Take a Hike!

Harriman State Park Relive Video Congratulations to everyone who completed the Harriman Hike!  That was a full day of hard work, fresh air, and trail navigation.  Our stats varied depending upon tracker, but we clocked somewhere between 10.2 - 11.2 miles, enjoyed an elevation gain between 2,100 and 2,600 feet, and get this ... took 27,500 steps, at least according to Stacey's tracker.  Regardless, this hike squarely ranks first in length, total ascent, and duration - the sun was just setting behind the mountain as the last group was crossing the field to the Elk Pen parking lot. Highlights were extensive, here are just a few Everyone made it back!  A few got a little lost and at one point Lou headed down the wrong trail, but for such an extensive trail system we did very well.  Special thanks to Sheila for her keen eyes and Barbara for her cartography skills. Everyone completed the rock scramble, awesome job!  Not sure if it was peer pressure or willpower, but many hikers

Hike Date - Sunday, November 11th Harriman State Park is a huge 47,000 acre NY Park in the Lower Hudson Valley.  It is extremely popular with good reason - 200 miles of hiking trails with boating, fishing, and swimming in over 30 lakes.  With the weather cooling off we thought it was time to tackle one of our most challenging hikes yet - about 7.5 miles in length with multiple ups and downs.  The reward is worth it though, as the route traverses the historic Appalachian Trail and Long Path and in the process brings us through some fascinating scenery and a challenging rock scramble. Length - Appx 7.5 Miles Elevation Gain - ~1200 feet Difficulty - Challenging Expected Duration - 4-6 hours Park Trail Map - Harriman State Park Our Route - Here Parking Location* - Elk Pen Parking (41.264805, -74.154308) Restrooms - None at the trail head What to Expect To need a nap at the end of the day, but not to worry, if the terrain and elevation are proving too much there are multipl

Is there a better way to spend a Top-5 day of the year in terms of weather? This was our second hike within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Mt Tammany was the first) and it continues to impress.  Fun fact, the designated area receives about 3.5 million visitors per year, and we saw a grand total of 9 of them on the trail, that'll work! We didn't quite follow the intended route as the cliff views were socked in by fog, but luckily the trail system is extensive enough we could re-route after we started and basically take the route in reverse.   Depending upon the tracker used, we traverse 8.0-8.6 miles with an elevation gain somewhere between 1,100 and 1,500 fit.  Excellent work everyone. Some highlights Sandy leading the way through a "treacherous" section that not all were comfortable handling ( snicker, snicker). Two truly impressive waterfalls.  For folks that have not hiked here, the pictures below do not do them justice, it

"The Cliff Trail offers some of the most spectacular overlook views in the recreation area of the serpentine Delaware River valley from atop the Raymondskill Ridge. This view was so inspiring to early film makers that several westerns were filmed using this magnificent scenery as stand-ins for the landscapes out west. Early 1900s actors Tom Mix, Walter Miller and Mary Pickford are just some of the stars who once stood on these vary cliffs." .... The National Park Service We tried to schedule this hike last fall, but the weather got ahead of us and we shut down for the winter.   We hoped to start the 2018 season with this hike but nesting Peregrine Falcons closed the trails for over 6 months.  Hopefully third times is a charm as we'll attempt this hike again on Saturday, September 29th. This is an ideal beginner hike, but also will keep the regulars interested thanks to some epic cliff views and two waterfalls along the way.  If that isn't enough, 2.3 miles

Wonderful Weather, Wonderful Hike Given it was the middle of August, Sunday's weather was as good as one could possibly hope for.  I am not sure the temperature reached the 70s and there wasn't a drop of rain the entire time.  This was especially fortunate as the hike duration clocked in at just under 6 hours.  Each GPS tracker is a little different, and this time mine displayed 8.1 miles with 1300 feet of elevation gain. The highlights were numerous: Never ending rock scrambles, most of them simple, but a few were challenging enough to make you pause and plan your route before proceeding. A changing terrain featuring a lot of scrub pines, exposed bedrock, minor stream crossings, rocky ledges, and one low lying wetland. We also caught a glimpse of the NYC skyline, some partook in ledge hopping, and we all enjoyed the views above greenwood lake. Here is the full photo album (also permanently linked on the right) and below I cherry picked some of my favorites.  If