8/16/9 Wurtsboro/Summitville with Kyle Zalinsky, Shelly Janes, Amanda Rosenblatt, and "Amish Paul" Hassler
Abandoned cabin in Roosa Gap...and our buddy RUSH! Kyle and I were saying "IT'S THE DRIVE BY MEDIA FOLKS!!!" and such all day.
This was a terribly sticky, hot and humid day, perhaps too much so to be out on the Shawangunk Ridge, but we made due. Looking back on it today, even though it was a small group it fit in with all of the other Summer high energy stuff. It was on this one though that Amanda admitted her concern that she was afraid I wouldn't be as fun when Jillane came home from Utah. I didn't know what kind of assurance I could give; certainly I would act differently when Jillane was gone. I needed to do more to keep my mind off of her absence I suppose. Overall, I may have been more fun to some while she was gone, but I know I was happier when she was with me.
One thing was certain: Even when Jillane came home I would keep busy with great hikes and events, and I would be healthier and more comfortable.
Church in Wurtsboro NY
Delaware and Hudson Canal Trail in Wurtsboro NY
Old O&W Railroad station in Wurtsboro NY
Kyle picked up handfuls of black mud and smeared it all over his face from this spot near High View Tunnel. He looked like some Native. So funny.
High View Tunnel on the O&W
Kyle picked up handfuls of black mud and smeared it all over his face from this spot near High View Tunnel. He looked like some Native. So funny.
Former O&W bridge site, Wurtsboro NY. Now Shawangunk Ridge Trail
Intersection of Shawangunk Ridge Trail and Long Path
Long Path on the Shawangunk Ridge
Long Path on the Shawangunk Ridge
Along the Long Path in the Gunks
Feels good. Long Path on Shawangunk Ridge.
Abandoned lead mine area on Shawangunk Ridge
Long Path on Shawangunk Ridge
View from lead mine area on Shawangunk Ridge
Long Path in the Shawangunks
Long Path in the Shawangunks
View from the Long Path on Shawangunk Ridge
View from the Long Path on Shawangunk Ridge. Yes I did the entire hike in boxer shorts. BAD ASS>
South side of Roosa Gap on the Long Path. Yes, I did the entire hike in boxer shorts.
South side of Roosa Gap on the Long Path
Near Roosa Gap on the Long Path...and Amish Paul shaved!!!
Abandoned cabin and Kyle's favorite person...RUSH!
Abandoned cabin...yes, still hiking in my boxers
Abandoned cabin
Abandoned cabin
Abandoned cabin
Abandoned cabin
Abandoned cabin
Abandoned cabin. Yes, I drank the water. A few moments later it started coming out brown. EWWWW!
Abandoned cabin
Abandoned cabin mirror
D&H Canal south of Summitville NY
Delaware and Hudson Canal, Summitville NY
Abandoned house along D&H canal near lead mines
Abandoned house along D&H canal near lead mines
Abandoned house
Delaware and Hudson Canal nearing Wurtsboro from the north
My next hike would be the final piece of the Shawangunk Ridge Trail to where it connected with the Long Path above Wurtsboro NY as well as a bunch of other stuff in the area. Joining me this time were Shelly Janes, Kyle Zalinsky, "Amish Paul" Hassler, and Amanda Rosenblatt. The night before Shelly's son Danny returned from spending most of the Summer in Yellowstone and we partied at her house and crashed there. We began at the tiny strip mall in Rosendale NY and walked down the main drag to the Shawangunk Ridge Trail. The trail followed the road for a bit (1) heading down hill and passed by the next piece of the former Delaware and Hudson Canal (2a-4). We then passed by the old train station for the former New York, Ontario, and Western Railroad which we'd walked a couple times to the south of here. It was sadly abandoned (5,5a). We continued as the trail took us up hill on the road with some limited views (6) to the "High Line" right of way of the O&W Railroad. The Shawangunk Ridge Trail turned left off the road here onto the right of way heading north, but we first went to the south and got on the right of way that way to search for the Highview Tunnel (6a,6b). Shelly waited behind with Amanda and Paul while Kyle and I ran off to find this legendary tunnel. We saw other ruins too (7). The sun was rising and there was lots of fog and such which made it particularly pretty (8). After a short while the rail bed went into a cut and the tunnel came into view. It was quite eerie looking and did'nt look particularly safe, but I want to go through it regardless, though we did'nt do it this time (9-13). There was a lot of water in it and it looked like it had recently been utilized for drainage. We turned back and saw another old stone building, and Kyle took railroad dirt and smeared it all over his face to freak the others out (14-14b).
We crossed back over Mamakating Road where we were before and followed the Shawangunk Ridge Trail in the opposite direction (15). The trail took us only briefly on the rail bed and then began a steady ascend of the Gunks ridge.
There were tons of mushrooms (16-16f). Views began to open up as we neared the top and larger trees gave way to scrubby ones (17). Where the Shawangunk Ridge Trail met the Long Path, there were some great views, and it was cool to finish this trail (18-23).
We dipped down into a small gap, crossed a stream (23a,23b) and made our way back up the ridge. As we continued on, we eventually crossed an old woods road which led to a clearing down the ridge to our west. Kyle and I decided to investigate. It turned out to be the location of a Lead mine I'd read about (24-28). I decided not to crawl in this time. We continued on with a few more views to teh west (28,29) and soon began making a gradual descent into Roosa Gap where views more to the north opened up (30-35o). We took a break on some glacial erratics and then descended into Roosa Gap.
We crossed a stream and then made another ascent back up hill to the dirt Roosa Gap Road where we turned left off the Long Path. On our way down, on state DEC land we found an abandoned cabin which we just had to check out. It was full of beds, a picture of Rush Limbaugh, and it had water running in the basement. I drank some because it looked clean and tasted good, but when I turned it up it ran brown and full of air bubbles (it's several months later at the time of this writing so I survived). We explored the place and then made our way down the mountainside (36-42e). There was another small abandoned building on the way down but I did'nt bother going over (43). I stopped on the way down to talk to a rail enthusiast looking for the old railroad rights of way, but I did'nt really have any good answer for him. Now, in retrospect I can look at maps and see them, but at the time I ended up walking up and down the road looking for where they might have been. After our chat, we continued down hill, but Amanda and I were left alone while the others had gone off ahead. We took in the weird roadside sights and looked for them following Firehouse Road (44,44a) in Summitville. We found the others a short distance down Rt 209 at a little deli. We stopped there for lunch, and Shelly and Amanda decided to stay there and we would come back to pick them up when we finished the hike. There was also a bar as part of the deli, and Kyle tried to get the owners let let us buy some drinks, but they would'nt let us though it seemed like they wanted to. Paul, Kyle, and I continued down to Summitville Road and found the remains of the D&H Canal and some old buildings (45). We followed some sort of obscure paths to back out to Rt 209, but the canal on the opposite side was now a state park and the nicest piece of the former canal I'd seen yet. We followed it heading southward (46-48). When we reached Lead Mine Road we found a few abandoned houses, and I had to go into at least one of them to look around (49-56). We then continued south on the towpath (57) back to Wurtsboro. The trail cut out when we got into the north end of town and we had to walk parallel roads, probably because there would have had to be an aqueduct over a creek. Overall a good hike, though very humid.
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