Borden's Pond

The 62-acre Borden's Pond Conservation Area lies on the outskirts of the village of Chatham and offers  nearly 2 miles of woodland hiking.  Owned and maintained by the Columbia County Land Conservancy, the property offers a unique variety of habitat as well as a storied history. Colder temperatures have returned to the area following our recent warm spell which actually made for better walking on the frozen snow today.

 Borden's Pond is now an extinct pond, but was originally created in the 1920's by the Borden Mil Company to harvest ice for dairy products.  Presently it is a large wetland with a seasonal stream that flows from a dammed area and follows trail side for a distance.

 There are several small seasonal streams throughout the property.  This small stream on a hillside had a small area of running water in plain view.  If you listened closely, you could hear the sounds of running water buried beneath the still deep snow pack as well.

 The stream meandering through the woods along the trail.

 A charming little shed which I presume holds tools and equipment for trail improvements sits further along the trail

 As I climbed steeply from the green trail up to the yellow and red trails, the setting sun could be seen just over the treeline radiating its light.

 Continuing on the yellow trail with a nice, sunny glow at my back.

 About 20 yards off an upper section of the yellow trail lies a very large open field with expansive views west with the Catskills in the distance.  Looking closely, snow squalls can be seen moving in.

 A line of snow showers accompanied me for the last part of the hike.  As I neared the parking lot, the snow continued through a beautiful sunset.  It made for a very pretty scene.

Despite the cooler temperatures and biting winds I was very glad to get out for about 1.5 miles of hiking today on a quiet Monday evening.

Mud Pond Preserve

Another pleasant winter day with temperatures in the mid 40's made it nearly impossible for me to not get out and stretch my legs after work.  I was a bit tired from a long shift so I decided to stay local and walked the trails of the Mud Pond Preserve in Nassau. 

The trails are very well broken in, making for easy, pleasant woods walking.

 The trail is well marked with yellow discs throughout.

 Although the snow on the trail has been compacted, the snow off the trail remains about a foot deep.

Upon careful examination in any depressions in the snow one can see thousands of snow fleas.

Hiked the whole trail, which is 1.6 miles RT and provides a nice view of Mud Pond and its bog.

The melting snow and mild temps will be long gone by tomorrow as the cold winter temps return in full force this week.

Hudson-Mohawk Bikeway (Niskayuna Railroad Station)

Yesterday's cool(upper 30s) gloomy, rainy, foggy day eventually dropped below freezing at night, leaving us with a coating of ice everywhere, making driving or even walking potentially dangerous this morning.  All untreated surfaces, such as my dad's driveway(pictured below) became extremely dangerous.  Fortunately, with ample sun, the temperature jumped pretty quickly through the morning into the 40's making for beautiful conditions.  

After a very nice lunch with Heather, I drove out to Niskayuna to take a walk on the paved and cleared bike/ hike path.  The small park near the parking lot, established with assistance from the Niskayuna Lions Club is a pleasant picnic spot during the warmer months with benches, tables and a comfort station.  This is also a popular section of the Hudson-Mohawk Bike trail, so I figured a warm, sunny weekend day would mean a busy trail, and I was right.  There were people up and down the trail, from couples holding hands, people walking their dogs, joggers and even bike riders.  Everyone was glad to be out soaking up the relative winter warmth.  The only caveat would be a biting wind, that made the 45-50 degree temps feel a bit colder.

 The bright blue skies and puffy, cumulus clouds made for a gorgeous setting.

 Walked for about a mile up the trail to the Niska Isle bridge and then turned around, and walked the one mile back.  Near the Lions Park are beautiful views out over the Mohawk River and a popular birding area.

 A very pleasant area of the trail with the frozen Mohawk River just below.

 Looking upstream(west).

 The deep snow pack on each side of the trail is receding quickly with today's warm temps.  Unfortunately the melting snow makes things very messy, turning everything to mud and slush and was actually the driving force for me to come find a cleared trail today.

The warmer temps sure made for a nice day, but the colder temperatures to follow this week will make trail conditions in the snow much better.   By the time I got home the driveway had turned to complete mush.  Each step turned ice into slush and then into mud.  

 The skies remained mostly clear and made for a nice evening sky over frozen Nassau Lake.

Five Rivers Educational Center

A sunny day with temps hovering around 40 degrees found me out at Five Rivers Education Center in Delmar. This beautiful day was a much needed reprieve from the constant winter weather we've had recently. A perfect day for a snowshoe hike.

Most of the trails are well used and maintained, therefore well broken in and there were many kids with their parents on the trails today due to this week being winter recess.  There are several ponds throughout the 450+ acre property, but all of them are snow covered and frozen over as of today.

Sunfish Pond.

I walked the North Loop Trail which at 2.3 miles, is the longest trail at the center, looping through open meadows and near several ponds.

The trail is by far the most remote of all the trails, providing a sense of solitude.

Open fields and meadows from the north loop trail.

The not so distant Heldeburgs can be seen through the trees.

There are several nice benches for resting and enjoying nature.

I also walked the Vloman Kill trail, which is a much different trail than most of the others here, characterized by eroding banks along the stream and deep evergreen woods.

The frozen over Vloman Kill.

The beautifully maintained Vloman Kill trail is a .75 mile loop around the stream

A nice winter day, but even with temps in the low 40's, winter is still holding its grip on the area.

Martin Van Buren Nature Center

Due to all of the recent cold and heavy snows I hadn't really gotten out much recently, so a sunny Monday afternoon was the perfect opportunity to get out for a walk.  In honor of President's Day I drove down to the Martin Van Buren Nature Area off of Route 9H in Kinderhook for some level snowshoe hiking through the woods.

 I wasn't really sure what to expect from the trails due to the deep snow pack but luckily much of the trails were broken in already making for pleasant walking.

 The trails are very well marked and make a series of loops.  The trails wander through mixed hardwoods and pine forests.

 The bright February sun doing it's best to warm things up, but temps still holding in the low 20's.

 The winter woods.

 Went off of the broken in trail and decided to be the first to walk the orange trail(Ducks Lane).  This was tougher walking and definitely made me break a sweat.  The orange trail loses elevation briefly before climbing up to re- connect with the white trail.  This is probably the most challenging section of the park.  The white trail eventually looped me back to the red trail(Meadow Trail) which was broken in again.

 Once back to the pavilion area by the trail head, I looked over the very well marked trail map posted on a large kiosk.  Looks like I probably walked about a mile and a quarter.  Felt good just to get out and get some fresh air.

Just across the street is Lindenwald, the site of Martin Van Buren National Historic Site and the ex-president's home.  Will return for a visit in nicer weather sometime to explore those grounds,

Sunset Walk at Ooms

Just another cold winter day, but clear skies meant a beautiful sunset, so I headed out for a nice walk at Ooms Conservation Area in Chatham.

Frozen over Sutherland Pond offers a nice path.

 Another couple walks their dog on the far hillside.

 The sun setting on the horizon.

The sun did very little to warm things up, but looked amazing sitting over the trees.

 Sun setting over the gazebo.

 The sun's last rays of the day.

 The moon was high in the eastern sky.

 Looking back on the trail and the darkening skies.

 There were some interesting circles made on the east side of the pond.  Not sure what they were, but very cool though.

About a mile and a half walk in the clear, cold February evening felt great.  This is a great place to watch the sunset or sunrise because of all of its open space.  I will be glad to return again.