Hike #618; Long Clove to Ladentown

 Hike #618; Long Clove to Ladentown NY

3/18/12 Long Clove to Ladentown with Shelly Janes, Carol Creamer, John Bradford Ladutko, Teun Ott, Krithika Raman, Neelima ?, Lakshman, Brad Anesi, Shayna Michaels, David "Captain Soup" Campbell, Jon Wilson and Eric Pace.

Atop High Tor

My next hike would be another point to point one, this time in the Hudson Highlands of NY. We would finally finish hiking the Palisades ridge after doing a few years of hikes on them. From where we had left off previously, there was only seven miles of the Long Path along the Palisades I had not yet hiked.

Long Path on Long Clove Road near Haverstraw NY

View of Long Clove

Long Path on Long Clove Road

View from Long Path near Haverstraw

Long Path ascending the Palisades near Haverstraw

Long Path ascending High Tor

Climbing High Tor

Climbing High Tor

Long Path ascending High Tor

Long Path ascending High Tor

Long Path ascending High Tor

View on the way up High Tor

View heading up High Tor

View heading up High Tor

We would cover the entire remaining Palisade ridge, as well as the Long Path section north into Harriman State Park.We met in the morning on Ditz Road, as per Google Maps, but in person it read Diltz's Private Lane I think. There is an obscure parking area there for the Tuxedo-Mount Ivy Trail, a long trail passing through Harriman State Park. From here, we shuttled cars east to where we had last left off on our northbound series of Long Path hikes, Rt 9W at Long Clove (Note: We have also covered at this point the Long Path from Wurtsboro section of the Shawangunks north to Verkeerderkill Falls as another series, and walked the unmarked new portion the day before. There are two sections we have yet to connect on the Long Path alone, though we  have connected them in a roundabout way).We stopped by a grocery store at the beginning for sustenance, and then began on our journey north.Long Clove was sadly mined out by quarrying since the 1920s. That was almost the fate of High Tor until a group of concerned citizens waved a red flag and started a group to save it. Much of Long Clove is now gone, with the southwest edge having been quarried away. The trail now passes by it along the closed Long Clove Road, from a gate across 9W.We walked the beat up road past a Tilcon headquarters, and headed north with views of the quarried out ridge of igneous intrusive basalt. At a quarry intersection, the road changed names to Scratchup Road. It was probably once another through road judging by the alignments, and closed due to quarry operations. Scratchup Road too was a little used back road.This road took us out to another main road, Rt 90. We turned left here.We were only on this busy road for a bit of time before the Long Path turned off to the right into the woods and began to gradually ascend. There were contradictory "no trespassing" signs at the entrance to the trail, which we knew to pay no mind. The trail blazes are almost like a secret code to us in these instances. The trail entered High Tor State Park and started to climb more steeply.A white blazed side trail led to the left, toward High Tor State Park parking areas and former site of High Tor Vinyards, now closed.

Brad climbing High Tor

Climbing High Tor

View from High Tor

View from High Tor

Long Path on High Tor

View from High Tor toward Long Clove

Haverstraw from atop High Tor

Atop High Tor

Long Path on High Tor

Haverstraw from High Tor

View south from High Tor

Tappan Zee view from High Tor

Tappan Zee view from High Tor

Haverstraw view from High Tor

Haverstraw view from High Tor

Haverstraw view from High Tor

View into Haverstraw from High Tor

Haverstraw view from High Tor

View from High Tor

View from High Tor

Long Path north descending High Tor

As we gained elevation, we all pretty much had to slow down and shed some layers. It was getting quite warm out. Amazingly warm for March, in the seventies...and it wasn't even Spring yet! I made this hike "Green themed" since it was the day after St. Patrick's day, but few went along with it. Carol always gets well into the theme hikes, but not many others were this time. The trail climbed ahead, and soon reached a sort of secondary view point to the north. We had a good view of  Haverstraw, save for the fact that there were so many low clouds. I hoped that by the time we reached the top it would be much better. Our little break allowed of enough time for Eric to catch up a bit.We continued up, and my Long Path guide read that there were hand holds necessary to make the final ascent of High Tor. This was not really the case any more, as the trail had been re-routed to the south slightly on a more gradual path. We could still see the old blazes, sort of painted over with a white, maybe so that they wouldn't be totally obscure. We were glad for that, because many of us took to the old path for added interest.There were actually three places that necessitated hand hold climbing on the old route, and it was pretty fun. Once at the top, it had cleared off just enough that we could see the Tappan Zee Bridge to the south, into Haverstraw to the north, and a bit up and down the ridge in both directions. The Palisades turned at this point from following the Hudson to heading inland.The town of Haverstraw below us is one of the oldest town names to appear in North America (only as "Haverstroo", a dutch word which Teun and I discussed the meaning of. He told us he had to do with straw, which was apparently due to the swaying reeds of the estuarine waters along the tidal Hudson in the area).I only wish we could have seen the view when it was a bit clearer, because it was so outstanding.Once we had taken in the view, we continued on along the Long Path. It descended via a nice new route of escarpment work. We could see the old trail descending a bit to the trail, which we didn't take because going down wouldn't have been nearly as fun, and probably more dangerous (though on the northbound climb, one particular spot would have sent us plummeting off of the high Palisades cliffs had we slipped off).The trail descended to become a pleasant woods road. It was not at all as I expected it would be. I thought for sure it would be a tiny foot path, but it remained a woods road for quite some time.

Captain Soup in a big tree

The trail followed a route from here that remained a bit below the top of the ridge, off to it's left. There were some nice big trees along the route, which I really liked.

Captain Soup with a big tree in High Tor State Park

There was also another side trail leading off to the left, a woods road, which also led down to High Tor State Park, which at this point my map showed had a swimming pool. The woods road also led to the north, apparently down to Haverstraw.

Haverstraw from Little Tor

We continued along the woods road section until we got to the next side trail, the Little Tor Trail, with it's white blazes breaking off to the right of the trail. I told everyone they had an option to take a break while those of us who wanted to see the view could explore that.

View from Little Tor

View from Little Tor

View from Little Tor

The Hudson view from Little Tor

View of the Palisade ridge from Little Tor

View from Little Tor

View from Little Tor

View from Little Tor

Atop Little Tor

Palisade cliffs from Little Tor

Captain Soup found a boulder on Little Tour

Atop Little Tor

Haverstraw from Little Tor

View south from Little Tor

Shelly descending Little Tor

John Bradford and his Space Monkey drink

View just off of the Long Path, High Tor State Park

View in High Tor State Park

Entering South Mountain Park on the Long Path

The trail followed sort of a woods road, then became more of a foot path as it passed one first view on it's way up to the top. We continued around and were treated to an excellent view back at Haverstraw, now much clearer than what we had seen from atop High Tor. It was actually a 360 degree view pretty much. Very worth the climb. Shelly, Brad A., Lackshman, and I were all up there.After enjoying the view, we continued back down to the Long Path and headed north. Krithika and Neelima went on ahead.The trail stayed on the woods road for a while more. I took one more side trip to the right on an unmarked trail to a view where a power line crossed the mountain. It was quite nice, but no one else wanted to join me.We continued on from here along the easy trail out to Central Highway where there was a parking area.

We crossed the highway and then climbed onto a foot path again on the other side. The woods road continued on the left edge of the trail, while the Long Path continued up a bit. This was now a county park known as South Mountain Park. We left High Tor State Park at the highway crossing.Soon, the Long Path returned to the woods road, but only briefly, and continued as a foot path. Eric opted to follow the woods road because it would be a lot easier than the ups and downs associated with the foot path. The road apparently led to a tower, but I'm not sure what Eric found that way.We continued along the Long Path, with a few more seasonal and small views from the mountaintop. We soon began to descend a bit, as the Palisade formation began it's slow decline into the Earth.We were nearing the town of Mt. Ivy, and the trail left South Mountain County Park to enter Gurnee County Park.

View from the Long Path, South Mountain Park

There were a few views along the way which showed us the Palisades view ahead, dipping off slowly toward the ground, with more views north into parts of Mt. Ivy.

View from the Long Path, South Mountain Park

We descended to an outstanding view of Mt. Ivy, where the group waited up for us. It seemed to be a quarried out part of the Palisades cliff that afforded us this view. There really wasn't much left of the formation at this point.

View from the Long Path, South Mountain Park

Long Path view, South Mountain Park

Long Path view of the Ramapo Ridge, South Mountain Park

View of the end of the Palisade cliffs

Palisade view from the Long Path

View from the Palisade cliffs

Brad on the Palisade Cliffs being

Hiking the Long Path to the end of the Palisades Cliffs

Long Path at the end of the Palisades Cliffs

Long Path at the end of the Palisade Cliffs

Palisade cliff

I discovered a new version of Four Loco in Mt. Ivy NY

Brad Baller!

I forget why I took this picture

Long Path crossing a utility line parallel with the Palisades Interstate Parkway

Crossing a brook near Burges Meredeth Park

Brook near Burgess Meredeth Park

Brook along the Long Path

Brook along the Long Path

Creek underpass below the Palisades Interstate Parkway.

Creek view from the Palisades Parkway bridge

After the view point, we lost a lot more elevation, and passed one more view, the last one we would have from the Palisades, at this point not much over 100 feet above Mt. Ivy.We continued along the edge of some cliffs, that dropped off rather dramatically and turned right, terminating along Rt 45 in Mt. Ivy. I could see an abandoned railroad right of way crossing the road, a trail into Gurnee Park on the right, and an overgrown cut on the opposite side of Rt 45.The trail turned right and followed Rt 45 out to Rt 202 at the Palisades Interstate Parkway on ramp. We took a break here to stop for some drinks and snacks. I found a strange new Four Loco drink, a weaker version in smaller cans called "Poco Loco" in Black Cherry flavor. It may have been the tastiest one I've found actually.The Long Path continued from here to the west along the north side of Rt 202. We passed beneath the Palisades Interstate Parkway, and then it turned to the right into a spot of woods. We then crossed over the on ramps to the highway from the northbound Rt 202 and entered more woods, closely parallel with the Parkway. It reminded me a bit of the sections farthest to the south where the Long Path began in Fort Lee, which I first walked in early 2009.The trail continued through these woods, and made it's way across a small ditch to the edge of a lovely little stream. It followed the stream north for a bit, and crossed it on the edge of the stone bridge along the Palisades Interstate Parkway. Eric turned back somewhere in this area because he didn't want to try to stay caught up when we would ascend Cheesecote Mountain ahead.We continued parallel with the Palisades Parkway for a bit further, and then the trail turned left. It ascended gradually at first, then very steeply past an abandoned old car.

Long Path crossing Palisades Parkway bridge

Long Path crossing Palisades Parkway bridge

Abandoned car along the Long Path, Cheesecote Mountain

Abandoned car on the Long Path, Cheesecote Mountain Park

Long Path on Cheesecote Mountain

Long Path in Cheesecote Mountain Park

Cheesecote Pond along the Long Path

Cheesecote Pond

Cheesecote Mountain Park power line view from the Long Path

Cemetery for the mentally challenged along the Long Path

Cemetery along the Long Path

Cemetery along the Long Path

Cemetery along the Long Path

Horse Chock Brook crossing on the Long Path

Long Path, Horse Chock Brook crossing

Former bridge abutment at Horse Chock Brook

Horse Chock Brook bridge site

Crossing Horse Chock Brook

View of Horse Chock Mountain from the Long Path

Ruins along the Long Path, Harriman State Park

Long Path in Harriman SP

Long Path in Harriman SP

Long Path, Harriman SP

Lovely section of the Long Path, Harriman SP

Second Reservoir, Harriman SP

Rope swing into Second Reservoir

Spillway at Second Reservoir

Woods road at Second Reservoir

Dam along Second Reservoir

Ruins below Second Reservoir

Abandoned mine along Iron Mountain Trail

View along Iron Mountain Trail

View along Iron Mountain Trail

Brad commented that the frame of the car was surprisingly in good shape as he jumped up and down on it.The trail turned left here and began following some old woods roads through Cheesecote Mountain Park. We got to where we could see houses on the left side of us, and the trail reached an intersection with a woods road going left and right. The Long Path followed the left fork, which soon led around the outside of Cheesecote Pond, a lovely little pond in the woods. I walked out into it and cooled my feet off.The trail continued from here along more woods roads over a knoll, and descended a bit. We crossed a power line, and then came out at a strange little cemetery.We noticed the graves in the cemetery were mostly just numbers, with a few marked with head stones. We figured at first it was some sort of Potters Field, but then a lady sitting on one of the benches told us that it was a cemetery for the mentally retarded from way back. Interesting.From here, the trail came out to Call Hollow Road and turned left.We weren't on the road for long when the Long Path turned right, and entered Harriman State Park. Here also, another old road, gated off, went left as well along Horse Chock Brook. We crossed the brook with some difficulty on the Long Path, using rocks and a log where there was once an old bridge. I got in the water and had a look at the old masonry abutments, barely even recognizable except for from my perspective.The Long Path then began to ascend pretty well onto part of the Ramapo Ridge.I immediately recognized the terrain of Harriman. It reminded me of sections of the AT I had been on through the park, and sections of other trails I had explored with Jillane and with the group. It was nice, and mellow walking through the still and quiet woods. I got ahead of much of the group here and enjoyed the solitude of it all, which was nice. The trail made it's way over flat rocks with lovely moss growing all over it, and past some old masonry ruins of things long forgotten. It also crossed a washed out road known as Old Turnpike. After crossing this, our next intersection was with another woods road along with the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail's yellow blazes. When we got to this point, we turned left away from the Long Path on an unmarked woods road.The woods road was pretty easy to follow, and it took us to another more prominent woods road along the shore of Second Reservoir. We turned left here, and shortly came to a very nice rock where a fisherman was just packing up to move to another spot. There was a great rope swing there off into the lake. I didn't consider it at first, but the longer I looked at it and the inviting waters, the more I could not resist. I took my shirt off and flung myself into the water. It was cold, but very refreshing. It didn't even bother me at all that my pants were wet. I wore my work clothes for this hike (since they're green anyway) and was glad I did so because the pants I wore dried so easily.Once everyone had caught up, we continued along the shore of Second Reservoir, and then turned left at the main earthen dam on another woods road. The plan was to turn right on a horse trail leading up Iron Mountain, part of the Ramapo Ridge. Somehow we missed this turn off and continued down hill along Horse Chock Brook.I was in phone contact with everyone, and realized soon that we must have missed the turn. I saw an obsure old woods road and figured that must have been it.I think it was Captain Soup who realized where the actual turn we wanted was. Once it was seen, we began ascending along it.Before reaching the top, I saw an old iron mine noted on the map. When I saw a ditch, we went to have a look, and sure enough we found it. It was full of water, and while we might have been able to get into some of it, we weren't going to try so late in the day with limited day light.We soon came to another trail intersection. We could go straight and head into a hollow with another horse trail in it, or go left and follow Iron Mountain Trail, another horse trail out to a view point to the south and then descend to a power line trail which we could follow to the parking lot.We opted to follow the Iron Mountain Trail because it wasn't significantly longer and we would have day light longer on that edge of the mountain. We came to a view first, which was somewhat obscured by trees, but still good, and then had to look hard for the trail markings.Not an official trail apparently, it was marked with tin can lids. Some trees were down, so we had to look for them in those places. Fortunately, we were able to follow them out to the second view point.

View of the Palisade Cliffs including High Tor and Long Clove from Iron Mountain Trail

View from Iron Mountain Trail

Palisade Cliffs from Little Tor to High Tor, in a view from Iron Mountain on the Ramapo Ridge.

We came to a couple of points where we could see where we had come from, a very rewarding view. We could see the Palisades to the south, with High Tor dominating the ridge, and Long Clove's excavated side showing brightly as the sun set. We could see all the way to South Mountain Park to the west where the Palisades ended in Mt. Ivy, and beyond to the south as they headed toward Tallman Mountain and disappeared around Clauseland Mountain behind foot hills and hazy clouds.

View from Ramapo Ridge on Iron Mountain Trail

Erratic along Iron Mountain Trail, Harriman SP

Palisade and High Tor area view from Iron Mountain Trail, Harriman

Descending Iron Mountain Trail

Awwww

Iron Mountain Trail

Iron Mountain Trail

Descending via Iron Mountain Trail. This picture captures Carol in mid fall!

Descending on Iron Mountain Trail

An old dam site

When we got to the point where Iron Mountain Trail made it's hard turn to begin descending the Ramapo Ridge, there was a giant standing boulder with the most excellent view of the Palisades and topography to the south of us. It was tough to see where the trail went in this part. Brad Anesi and Teun were very helpful to me in this area, and John went back to help find Krithika, Neelima, Carol, and John Bradford.Descending through this area was hard. The tin can lids disappeared altogether, and all we had to follow was the faint remains of a long forgotten woods road that descended the ridge. They were covered in leaves, and I'm sure we each must have taken a bit of a fall. At the bottom, we were able to get on the trail that followed the power line which was much easier.We still had to go up and down a bit, as the woods road did not stay right along the power line, and the power line did not stay perfectly level anyway. We crossed through the hollow where we would have come out had we taken the other fork, and even that looked as though it might have been tough too. There was the ruins of a stone dam at the base of it, right along the trail we were following, which looked pretty cool.There was a camp to the left of us, just below the ridge. Teun, Captian Soup, John, and I'm not sure who else turned off to the left and made their way to the roads in order to try to get to the cars quicker while the rest of us stayed on the trail.It was getting rather dark, but it was manageable because the trail was so wide and clear.I knew we were getting cloe when we saw the red blazes of the Tuxedo-Mount Ivy Trail come in from the right. The power line walk became much easier at this point, and then the trail descended from it to the left and back down to the parking lot.It was a difficult way to end the hike, but it was rewarding overall. I felt like I'd completed something, a long section of linear trail without many other side trails. I had now connected Harriman State park by both the Appalachian Trail and the Long Path, and there are many years worth of hikes one can do in the Harriman-Bear Mountain area alone. This hike opened up yet another new world of trails to explore, helping to shape the hikes over the next decade at least.Just as the Mason Dixon Trail of the week prior had in the south, the two Long Path area routes I had explored this weekend open even more doors to the format of the Metrotrails hikes. With every step I become more excited about the things I might see in the coming months, the friends I will make and the experiences I will have.