Hike #617; Ellenville area Shawangunks
3/17/12 Ellenville Vicinity Shawangunk Loop with Jillane Becker
Viewpoint along Berrypicker Trail, Minnewaska State Park Preserve
This next hike would be another loop in the Shawangunk Mountains, the next section of stuff further north from where we had last left off in Ellenville. Jillane and I did this spur of the moment hike in the area at her request to re-visit it. I was of course happy to go back up there and explore more with her because we'd had positive experiences together there before.
Jillaneybug
Interesting, strange portajohn in Ellenville NY, Berme Road Park
Berme Road Park, Ellenville
Climbing in the Gunks
View on a quarried slope near Ellenville
View near Ellenville
Seasonal view of Ellenville
Bushwhacking up the Gunks
Weird metal pot
Old woods road up the Gunks
Beginning of an obscure trail
View toward the Catskills
Signage
Obscure trail up the ridge
Seasonal view
Ellenville view
Climbing on an obscured abandoned trail
White Birch standing out on Shawangunk Ridge
Ice caves
Hidden ice caves
Gunks ice caves
Gunks ice caves
We started the same place we had started my previous hike in the area, at Berme Road Park in Ellenville. The previous time we had bushwhacked up the North Gully from here. The main trail route from this point was the Smiley Carriageway, shown on old maps as the Old Smiley Road, but we wouldn't be taking this either. I wanted to see the trail I had proposed to follow back down on that hike the previous year, and so we went looking for it.We started by visiting a strange metal porta john unlike any we had ever seen. It was dark with barely a window, and of heavy metal material.The park was rather interesting, with strange concrete picnic benches, the old kind of park like nothing they would design today.From the parking area, a young couple passed us heading up. There were a few other cars in the lot, but the other two were the only ones we'd seen. I figured they would go left up Smiley Carriageway, but they went right. There was a sign in book at the trail head, set up by the Nature Conservancy "for our safety". But we didn't want anyone knowing where we were going. Thanks to Jason Itell, I now had three cell phone batteries so I figured we'd be okay for now.We made our way to the intersection with woods roads. Smiley Carriageway went to the left, and another went right. It was hard to tell which one was represented how on the map. We saw the other young couple scale rocks ahead, so we did the same. We walked past them, and they were sitting at the opening to a small cave. I wanted to check it out, but we wouldn't have the chance because they seemed to be having a romantic moment.We continued a bit and the trail petered out. We ended up bushwhacking straight up the ridge a bit, past some interesting piles of random metal garbage, and came to another roadway. It was paved and led gradually up the hill to the left, so we turned to follow it.The road didn't go all that far. It turned hard to the right, but a woods road continued straight at the corner. We followed it, and another hairpin turn broke away from that, also ascending and paralleling the one we just saw turn off. We continued straight again on yet another woods road that continued straight at the hairpin turn, but I watched the GPS, and it seemed like we were getting out of the way. I soon figured out where we were, and we backtracked to the previous hairpin turn and followed it parallel with the first one.We passed very close to the house that the first paved road led to. It appeared to be maintained but unoccupied. We quietly passed it and continued to ascend.The dirt road made a hard left turn and continued to gain elevation. There was a nice spring forming off to the right hand side, and Jillane pointed out the pretty pool where the spring bubbled up out of the water.The woods road continued, and we could see some vague and almost non existent red blazes on the trees. My old Shawangunks maps showed that this trail was once red blazed, so we continued. We passed around one more hairpin turn to the right, and my map showed the trail breaking off the woods road right about here. I did not see any other woods road, and I was expecting the trail to actually be a woods road, but it was not.A little ways up, Jillane said she spotted a sign from further back around the previous corner. The spot she saw was in fact the trail head, marked mainly with a single cairn. The sign was a bit further up. We could see the vague old red blazes. This area is only open to permit holders through The Nature Conservancy.We continued up hill, and the climb was rather steep for a while. We started to get some seasonal views out into Ellenville, where we could see the main street we were just near. We continued to climb, and the trail became more gradual as it made it's way onto a shelf like section of the ridge. More open views came about, and we could see the Catskill Mountains beyond the valley.The trail began to climb some more, and then I heard voices off to the left of us. I think Jillane heard them too, because we both sort of stopped. The people probably didn't have a permit because they quickly quieted up as well. We made our way a bit further, and to my surprise, we found the hidden ice caves.
At the Ice Cavs in the Gunks
Gunks ice caves
Gunks ice caves
Gunks ice caves
Gunks ice caves
Gunks ice caves
Obscure trail near the ice caves
Ice caves
Ice caves
Strange fault crack right in the trail
Obscure trail in the Gunks
View toward Catskills
Boulder on an obscure trail
On an obscure trail in the Gunks
Clefted rock in the Gunks
View toward Ellenville in the Gunks
View toward Spring Glen NY
Off trail vista
View of the Catskills off trail
Off trail view of the Catskills
Off trail view of the Catskills
off trail view
Natural frog pool on top of the Shawangunk Ridge
Bushwhacking the Gunks
Obscure trail
An obscure trail
Wet area of the trail
Pitch Pine forest
View toward High Point in Sam's Point Preserve
Obscure trail through Pitch Pine
Obscure trail in the Gunks
Junction of High Point Carriageway and High Point Trail
Along High Point Trail
Junction of High Point Trail and Berry Picker Trail
Vista along Berrypicker Trail
Vista from Berrypicker Trail
Catskills from Berrypicker Trail
View along Berry Picker Trail
View along Berry Picker Trail
View along Berry Picker Trail
View along Berry Picker Trail
The Catskills along Berry Picker Trail
Viewpoint along the Berrypicker Trail
These ice caves were not like the others, the former commercial ice caves once known as "Ice Caves Mountain". These had no walkways, and were still very full of snow. The temperature was to reach almost sixty this day, and we'd already had seventy degree weather. There was no snow to be found anywhere else for over a month now, yet it remained here.We stopped for a break where there was a land bridge over a section of this fault line cave. I walked down into it ahead of us for a little bit, but there was a lot of ice so I didn't dare go too deep. I then had a look in the other direction a bit too. These caves were amazing. We could spend days here most certainly.I believe this section was part of what was known as Shingle Gully. We would have to explore it much further on another trip.We continued up the trail a bit further, and several clefts of caves opened up. One trail passed between two of them on high rocks. We tried our best to find the correct path, but the obscure red blazes were becoming even more obscure, and the paths were branching off in many directions, making the route very difficult. We continued on, and at one point there was even a giant crack in the middle of the trail. I could barely fit in, but if I slipped the right way I could have plummeted in and been able to find no way out.We continued ahead, and the trail broke in two, then again ahead of that it broke into three. It was getting more and more confusing all of the time. Eventually we lost it altogether and ended up bushwhacking through heavy understory of Pitch Pine, Huckleberry, and Scrub Oak. It was quite abrasive even though there were no thorns. It was a good thing we opted to wear pants instead of shorts.Our off trail sojourn ended up being worthwhile, because we came to an off trail view point where we could see off toward Ellenville, but also into North Gully where we had hiked the previous time. Across it I could see Mount Meenahga and Mount Don Bosco where Jillane and Alexis had hiked away from the group the previous time, with it's woods roads snaking up the sides.We made our way around the ridge, and I used my phone GPS as well as a compass I had found at Spruce Run the previous week. I figured it might come in handy, and it sure did. The area is an expanse of woods that plays tricks on the mind because the shape of the ridge is not such that makes it easy to follow.We fought through crazy weeds and eventually found our way back onto the correct trail. Along the way still was quite interesting though, because we found a natural pool in a hidden place on the ridge, with noisy mating frogs.We followed the trail, which ascended further through beautiful dense low Pitch Pines, and out to High Point Carriageway a short distance from the southern terminus of High Point Trail where I had come down with the group the last time in the area.We took a break at the junction, and then made our way up hill on High Point Trail. The way to the top was like a ridge on top of the ridge, having a wide plateau between the uppemost outcropping of rock and the steep ascent. When we reached the top, this time we turned left and began following the Berry Picker Trail, named for the Huckleberry picking industry which once thrived on these mountains. We had passed the abandoned cottages of them in Sam's Point Preserve the previous two trips into the area.Almost immediately onto Berry Picker Trail we came to an excellent view point, 180 degrees looking from Sam's Point around through the valley near Ellenville, and out to the Catskills and it's dramatic bumping peaks beyond. There was once a tower at this point, it's bases now all that remained at first glance.
Old telegraph pole at former tower site, Berrypicker Trail
Old telegraph pole on Berrypicker Trail
View of the old telegraph poles of a forgotten tower on Berrypicker Trail
View along Berry Picker Trail
View of the Catskills along Berry Picker Trail
View along Berry Picker Trail
View along Berry Picker Trail toward Gertrude's Nose, Minnewaska
Strange rock line along Berry Picker Trail
Odd rock pile along Berry Picker Trail
View along Berry Picker Trail
Berry Picker Trail
Berry Picker Trail
Berry Picker Trail view
Along Berry Picker Trail
Berry Picker Trail
Berry Picker Trail
Old berry gathering buckets at the former Four Mile Camp site
Four Mile Camp site, Smiley Carriageway
Historic berry picker village
Berry picker village site
Berry picker village site
Berry picker village site
Berry picker village site
An old well at Four Mile Camp
Jillane at a former village site of Berry Pickers
Going over the map at Four Mile Camp
Four Mile Camp
Four Mile Camp
My Jillane
Weird mossy crap at the Berrypicker village site
Abandoned Berrypicker village site
Abandoned berrypicker village site
Future Long Path route
Future Long Path route
Stream along future Long Path route
Big Hemlock
Nice mossy ravine
A tripod rock of some sort
View from future long path route
Future Long Path route
Future Long Path route
Catskill view from future Long Path route, Mine Hollow Trail.
After looking around, we could see there was a pole just below the old tower site. I recognized the top as being something that would hold the kinds of insulators that screw on. Once I mentioned that, we spotted more of the abandoned telegraph poles heading down hill into the valley.We rested here and talked about how we were going to backpack from the valley into the Catskills, maybe even this Spring, which sounded more and more exciting because we were looking right at those mountains now.We continued on from here along Berry Picker Trail, which took us into Minnewaska State Forest Preserve, an enormous piece of public land. The Berry Picker Trail itself seemed a lot longer than it looked on the map while hiking it, but it was quite beautiful, and actually quite relaxing to walk. It had a couple more nice little views along the way, and it eventually took us out to Smiley Carriageway much further up.My map showed another trail going straight from this point down hill to Little Stoney Kill Falls, but we couldn't see it for the life of us. What we did see, was what Jillane saw first, a big pile of junk.It turned out this was some of the remnants of a Berry Pickers community known as Four Mile Camp. We turned right for a bit, and there were little historic markers at different sites commemorating the existence of this former community. Kiosks had pictures in them, and sites were labeled. We found the site of the former camp store, now just a pile of rubble. There were old pots and pans everywhere hanging from trees. It was an interesting little spot for sure.Old beds were laying in random places, refrigerators were out in the woods.
The area was really pretty cool. After not being able to find the obscure trail on down the mountain to Little Stony Kill Creek and falls, we continued along Smiley Carriageway to the north, because a sign had pencil on it that read that it was .4 mile to the Mine Hollow Trail. I knew this was proposed as the future Long Path route, and so it might be more recently cleared and/or rehabilitated. We continued on Smiley Carriageway to the trail head, which was very obvious.The trail indeed had been cleared off. The edges of it were weed whacked back, but we could see how it was once quite obscure like the one we followed to the top of the ridge. We began following it, and it descended very gradually.After a bit, we came across a very nice little brook, with big Hemlock trees and thick mosses. Other side paths with cairns piled up led to other points like a weird little tripod rock. We followed a couple briefly, but had to continue down hill so we'd be out of the tough stuff by dark.
Catskill view
Weird rock piles
Catskill view on future Long Path
Mine Hole Road, future Long Path route.
Bird's nest northeast of Ellenville
Big tree east of Ellenville
Prison along the old Delaware and Hudson Canal
The trail seemed to continue on forever. We could see the Catskills iin views to the north, but they did not seem to grow closer. We eventually got to the point where we had views down into the valley, but even that just seemed to stay the same distance away. The trail switched from being like a wide and recently cut trail to an old woods road, and it was apparent that ATVs had used it somewhat recently.As we descended, it became more and more like a road. The trail had a lot of water bars recently installed, further justifying to us that it was the probably future Long Path route.After crossing Mine Hole Brook, the Long Path was supposed to turn off of the woods road. I saw another old road turn away, and opted to follow it. It immediately had a blow down sawed away from it, so it was probably the route. Unfortunately, we lost it soon. My GPS showed us that by following the road we ended up off of Minnewaska property. Jillane spotted flagging tape in one direction, and I can only assume that this was the new Long Path route, and we had missed it. The route wasn't all that clear, and so we were probably better off trying to follow a woods road anyway.We ended up coming out at a clearing with weird trees growing out of pools of water that really had no business being there, up hill from the valley. The woods road led to where it was a gravel road, past a house. Dogs were barking like crazy, but no one came out as we walked by. We then walked by a second house and continued to descend to Berm Road. This road was right along side of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, part of our return route. The tow path was on the opposite side, and my google maps showed it as being a trail in this area.
We were soon able to cross over the canal prism in a bit of a land bridge and begin following the towpath, which was very wide but not totally clear. It was obviously used a bit, but not enough to keep it totally open. We continued on the towpath, and came to a point where we had to cross over a section of water to continue on. It was looking like it was becoming more and more watered, and if we needed to get out to the road we would need to cross through it, so we opted to climb the steep slope back up to Berm Road. It was a good thing we did this, because from the road we were able to see an old towpath bridge had nothing more than a steel girder remaining that we would have either had to cross or otherwise wade through the watered canal. Even worse, I might not have seen the drop and fell in.We continued along the road past some nice big trees, and then came out to the large prison that was situated along the canal. This was an old architecturally interesting prison which was active during the canal days. It was well lit all around it, so walking the road wasn't so bad here. We could see prisoners walking around in lines out behind the large razor wire fences as we passed by.We turned left at the prison, and continued on Berm Road. We weren't sure if the towpath was walkable here, but we weren't going to try because it was far too dark, so we made our way along the road back into Ellenville and Berm Road Park where we began. We finished the hike at 9:35 I believe. I had guessed 9:55 and Jillane guessed I think ten minutes earlier for our estimated completion time, so she was pretty close.With all of the views of the Catskills, we talked a lot about backpacking through them, and how it might be the next week long trip we take together, through the abandoned resorts of the Borsch Belt. The Catskills seemed like another whole world to me ahead, and the thought of exploring them with Jillane is an indescribably great feeling.
Big tree along Berme Road, and D&H Canal
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