Keleher Preserve(Berne, Albany County)

Headed into the Alabany County hills this afternoon to hike the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy's 447 acre Keleher Preserve located on Gulf Hill Road in the town of Berne. Elevation was 1500 feet at the trailhead and the sun was shining, but the temps were struggling to even hit 20 degrees at this elevation.  Oh yeah, and there was a lot of snow...A LOT.  

 I started on the white trail "west", which actually heads more north before swinging east.  Snowshoe conditions were ideal on a well trodden trail.

The white blazed trail eventually heads towards the northeastern slopes of Wolf Hill's summit area, where  there are screened views north and east from the steep slopes above the valley of Route 85 and Osequethaw Creek.After about 1.7 miles I came to spot called the America Juncture, where aptly enough, the red, white and blue trails all converge.

I opted to take the red "Overlook" trail which hugs the very steep escarpment on the east side of Wolf Hill.

There aren't exactly million dollar views from the Overlook trail, but there are decent views to the east.  One small spot in particular does offer up an unimpeded vista, where the Albany skyline can be picked out.

After enjoying the steep slopes along the red trail, I picked up the white trail again, but decided to turn back NW slowly climbing towards the blue blazed trail.  From the blue trail, which comes near but not quite to the summit of Wolf Hill, there are many through the trees views to the east.  The snow is quite deep up here too, but the trails are all broken out making for great hiking.

The blue trail heads SW for about a half mile heading through a gorgeous high elevation mixed forest. 

From the blue trail, I hit the white trail "east", and followed it all the way back to the car.  Hiked about 3.2 miles RT on a cold, but beautiful mid winter day.

Alford Springs(Berkshires)

Decided to take advantage of a gorgeous mid winter day by heading east after work to explore The Saddles Trail just over the state line in Massachusetts at the BNRC's 899 acre Alford Springs.  I was the only car there when I arrived, but the trail had clearly been broken out so it would be a pretty straightforward snowshoe hike.  Elevation at the trailhead was 940 feet, so there would be some decent climbing ahead of me to get up to the high point at 1645 feet.

The trail initially follows an old road, passing by private residences as it climbs.  Saw something today that we haven't seen much of the last couple of months....sunshine.  And boy did it feel good!!  Unfortunately, being on the east side of the Taconic Ridge in the late afternoon meant I was mostly in deep shadows the entire hike.

A short distance in, at the top of the old road, there are awesome views east towards Tom Ball Mountain from a small clearing.

 

Just a few yards away from the view, the trail enters the woods and continues to slowly gain elevation.  The bright sun was doing its best to bust through the deep hemlocks as I slowly ascended via the blue blazes.

The combination of a fresh snowfall and bright sun made for ideal winter conditions.  With temps in the mid 30's it almost felt downright balmy!

The Saddles Trail basically runs south for one mile, first climbing, then descending a bit to a junction with the white blazed Father Trail.  With fleeting daylight, I opted to turn right(northeast) and head straight up towards the high point on the Father Loop.  This part of the trail ascends an old road as it circles above a drainage, angling back to the south and then up the next ridge.

The climb up the old road bed is quite pretty, lined with paper birch trees and mountain laurel.

The climb is steady but never too steep, and soon arrives in an enormous clearing up and over 1500 feet.

From the clearing, there are very nice views stretching from the north and east.  In 2016, this 25 acre spot was cleared as part of a forestry project, and now provides these wonderful views.

The small peak directly to the north lies completely on BNRC land and looks like it would be nice to climb.  If I had more time today I would've checked it out, but for now it will have to wait.

Snow capped Mount Greylock can be seen north in the far distance.

I continued past the clear cut area and up to the high point, which I had marked at 1645 feet.  From there I unfortunately had to turn back, retracing my steps back to the car, arriving in the parking lot with just a few minutes to spare before dark.  A nice 4 mile RT with about 850 feet of climbing.

Harvey Mountain(Harvey Mountain State Forest-Columbia County/Taconics)

Following this week's blockbuster Noreaster I decided to get out and do a little snowshoe hike to 2065 foot Harvey Mountain along the NY/ Mass state line in the Taconics.  I parked at the trailhead along East Hill Road in the town of Austerlitz, elevation 1570 feet.  There were three other cars there when I arrived so I knew the trail would be broken out, making my job much easier, as I set out on the blue blazed trail heading SE.

There was about a foot of new snow on the ground here, but a good trench had already been formed from today's hikers so it was fairly easy going.  Around 1/3 of  a mile in I picked up a red blazed trail, which soon came to a screened view NE over the valley of Baldwin Brook.

After a drop down to a brook crossing, the trail begins steadily re-climbing again.

As I gained elevation, nearing in on 2000 feet, the scene became increasingly wintry, with snow clinging to nearly every branch of every tree.

Mixed forest up high on Harvey's slopes.

Entering an area of thinned out hardwoods just below the open blueberry fields near the summit.

Exiting the woods and arriving in Harvey Mountain's wide open blueberry fields, covered in a deep snow and a thick wintry glaze. Unfortunately the normally nice views to the south were obscured by clouds and falling snow.

North facing views.

Looking back west at the neighboring ridge.

After enjoying the views, I continued on about 1/10 of a mile over to the wooded 2065 summit.  This summit marks not only the state line between NY and Massachusetts, but also the high point in Columbia County.  When I stepped out of the trench created by other hikers, the snow was nearly knee deep up here.  Glad I wasn't breaking trail today.

It was a nice and easy descent back the way I came, easily making it back to the car just before dark.  3.5 miles RT with over 800 feet of ascent.