Trail Conditions Forum

Does anyone have any info on conditions of this trail: http://www.nynjtc.org/hike/dunderberg-spiral-railwaybald-mountain-loop? Thanks much in advance.  

We hiked from the Equestrian Center on Route 202 on Sunday, November 18.  There are a lot of blowdowns on the blazed trails, the wood roads, and unmarked trails.  Hiking into the park on a road that is on the TC map, but not named or blazed, we found some trees across the road, but nothing serious.  We eventually found a trail that is blazed in sprayed orange paint, and took it to the Woodtown Road.  It was blocked 3-4 times by new blowdowns. The section of Woodtown Road we used was clear, probably because it is used by vehicles.  But when we got to the Pine Meadow Trail and took it back to the Equestrian Center, the amount of cleanup work became really obvious.  There is a massive blowdown right at the road-trail intersection, and then several more smaller ones on the way back to meet the SBM.  Most of these necessitate long detours which unfortunately trample the brush around the trai

This past weekend I did some hiking over in the Bald Rocks/Fingboard Area of Harriman State Park. The amount of Blow Downs that we encountered was absolutely astounding. Some of these trees were looked like they were in perfect shape and were snapped like twigs 20 feet off the ground. The Ramapo Dunderberg South of Times Square (On the hill looking down) was quite a scramble to get over all the down Trees. The big rock and Fireplace at Times Square were covered by a huge fallen pine tree. We also hiked Yellow just to the West of the Ramapo Dunerburg north of Bald Rocks. This area strewn with blow down. It was like mother nature played domino's with the trees in that area. We had to completely bypass much of the area off trail. Though we did encounter 3 deer over there, 2 Bucks and a Doe, and spend 20 mins photographing and watching them! The White Bar Trail north of Yellow in that same area was also a scramble to get over and around fallen trees and that lasted almost the whole lenght of the trail. There were also quite a few blowdowns on Long Path over near the swamps after the White Bar which made for interesting traversing since your pinned between a rock hill and the swamps. Otherwise weather was great this past weekend, perfect time for an overnight! 

I have already reported the following problems to the Conference and now I am posting them here for the benefit of my fellow hikers.  I went hiking with my friends at Bear Mountain State Park on Saturday, 11/17.  The majority of the trails on the mountain itself are relatively clear, but there are blow downs away from the mountain.  There is one major blow down on the 1777 E Trail about 0.2 miles south of the junction with the Cornell Mine Trail that is barely passable.  It requires careful climbing over the downed tree.  On Doodletown Road between the S-BM Trail and 1777 E Trail are multiple minor to moderate sized blow downs that are passable.  Use caution when passing these obstructions.

Today, I visited Cheesequake State Park, which was devastated by Hurricane Sandy.  Hundreds of trees were felled by the hurricane, including many huge trees.  The Park staff is doing their best to clear the trails and open them to the public.  As of today (November 18th), the Green, Red and Yellow Trails are open, although the boardwalk across the Atlantic white cedar swamp on the Green Trail was severely damaged, and this trail section has been closed (a detour is provided).  The northern section of the Blue Trail is closed, as is the entire White Trail.  Due to the magnitude of the damage, it is anticipated that it will be at least another year before the section of the Green Trail through the Atlantic white cedar swamp can be reopened.

before superstorm sandy you (nynjtc) were in the process of organizing crews for assembly.  have you replaced the bridge as of today sun 11.18.12, or do you have an approximate completion date?

Yesterday, I did a loop hike in Schunemunk, starting at the parking area on Taylor Road, and following the Jessup Trail to the Barton Swamp Trail, the Barton Swamp Trail to the Long Path, then south on the Long Path (soon to be renamed "Western Ridge Trail") to the current Western Ridge Trail (soon to be renamed "Ridge-to-Ridge Trail").  I took that trail back to the Jessup Trail, detoured to visit the Megaliths, then went down the mountain and returned to the parking area on the Sweet Clover Trail. I'm pleased to report that all of the above trails are in excellent condition.  I encountered a few minor blowdowns (mainly coming up the mountain on the Jessup Trail), but all of these could easily be walked over or around.  Hurricane Sandy did not cause any major damage in Schunemunk (although another hiker did previously report a bad blowdown that blocked the Dark Hollow Trail, which I did not hike yesterday).  The only significant problem I encountered was that a steep, rocky portion of the Sweet Clover Trail, descending from the Jessup Trail to the railroad, was covered with leaves, which made for rather treacherous footing and required one to proceed very slowly and exercise extreme care. Schunemunk Mountain is a wonderful area to hike, and it is significantly underutilized.  Yesterday, a beautiful Sunday, with temperatures in the 60s, I met a total of four people on my hike!  I can only imagine how many hundreds of people must have headed yesterday to Reeves Meadow in Harriman to hike the Pine Meadow Trail!

Went out today to see what Harriman trails and wood roads were like after Sandy.  Started on Gate Hill Road, and found 3-4 blow-downs on the SBM as it climbed to and past the ORAK ruins. Did not climb to the towers, but instead made a loop using wood roads, the Turnpike, and the Woodtown Road. Almost all the roads have been traveled by vehicles, and trees cut down and moved out of the way.  From the First Reservoir up to the Second, the road is clear, and it is also clear up to where the SBM crosses the Woodtown Road. We took the SBM--also almost entirely clear--to the Third Reservoir, then the road that goes by both reservoirs to the road that goes up toward the shelter. There were a couple of blow-downs on the turnpike, and several on the road linking it to the SBM near the towers, but nothing that was hard to get around.

Hiked this section with Brother on 11/3/2012.  This section was a nice break from the generally rugged areas of Phoenicia through Platte Clove Rd. & the end of the Devil's Path.  The hike itself was generally level and did not have any steep asents.  Even the decents were not that steep in this section.  This day was generally overcast and the temperature never got over 35 F.  The winds were constant ranging from a low 1.0 mph to a high of 8.5 mph. A light snow squall was present for most of the trip, which added a nice touch to the landscape, which is now mostly bare, with all of the deciduous trees having dropped their leaves.  This section has some extensive evergreen groves.  Hemlocks were very established in these areas but wooly adelgid is taking its toll on these trees.  The infection/infestation was present everywhere. The rock ledges were plentiful and fun to look at.  As noted in the LP guide, some great waterfalls are in this area with excellent views to the north to South Mountain.  We tried to lunch at Buttermilk Falls, which was flowing well, but the wind and temperature got the better of us.  If we stayed 20 minutes that was lot.  The wind just made sitting still too uncomfortable.  Buttermilk and Wilcat Falls were both great views and would be an excellent view when the weather conditions are a little more favorable. We noted the snowmobile section of the path was really well marked.  I say this in jest as the blazes were almost overdone, probably no more than 30 feet apart, much more frequently marked than any section of the path to date.  We have deduced the state much favors snowmobilers to hikers. More birds seemed to be present on this section, particularly chickadees and woodpeckers on this day.  Their calls and brief sightings made the day more interesting, trying to observe them in the snow squalls.  As we decended the north ridge I came across a purple pen someone had dropped along the trail.  I picked it up thinking as to remove trash from the trail, but odd that it was in such a predominent place in the middle of the trail.  Little did I know another fellow hiker was looking for it ferverently.  Just prior to reaching Buttermilk Falls we ran into Lisa, a tough as nails hiker, who had been making her way to Poets Ledge to relax and write poetry with her favorite purple pen, in the cold, in the snow.  Just the type of weather to relax, imagine and write in; if you like imagining a warm house, a hot meal & a warm bed!  As she told us about her loss we were happy to tell her we had "rescued" her purple pen and were happy to return it to its rightful owner as opposed to the trash can.  For some reason all I could think of at the time was the story from my childhood, Harold & the Purple Crayon.  Based upon her descriptions of solo hiking the LP with one car and walking the trail in both directions each day to complete the trail, we knew we were in the presence of a goddess.  Compared to her, we are wimps and unworthy.  After bidding her adieu, we proceeeded to lunch spot at the Falls and shivered through a brief lunch. As we further decended the mountain the snow squalls became more intense.  The gusts of wind pushing the snow in the valley air down Kaaterskill Clove were dramatic to see and at times there were near white out conditions.  We had noted early on as we started the hike that the area had a light snow cover from he previous evening. On the final decent off the mountain we ran into two hikers/campers from either Staten Island/Long Island around 3:45 pm.  They were near a small ridge named by the adjacent land owner, Ella's Ridge.  We were not sure why the tribute to Ella but it was a nice view for half way up the mountain.  These guys had started hiking late and were trying to make it to one of the Falls to camp out over night.  They asked how far it was to the nearest stream or Wildcat Falls, if it was much further on and how much more "up hill" there was to go.  With the heavy, full packs they were carrying, as well as any wood for burning for a fire they were picking up along the way, they had quite a load on.  We weren't sure if they had even been camping before although they swore up and down they had.  I felt as if I had run into Bill Bryson & his companion hiker in "A Walk in the Woods" at the beginning of their Applachian Trail hike.  We gave them the bad news that they still had a decent distance to cover and that they would have to press on quickly to reach their destination.  We wished them luck and hoped they would reach their camping spot soon. Finally, as we finished the section for the day, we were entertained by the sign on Rt 23A entering into Palenville informing us this was the town of Rip Van Winkle.  The 20% rain forecast for this day in this area than became a reality and we proceeded to become soaked by the passing shower. Final notes:  We have found that at several sections throughout our ongoing hike that one way to save money, gas, reduce air pollution and support the local economy is to use cab services when they are avaiable.  Even in the Catskills there are several services that are available, where we generally have the cab meet us at the end point where we leave our car and then have them drive us to the beginning of the trail section.  During this section I found a local service out of Palenville.  Nancy the cab driver was great, the car clean & decent and rates fair.  We hope to use her service again in the future. The trail is very muddy and does cross several swampy areas.  Even with the ground firming up, the mud was still abundantly present.  Streams flow down the trail at several locations.  Several bridges are along the path in the early part of the path, one of which is in need of repair, but I suspect they are there more for the snowmobiles than the hikers.  Several suspended walks would be helpful in the later swampy sections of the path for the hiking sections. In general, the trail in this section was an enjoyable walk, even if it was little c-c-c-c-old!

Anyone heard what the status is of the Newark Watershed Trails?  I haven't seen any mention of them on the Trails Conditions page yet.