|
Trail Walker - July/Aug. 1998 |
| ABOUT | JOIN | PUBLICATIONS | TRAILS | ADVOCACY |
Cool It - A Primer For Hot Day Hiking - by Jane Levenson
By Jane Levenson
If it's over 100 degrees we may well stay in air-conditioning or take an easy swim. If it's a reasonable summer day we can select a hike for any of our favorite reasons. But if it's too hot for our usual choices, but not quite oppressive, we can play it cool by picking hikes with leaf cover, shade, lakes, streams and waterfalls. We offer here a few ideas in a variety of regions.
For a start, one can always hike a notch more slowly than usual and a mile or two less than average. This in itself is less heat-intensive. Lots of water or juice and the sense to stop and drink it is another given. Early morning climbs are cooler in general than pushing in a midday sun.
Leaf cover and frequent shade is on average 5-10 degrees cooler than hiking routes on open rock. (Open rock exposes you to direct sunlight as well as throwing off extra heat). The difference between a shaded leaf cover and open "baking" rock can be enormous. Hemlock environments are often extra cool and are worth remembering for triple-H days. Additionally, hemlock microclimates often come in conjunction with waterfalls or other cooling qualities.
Lakes and streams are clearly best bets when they offer legal swimming amidst a hike. But even no-swimming lakes, streams and waterfalls offer a feeling of coolness and calm. Cascading brooks make you feel cooler and a headband or hat can be dipped in the water, then worn for coolness.
Since lakes, streams, waterfalls, leaf cover and hemlock environments are sometimes separate from each other but often together, our sampler will be by region with the cooling features noted.
West of the Hudson River, our areas include the Palisades, Harriman, Black Rock Forest, the Shawangunks and the Kittatinnies; and Castle Rock are (near Garrison) and Fahnestock State Park east of the Hudson River. There are many more selections and we hope that our sampler will give you ideas for choosing others on your own.
Closest to New York City is the 12-mile length of the New Jersey Palisades from the George Washington Bridge at Fort Lee up to the NY-NJ state border. Although you may make a good circular using the upper Long Path and the lower Shore Trail, the shore side Shore Trail is usually several degrees cooler as it borders the Hudson River. The Englewood and Alpine boat basins offer good parking for a fee. Between Englewood and Alpine there is a splendid shady six-mile stretch with loverly Greenbrook Falls about four miles north of Englewood. A half-mile further is the red Huyler Landing Trail which can be used to climb to the Long Path. Also at this junction there is a shaded tree covered section with space to sit on comfortable rocks for lunch.
In Harriman Park there are several streams, brooks and lakes but little legal swimming unless you want the crowds at Lake Welch beach. Instead, choose lakes or brooks to walk by and some fine hemlock forested areas with cooling shade. Reeves Meadow parking area, Tuxedo, or the Elk Pen off Route 17 offer options without major open rock and have bus or car travel suitability. In the Reeves/Sloatsburg area, the Pine Meadow and Kakiat trails offer shade and brookside hiking. GaNusQuah Rock and Cascade of Slid offer beautiful spots to stop; a further extension to Pine Meadow Lake (unfortunately it is illegal to swim there) gives a sense of summer relaxation. You can always add a climb or two extra but remember that Seven Hills and Raccoon Brook Hills trails are open and exposed to heat. Reeves Brook and the unmarked Stony Brook trails are cooler. In the Tuxedo area, there are many choices to get to Lake Skenanto for a restful spot. From Claudius Smith's Den, the TMI to Yellow Triangle is an easier and shadier route than some others. Especially cooling is the Arden area with lots of hemlock and some of the few spots of Harriman rhododendron (in bloom in early July). The section of the ASB (also the Long Path) from the Lichen Trail junction to Times Square has fine rhododendron stands.
A little further away there are three splendid swim/hike areas with superb leaf cover and some hemlock shady areas. Black Rock Forest, the "Gunks" (Shawangunks, if you're formal), and the Delaware Water Gap areas are each worth a summertime hike. You need car transport for the Gunks and Gap.
If you go to Black Rock Forest, you can choose many lovely hikes with a swim in Sutherland Pond. Check the parking on a recent West Hudson map #7. You can approach Sutherland Pond from many sides and choose a shorter or longer route. The Mineral Springs area in the west is a nature preserve with falls and cooling hemlock.
The Gunks offer several major options for a cooldown. There are carriage roads and trails to Lake Awosting from several parking lots going northwest on Route 44/55. The farthest lot, Jenny Lane, is free and the Long Path route from that lot is longest but most shaded. Rainbow Falls and Lake Awosting offer summer coolness with fine swimming at Awosting. A very different cooldown is in Shingle Gully or at the Ice Caves in the newly-opened areas near Ellenville. You can park near the fire house there but these scrambles are suited only for those comfortable with hand and foot scrambling. If you are, this is a treat worth remembering on hot days. Bring gloves as there are cold - not cool - sections.
The Delaware Water Gap area of the Kittatinnies offers beautiful creek and shaded areas. Route 80 practically rolls into the parking lot. A splendid hike to Sunfish Pond uses the Dunfield Creek Trail one way and the Appalachian Trail the other way. (Save Mount Tammany with a rigorous and open climb for cooler days.)
East of the Hudson there are good choices at Fahnestock Park (about eight miles east of Cold Spring), and in the Castle Rock area above the Hudson between Garrison and Peekskill.
The Castle Rock area hiking is cooler near Garrison using the red trail to Sugarloaf South and the shady Osborn Loop trail. There are a few special lookouts (the summit of Sugarloaf and White Rock off the Osborn Loop) offering g fine view where retreat to shaded laurel and hemlock and other leafy cover is easy. You can walk from the Garrison (or Manitou) train station or park near a barn soon after entering the Castle Rock area. (This region also has Anthony's Nose and the new Camp Smith Trail, both spectacular but hotter). The cooler Garrison sections have several unmarked woods roads that are cooler than average on hot days.
Fahnestock Park is mostly wooded and rolling countryside with many hemlock and laurel sections (and good blueberries in season). Access is by car only, via Route 301 or the Taconic Parkway. It is uniquely cooler than nearby districts offering a selection of summer choices. Many trails, including the Appalachian Trail, are easily reached from parking on Route 301 by Canopus Lake. Only the northern section of the AT over Shenandoah Mountain is open and hot; most other trails are fine.
This sampler of hot and humid day hiking selections is just a starter kit. If you know other trails quite well, pause and think leaf cover, hemlock, lakes, streams, falls and shade. Put the open rock and steepest scrambles on hold. Drink lots of liquid, bring a hat, sun screen, bugspray and hiking maps. Be cool, have fun and don't give up hiking unless it's oppressive.
Note: Relevant maps are available at the Trail Conference or in many hiking equipment stores. Available maps include Harriman, Palisades, West Hudson (for Black Rock Forest), East Hudson (for Castle Rock and Fahnestock), South Kittatinnies (for Delaware Water Gap) and Shawangunks.
| ABOUT | JOIN | PUBLICATIONS | TRAILS | ADVOCACY |
Last updated: 01/18/01