Overlook Mountain

Headed down to Woodstock in the Catskills to hike Overlook Mountain, a 5.0 mile RT trail with outstanding 360 degree views from a fire tower and the ruins from a historical hotel near the top of the mountain.  There is a large parking area at the top of the saddle between Overlook Mountain and Mount Guardian, which even on a bitter cold winter day, was surprisingly empty.

The trail is actually an old carriage road that used to carry passengers to the old Mountain House.  It is very steep nearly the entire way up with very little areas of level ground, so the climb was definitely tough.  There are many interesting large rock formations along the trail and near the summit.

Even with frigid winter temperatures in the low teens, the January sun felt nice as I worked my way up the trail.

After about 1.9 miles the remains of the Overlook Mountain House come into view.

The steps that lead to where the main entrance would have been.

The Mountain House has a long and seemingly cursed history dating back to when it was first built in 1871.  Just four years after it opened, it burned completely to the ground but was rebuilt in 1878.  Unfortunately it burned again in 1924, but under new ownership was being rebuilt by 1928. The concrete foundations and walls that we see today are as far as the construction got.  Several theories have been floated around as to what ultimately lead to its failure to be finished.

Several yards away from the hotel stands a smaller structure called the "1928 House" which housed the hotel's owner Morris Newgold and his family.

Another foundation and chimney a short distance away in the woods may have been living quarters for staff.

The interior rooms of the hotel are hauntingly interesting.

For further information on the Overlook Mountain House, here is a fascinating link:
http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/yasinsac/overlook/overlook.html

A short distance after the hotel ruins, there is a trail junction where a left trail brings you to Echo Lake and a right brings you up to the summit and fire tower.

Along the trail to the the summit, the fire tower can be seen through breaks in the trees.

The final leg of the trail offers screened views down to the Hudson Valley.

An old Ranger's cabin can be found near the fire tower, although today it has been turned into a museum that is open seasonally and staffed by volunteers.

The clearing at the summit has picnic tables and a 60 foot fire tower.  As I approached the tower though, dark clouds were rolling in.

At an elevation of 3,140 feet and at the southern terminus of the magnificent eastern escarpment of the Catskills that face the Hudson River, the summit is truly a special place.

Trees at the summit are much shorter and suffer from stunted growth due to the harsh winters at this elevation.

Views north provide a glimpse into the northeastern Catskills and Plattekill Mountain rising to the left.

The views to the west of the neighboring mountains is spectacular.

Southerly views extend all the way to the Ashokan Reservoir and to the Shawagunks beyond.

Snow flurries can be seen falling just south of the area as the sun still shined beyond the clouds.

From the fire tower, the hotel ruins and trail can clearly be seen.

Many of the Catskill's highest peaks can be seen rising in the west.

Indian Head, Twin and Sugarloaf Mountains with Spruce Top rising behind.

A view down the steep slopes of Lewis Hollow.

Just beyond the trees on the southeastern slopes are sweeping views of the Hudson Valley.

Looking straight down from the fire tower at the picnic areas.

Views south just above the treeline.

A zoomed in view of Kingston and the Hudson River in the near distance.

A short walk off of the main trail provides spectacularly steep views down to the valley from Eagle Cliff.  Footing can be tricky here so this is a potentially dangerous area if you're not careful.

The long walk down the trail saw a mix of flurries and sun.  The woods near the trailhead were aglow with a gentle sunset.

Papscanee Island Nature Preserve

With air temperatures in the single digits and wind chills well below zero, I was looking for a short walk close to home today, and settled on the Papscanee Island Nature Preserve in Schodack.  While not actually an island anymore(more of a peninsula), these 300+ acres are owned by the Open Space Institute and offer up to 4 miles of trails from its two entrances as well as access to the Hudson River.  

From the southern access road, a beautiful view of Albany's skyline rises to the northwest beyond Papscanee Creek.

According to the signage posted, the southern access is only available April 1-November 1 and the northern entrance is the winter access point.  To find the northern entrance, you must drive to Route 9J in Rensselaer and turn onto the Irwin Stewart Port Expressway before it becomes American Oil Rd and continue through the Port of Rensselaer. There are many tankers along the road here and it would be safe to assume  that the last thing someone would expect to find here would be a nature preserve, but so it is.
Just off the start of the trail there is a decent amount of ice in the woods where a shallow amount of water must have settled.

The northern entrance trail consists of basically one trail(white trail) that is wide and very straight for most of its length.

After a short distance, while staying straight, the trail enters wide open fields that are farmed during the summer months.

After nearly a mile on the white trail, you can take a right onto the green trail which will take you to the river.  The white trail actually stays straight if you choose to stay on it and will eventually connect to the southern trail system.
Here is a view north from a clearing along the partially frozen river with the Bethlehem Energy Plant visible on the west banks.

A closer look at the Energy Plant in Bethlehem.

Following the green trail leads to a bay area on the east banks of the river where giant chunks of ice have settled.

A Winterberry bush looks so cheery in the depths of winter.

At 4pm the sun was starting to set as I began my trek back to the car.

The late afternoon sun reflecting on the icy fields.

After leaving the northern entrance, I drove the ten minutes down to the southern entrance and took the red trail over the Hudson's banks to see the suns last rays of the day on the frozen river.

Mountain Meadow Preserve

Drove over to Williamstown, Ma after work today to do some hiking at the Mountain Meadow Preserve.  A Trustees of Reservations property, there are several miles of hiking trails through open meadows and woods that extend to and just across the Vermont state line in Pownal.  There is a second entrance from the Vermont side to explore the 176 acre preserve is one should choose to.  Today's challenge would be staying warm in the bitter cold weather.

The parking lot is large enough to accommodate several cars and the trail begins just past a large kiosk with trail maps provided.  Upon starting the trail you will immediately begin ascending a small hill in a large clearing.

A climb up through mostly open fields leads to a very large meadow with very nice views of the Greylock Range to south and Taconic Range to the east.

Here is an excellent view of the Taconic Range from the meadow.  

Eastern views of the Taconics again.

The Greylock Range.

Looking across the meadow to the south reveals a magnificent vista of the Greylock Range.

After a wooded section of the trail there is a junction where right continues a loop trail and left climbs steeply through a hardwood forest to the summit of the 1120 foot Mason Hill.

 The view from the summit is partially obstructed by trees, but with the leaves off, there are some nice views out to the Greylock Range.

 A tree at the summit shows a sign of porcupine markings.

 The summit area on an overcast day.

Unfortunately moments after taking that last photo at the summit, the battery in my camera died.  I hiked back down and then went over to the Hopkins Memorial Forest off Northwest Hill Rd in Williamstown to do a short hike on the Ford Glen Brook Trail but couldn't take any pictures to share.  Williamstown is a wonderful town with many, many hiking options and I'm looking forward to exploring them all.