Boehme Legacy Forest(Town of Grafton, Rensselaer County)

Visited the Hudson Taconic Lands brand new 209 acre Boehme Legacy Forest, located off of Jay Hakes Road in the town of Grafton on a picture perfect spring day.  The property sits high up on the Rensselaer Plateau and offers over 2.5 miles of marked trails to explore.  White and yellow marked trails start behind a kiosk in the far corner of the crushed stone parking lot(Elevation 1160 feet)

I first opted to take the yellow blazed David Hunt Trail, which meanders its way through a dark forest, before dropping down to an impressive steel bridge crossing over the Quacken Kill.

The beautiful Quacken Kill, a high quality trout stream.

Once across the bridge, the trail almost immediately begins a steep climb up the east slopes of Bunker Hill.

A steady ascent brings you up to the fairly open 1430 foot summit of Bunker Hill.

The summit offers nice southwest facing views from a rocky clearing.

Dropping down steeply to an impressive set of rock ledges just below the summit area.

From the summit area, I continued on the yellow trail, eventually looping back down to the bridge crossing over the Quacken Kill and then onto the the white blazed Louise Boehme Trail.  This trail closely follows the creek, which for the most part sits down a steep slope below you.  I did manage to find one nice area of cascades just a few yards off trail.

The trail, as mentioned, hugs the creek much of its route, bending sharply at an area where the water turns more mellow and slow moving.

A much quieter Quacken Kill than the rushing waters just downstream near the bridge crossing.

I completed the remaining part of the white trail, which leaves the waters edge and soon brought me right back to my car in the parking lot.  A very nice addition to the Hudson Taconic Lands in a beautiful area of the Rensselar Plateau.  Covered about 2.7 miles total, with 600 feet of ascent.

Map below.  

Red P=Parking      Blue=David Hunt Trail       Black= Louise Boehme Trail          Red X=View

 

Palmertown Range via Potter Point(Moreau Lake State Park, NY)

Did some exploring in a quiet corner of the Moreau Lake State Park, starting at the very end of Potter Road at the north end of Palmertown Mountain(Elevation 415 feet).  Walked the access road for about 1/10 of a mile before turning onto an unmarked path, which drops down to the Hudson River.  I was greeted there with scenic river views, as well as a little bit of ice in a couple tiny coves.

From Potter Point, looking back upstream.

After enjoying Potter Point and the Hudson River, I headed back up to the access road, and then walked west for a little over 1/3 of a mile, before heading south into the open woods.  Within just a few moments, I found myself climbing steeply up Palmertown Mountain's slopes on another unmarked path.  I left the path fairly quickly, opting to bushwhack and explore the terrain instead.

After a short but steep ascent, I swung over towards the western slopes of the mountain, which drop off dramatically down towards the river.  The woods were very open and easy to navigate.

Arriving at the first view spot, with very nice views west across the Hudson River.

SW views up the Hudson River, with Palmertown Range and Spier Falls Road left.

From the view spot, I took an ATV trail east, climbing up towards Palmertown's wooded 1040 foot summit, which sits off trail and is marked with pink flagging.

 

Back on the ATV trail, I continued my way south along the ridge, crossing the power lines.

Just beyond the power lines, a short climb up brings you to another good view spot, with a glimpse SW towards the Hudson.

 

From the same vantage point, the view west towards the mountains around Corinth.

Back on the ATV trail, continuing my way south towards the next high spot on the ridge.

Leaving the trail, I headed down towards a steep, rocky area of ledges below the high spot.

From the ledges, the view SW looks directly down towards the Spier Falls Dam, with Grant Mountain left.

The view west is quite nice from the area of off trail ledges.

A steep climb brought me back up to the ATV trail, which I utilized to make my way back north along the ridge.  Near the north end of the summit ridge, I left the trail and bushwhacked my way back down to the access road, which I then followed all the way back to my car.  A wonderful spring day and fun little adventure.  Covered about 4.3 miles RT, with 900 feet of ascent.

Map Below.    Blue P=Parking   Blue X's=Views

 

 

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 contour lines 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