing diapers to do a little wintry exploring up on the Rensselaer Plateau this afternoon at the Capital District Wildlife Management Area.  Elevation to start at the north entrance to "Jiggs Highway" is well over 1700 feet, so as expected the snow was plentiful.  Bluebird skies and no wind meant very pleasant conditions for this late autumn walk.

Followed the tire tracks broken out on Jiggs Highway by a 4 wheel drive vehicle, stopping briefly to check out the large, picturesque pond that sits just off the road. This pond is a dyked pond originally built to provide water for the CCC crews that built the place in the 1930's.(thanks for the info PeterR)

Back on the "highway", it was a very serene walk through about 7 inches of snow in a wintry forest.

Temperatures have stayed well below freezing since the snowfall, meaning that most of the trees still cling to a decent snow cover.  A light breeze and filtered sunshine made for a neat look as the road passes through deep woods.

Near the south end of the Jiggs Highway, I broke off onto the Waterfalls Trail, which closely follows the Black River.  I followed this to the point where the trail crosses the creek, turning back there and retracing my steps back to the road.

Once back on the Jiggs Highway, it was a very short walk over to Miller Road, which is a town maintained road that would take me back to my car. 

Wetlands along Miller Road.

Miller Road is a very quiet and scenic country road that sees minimal traffic(I saw no cars my entire walk).

Followed Miller Road all the way back north to my car, completing a large loop. Hiked about 3.3 miles total with 400 feet of combined ascent, and didn't see another soul all day.

Torrens Hook(Phoenicia-Mount Tobias Wild Forest-Catskills)

Took advantage of some free time today by heading down to the Catskills to bushwhack Torrens Hook, an obscure 1696 foot peak that is unnamed on topographic maps and sits north of the Ashokan Reservoir. I parked along the shoulder of Bostock Road(Elevation 1195 feet), almost directly across from North Slope Road, where DEP land meets the road from the north.  Crossing the road here, I followed yellow blazes of a DEC easement that allows public access to state land further up the ridge to the south.

I tried my best to follow the easement, although it was quite difficult in spots and after nearly 1/4 of a mile I hit state land.  I clung tight to the steep east facing slopes and quickly found good views through the trees of nearby Ticetonyck Mountain to the northeast.

Continuing south along the steep east facing slopes, I found more through the trees views of a large chunk of the Ashokan Reservoir.

 

Most of the views were filtered, but some small windows provided slightly better view points.

 

I followed the ridge all the way south until I hit the edge of state land, where the woods are wide open.

Heading up to the wooded 1696 foot summit, with screened views all around.

From the true summit I headed west for about 3/10 of a mile to a slightly lower high point on the ridge.  To the north, Piney Point's ridge can be seen through the bare trees.

I continued SW off the summit, to a broad area of open woods and more filtered views to the southwest towards the Reservoir and Ashokan High Point.

One of the better views I found, towards West Shokan with South Mountain just beyond.

A nice and easy bushwhack back up and over the ridge north brought me easily back to the easement trail and then to the car.  A very pleasant 2.6 miles RT with 700 feet of ascent on a pleasant late fall day.

Map below.  Red P=Parking   Red X=Summit