Van Dyke Preserve(Albany County, NY)

Went out for an easy-peasy short walk at the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy's 33 acre Van Dyke Preserve located in the town of Bethlehem after work this afternoon.  It was getting quite hot(but not terribly humid) when I arrived and only one other car was in the parking lot. I started on a white blazed trail near the parking lot which quickly enters shaded woods before meeting up with a red blazed trail.

The red trail forms a loop, passing through forest and wetland, with an abundance of green all around.

The highlight of this small preserve is the frontage along the Phillipin Kill,  a tiny stream that starts north in the the town of New Scotland, and is part of the Vloman Kill watershed.

A nice and easy, stretch your legs walk of approximately one mile total.  With temps in the mid to upper 80's, summer hasn't even started and I'm already done with the heat.  Sigh.

Hill 1811(Taconic State Park,NY-Southern Taconics)

Sitting somewhere between Alander Mountain to the north and Brace Mountain to the south is a small unnamed hill in the Taconic State Park simply labeled "1811".  1811 is the elevation of this small peak and it appeared to have a lot of open rock on its steep slopes, so I decided to check it out.  Just south of the Alander Mountain trailhead off of Undermountain Road in Copake is Shakshober Road, a barely noticeable gated old road that provides public access to the Taconic State Park.  The land was the site of a former farm which the state acquired back in 1973. 

Beyond the gate Shakshober Road heads east, leading quickly to an old house site.  There is very little left other than the demolished remains of the old structures.

Just a few yards is some other collapsed structure.  Not sure if one was a house and the other was a barn or garage...really hard to tell by what's left.

Just beyond the home site, the farm road continues east soon coming to a bend and an area of old stone walls.  

These boulders aren't all they are "cracked up" to be.

Where the farm road turns right, I began my bushwhack..until I quickly picked up a fairly obvious herd path that climbed the very steep slopes.  Thankfully with the herd path and open woods, I found the steep slopes easily negotiable. 

Crossing a dried up, rock filled drainage on the ascent. 

From the north side of the drainage, I headed over towards a series of ledges, each with successively better views.  While some of the ledges provide very good views, there is one ledge in particular that offers absolutely killer views!!  Wide open 180 degree ledge views!!  The Catskills to the NW.

To the southeast, the nearby slopes of the Taconic Ridge and the north end of Brace Mountain rise impressively above.

Stunning valley views to the south!! 

There is a VERY sharp drop off from these ledges, but absolutely spectacular. 

Most of the bushwhacking was pleasant, following herd paths or obvious routes in rocky clearings. There were some thicker areas of scrub oak and even a little mountain laurel here and there.

Any thick areas of scrub oak were short and easy to get around, followed by very nice stretches, one after another.

From a clearing, the main Taconic Ridge rises high above to the east.

Coming to an enormous, wide open clearing filled with sedge grass and killer views was a highlight of the day.

SW views.

NW views towards the northern Catskills and the Helderbergs, with Columbia County's rural farmland in the foreground.

Several rock cairns let me know that I am far from the first person to be up here.  What an amazing location though!!

I wasn't the only one who liked this spot, though, as I apparently ticked off the local raptor population.  First one, then two, then suddenly a dozen raptors circling above me, vocalizing their displeasure with my presence.  They seemed pretty agitated and I was outnumbered, so I hastily moved on, dipping back into the thick scrub oak.

Wild azalea are on full brilliant display in early to mid June in the Taconics.  These flowers are not only beautiful but aromatic, filling the air with a sweet scent. 

Full bloom!

Higher up, I continued to find more and more view points.  The views south across the Columbia and Dutchess County farmland really began to flatten out from this elevation.

As I continued my ascent, the main ridge began getting closer and closer, just over the state line in Massachusetts.

Just prior to my final push up towards the summit, I caught a last peek back towards the Catskills from yet another clearing. 

After poking around and getting a bit scratched up, I settled on this small little clearing as the 1811 foot high spot.  Was surprised not to find a rock cairn or some other kind of marking, since I saw so many other signs of people being on this peak. 

On the return hike, I decided to vary my route for the descent, keeping back from the ledges and staying more in the drainage area.  I found the woods much more open and easy going this way.  Made good time heading back, and once I got down near the old home site again, I turned left(south) following the old farm road for a bit.  It closely follows the edge of a large field, lined with stone walls. About 10 yards off the road, I spotted two rusty old cars, sitting in the woods.  Time has certainly taken its toll on these old relics.

A ton of good stuff packed into this small little adventure!  I've always loved this area of the Taconics, and that love only continues to grow.  3.4 miles RT, with 900 feet of climbing.
Red=Ascent   Blue=Return(Descent)

Jones Hill(Hoffman Notch Wilderness-Adirondacks)

Although rising to only 1882 feet in elevation, Jones Hill, located in the Hoffman Notch Wilderness is a well known bushwhacking destination due to its great views from several different vantage points(although a proposed trail and flagging takes away muchof the bushwhacking). It has been on my to do list for quite some time, and with a beautiful day in the forecast I figured that today would be a great day to give it a go.  I arrived in the Big Pond parking area on Hoffman Road(2.1 miles west of Route 9 in Schroon Lake) mid morning and was a bit surprised to see 2 other cars there already.  Got my pack on and headed north on the trail, elevation to start was 1220 feet.
The trail is actually an old road and is in great condition.  After roughly half a mile, the trail crosses Rogers Brook on a wide bridge, with views of a large beaver pond to the west.

After crossing the bridge over Rogers Brook, I left the trail and began my bushwhack, heading NE up and over a small knob and then back down towards a stream crossing near the SE end of North Pond.  Suddenly, I picked up a flagged route.  I followed it for a bit, but it started to climb up the flanks of Hedgehog Hill, so I simply continued my bushwhack north and east, side-hilling above the wetlands down low.  Out of nowhere once again I picked up the flagged route heading towards Jones Hill so I followed it.

The flagged trail was very nice and easy to follow as it climbs directly up the SW spine of Jones Hill.  The ascend is pretty straightforward and fairly steep in spots. 

The approach up the spine was really pretty, and as I approached a false summit, the woods gave way to a wide open SE facing viewpoint. 

From the steep, grassy slopes I found this view east towards Pharaoh Mountain.

A closer look at Pharaoh Mountain, with its impressive rock covered slopes.

To the SE, a wonderful view towards Schroon Lake!

After enjoying the south and east facing views, I continued heading up and over another false summit bump with numerous NW views along the way.  From a an open area of rock ledges, I enjoyed this view of Hoffman Mountain, Blue Ridge Mountain and the Peaked Hills in the foreground center. 

From a steep set of west facing ledges, I found this view north up the Northway corridor. 

The most impressive view of all was certainly Hoffman Mountain, with a summit nearly 2000 feet higher than Jones Hill and prominent from many different vantage points.

The long south ridge of Hoffman, with the summit to the far right.

After a short ascent up through a hardwood forest, I could see the final approach to the summit!

From the summit, there are good views south and west.  To the west, another view of the conical summit of Hoffman Mountain.

A very good view south back down the ridge at the false summit.

After enjoying the summit and the SW ridge walk back down, I decided to leave the flagged route and bushwhack SW, dropping to a stream crossing. 

Once across the damp area near the stream, I kept my feet dry on the lower slopes of an unnamed knob before dropping down to the north shore of North Pond.  The deerflies really began to pick up at this point, so I hurried along.

A look at the far NW end of North Pond, where there are many, many fallen trees.

I contoured all the way around the NW end of North Pond before turning west and heading right at Big Pond.  Within just a few minutes I hit the blue blazed trail to Big Pond, which I was only on briefly before I followed a herd path down to Big Pond. 

Found a nice little fire pit on the north shore of Big Pond, so I decided to stop and have a snack and drink here.  A light breeze and the sun splashed waters made for a perfect spot!!!

I seriously could've stayed at this spot all day...the breeze kept the deerflies away too. 

After finally leaving Big Pond, it was a nice and easy 1.6 mile trailed hike back to the car.  I stopped for just a moment at the unnamed beaver pond on the way back to check out the beaver hut.  A pretty little spot just a few feet off trail.

Got back to the car and honestly wished the day wasn't over.  A wonderful day in the woods.  9 miles RT, with over 1500 feet of ascent.
Red=Ascent    Blue=Descent(return)