Hike #650; Storm King and Black Rock Forest

 Hike #650; Storm King and Black Rock Forest

9/9/12 Storm King and Black Rock Forest; Cornwall to Helbing Farm with Derek Baker, Teun Ott, Michele Valerio, Jaque Melo, Ernie ?, Shelly Janes, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Jack Lowry, Susie Duncan (and Zip Line), Haobo Lai, Eric Pace, ?, and Brad Anesi.

The group on Black Rock

For this, my 650th big hike, I did something I should have done a long time ago, finished at my cousin Dorothy's house near West Point in NJ. My family used to always go up there for Thanksgiving, where I learned so much more about the paternal side of my family than I'd ever known, and found it to be something to take a great amount of pride in. Along the way, my dad stopped going up there for Thanksgiving, and so I slowly lost touch as well, which I should never have let happen. As life carried me though, I was always involved in some sort of distraction. I had recently reconnected with Dorothy and organized another hike to start at her house, the Schunemunk trip. It went over really well, and she gave us an excellent history talk on the area and our family. This time, she invited me to end the hike at her house, and she would provide the group with dinner. She is an outstanding and generous host, and I can't thank her enough for being so wonderful to this hiking family.

I've been thinking again about what these hikes really are. Of course, they are something very different than other organized hiking groups. I ask myself why the hikes I'm putting together are so much different than what other "leaders" may organize, and the answer came simply to me while listening to solo Beatles music in my car: it is art.

Art is of course an infinite thing, and the organization of these trips extends beyond the scope of an organized group. When I scale off a new hike, it can happen quite fast and simply, or take hours to manufacture a route I am pleased with, much in the way that a sketch might happen fast, or become a long lasting labor of love.

Different kinds of trails are like different media on a canvas, as is the topography, the history, the ecology, and of course the people. I don't simply pluck a recommended hike from a book, I invent my own route which fits the criteria I set. Every week is intended to be a minimum 15 mile route, in a totally different environment kind of trail than the previous week, with a cast of eclectic characters who make the pre-fabricated and edited reality television icons seem dull and homogenized.

The job of the artist is to express themselves in some way, and in the same way that painting a picture, crafting an object, or composing a song is expressing something personal, it is open to the interpretation of those who experience it. My art is something personal, something I do out of passion, and for my own personal reasons. Still, in the same way that a favorite song might provoke mood in the listener, my hikes are for the participant to interpret in their own way, for them to experience for their own reasons. I've always hoped that my friends understood that, and by the end of the night they spoke of this in their own words, and it was a wonderful feeling.

The hike itself was again something I'd wanted to do for some time; the northern terminus of the extant Highlands Trail. I'd been involved with the Highlands Trail since 2003 when I met Bob Moss and did the first scouting hike with him, and it was the first time I can remember hearing the name "Storm King Mountain", which at the time was the northern terminus (land was acquired later to bring the trail down to the Hudson at Donahue Memorial Park).

The Helbing Farm, Dorothy's home, is just a mile south on Mineral Springs Road from where the Highlands Trail crosses, and so this was as convenient as can be. Black Rock Forest nearly touches the property, but has a sliver of West Point Military property in the way.

The Highlands Trail route is not 15 miles to Mineral Springs Road from the Hudson, but only Cornwall town residents are allowed to park in Donahue Park. I had to come up with an alternate parking area for us. I found on areal images that there was good street parking in Cornwall-On-The-Hudson, and so we shuttled there from Dorothy's in Teun's car. I rode in the storage area behind the back seat! We parked in Riverlight Park, on Main Street to begin.Much of this hike was easy to plan. I had to simply find mileages on the Highlands Trail for where to start, and when I found out it was under what I wanted, scale off a route that would be interesting, get us from a parking area to the Highlands Trail, and equal fifteen miles. Joining from the beginning were Derek, Teun, Michele, Jaque, and Ernie.

We walked along the edge of Riverlight Park, which had a nice pond and lots of little adorable ducks. We hiked along  Hudson Street to Rt 218, then followed River Ave down hill. There was a nice old theater in the middle of the lovely little town. We passed a store, and all went in because it would be the only spot we'd pass on the entire trip for sustenance. I got a reeces fast break and a Tilt drink.

River Ave was a steep street which at it's end offered a good view of the Hudson up stream, with the Newburg Bridge in sight. I thought to myself how it wouldn't be long before I would walk across that bridge on a hike. It couldn't possibly be long, I could see it.

We turned right along Shore Road which paralleled the railroad tracks, with a mile marker from denoting miles from the city. We could see the mountains of the east Hudson Highlands across the river, which I also knew I would eventually be on. We continued along Shore Road heading down stream, and eventually came to the northern end of Donahue Memorial Park, with a lovely pavilion next to the water. We were able to walk along this beautiful stretch of water and mountains, with the end of Breakneck Ridge in sight to the left, and Storm King Mountain above to the south, the Twin Sentinels.The sunlight on the water glistening with the mountains on either side made the area look like something out of a fairy tale. It seemed like a perfect place. We reached where Dock Creek went into the Hudson and turned to the right, between some giant old trees. Dock Hollow Road intersected with Shore Road, and there we saw the triple blaze for the beginning of the Highlands Trail. It was surreal to me being at that spot, seeing those triple blazes on a trail I had helped to scout, to blaze, to build, and am currently building a section of in Warren County.We began walking the route, which followed Dock Hollow Road for the beginning of our ascent of Storm King Mountain. An older road was on the other side of the hollow from us, and was now a trail route. I saw a deep pool below us next to a cascade, and had to run down and jump in it, although we'd only just started. It felt great.The road on the other side soon joined the current Dock Hollow Road, and had a lovely stone bridge crossing. We continued up hill to Rt 218 where the Highlands Trail crossed the road directly into the woods. We headed into the woods and soon began another brief ascent, then headed slightly down into a field area. We kept to the west edge of the fields, with some old farm houses in view. They looked a bit beat up, and Derek commented that this was what he'd pictured something down south would look, with the crazies in the run down homes. We continued past a parking area, and then skirted some more fields before entering the woods to immediately start a steep climb.The trail zig zagged up the edge of Storm King, somewhat near to a small stream, and sometimes picking up sections of old woods roads. Derek and I took the lead and were moving along really fast. We came to a great view point first, where we could see homes on a hillside to the left, up the Hudson to the Newburg Bridge, the north end of Breakneck Ridge, and Bannerman's Island with the abandoned castle in the water.

Even this first view was outstanding. Behind us, we could see a tiny bit of Schunemunk Mountain behind, and the Catskills in the distance, known as Craig told us as the "Great Wall of Mongaup". Ernie, the new guy for this trip, was having trouble with the hills, so I thought of shortcuts he could take to keep caught up. I had him take a shorter trail than the long one we took up Storm King.Derek and I took the lead again as the Highlands Trail joined another called the Stillman Trail. It would be co-aligned with this through much of Black Rock Forest as well.The trail led along a steep escarpment with incredible views but also insane drop offs toward the river. At one point there were wooden steps that led along tough spots. Derek commented it looked like Mordor from Lord of the Rings. The trail made the last final, steep climb and we got a great down the Hudson, southbound. We could see Breakneck Ridge, and what appeared to be a giant quarry or sink hole in the mountain to the south. We could also see the railroad below on a causeway along the river. All the mountains we could see to the south were part of West Point Military Academy, and are off limits unfortunately. It was an amazing sight to see.We climbed further and got even more views. Derek and I climbed a rock with another view which we presumed to be the very top. We then continued to the best view yet, looking mostly north up the Hudson. We could also see the Catskills again, much clearer this time. I could see the highest one in the middle, Slide Mountain, and was happy to think I was just at the top of that a few weeks earlier. It was fantastic seeing Slide from that point.We continued on the trail, which descended a bit to another view toward Black Rock Forest, and then descended again to Butter Hill. This too had some fantastic views, including a nice one of the winding Rt 9W heading south through West Point. There were three USGS markers on top which probably are there to see if the rocks move.We descended from Butter Hill for a while through nice woods, and then came out on someone's driveway. The trail descended there to Mountain Road. We turned left briefly and there was stone benches built into a wall on the left, so we took a lunch break. We had to wait for Ernie to catch up anyway. He was falling too behind to keep up the whole way, so I directed him on more shortcuts ahead, following mostly woods roads through Black Rock Forest.We turned left off of Mountain Road onto Reservoir Road, which passed through a tiny, narrow tunnel beneath Rt 9W. The tunnel seriously looked like just a trail tunnel. Some cars would certainly not fit through.On the other side, the Highlands Trail remained on the road for a bit, to a parking area for Black Rock Forest. It then turned left to head up hill steeply over Whitehorse Mountain. This mountain had no view, at least not in the foliage seasons, and so Derek and I powered over the top of it and headed down the other side. On the way down, I got stung by a yellow jacket, and the two of us ran a bit to get away from the nest I probably stirred up. Just about when we stopped, the Upper Reservoir came into view. I couldn't resist jumping in for a swim before moving on. The others caught up soon enough, and the trail continued down and around the reservoir to join Reservoir Road once again. We followed the road up hill along the west side of the reservoir, and it then turned right up the road a bit.We met up on the road with the rest of the group and had a happy reunion. I wanted to continue on, but they had already scaled Mt. Misery, the next step, but had ascended the wrong way. They didn't want to go all the way back up, and so Eric and ? headed back to their cars. I knew where we were going, and since it was the Highlands Trail route directly from Dock Hollow to Mineral Springs, there's not much confusion that can happen, but Haobo was sure we were going the wrong way, and then it seemed like everyone was questioning it. I told them I was going over the mountain, and we'd be back to that same road again maybe a mile ahead, if they wanted to go and wait there. Derek, Teun, Michele, and Jaque all trusted in me and followed. Derek and I reached the woods road again first, but no one was there. I called Mr. Buckett and found that they were still back at the other place, and I guess thought we'd end up there. I told them to come on, and they did, at which point they had to believe me!The Highlands Trail crossed the woods road here, then made it's way down over the spillway of Alec Meadow Reservoir. We continued from there up hill, across another woods road, and on the steady climb to Black Rock.We had a great break at Black Rock, with an amazing 360 degree view. We could see up the Hudson once again to the Newburg Bridge, Cornwall below us to the north, the Shawangunk Mountains with the Catskills beyond, the Harriman-Bear Mountain are to the south which was probably mostly West Point we were seeing, and the Schunemunk Ridge to the west.

We descended from Black Rock, and continued through the forest. The Highlands Trail picked up other trails in the remainder of the hike. There was one spot where a white blazed trail to the left took us to a view point over either Sphagnum Pond or Sutherland Pond. We could see the NYC skyline in the distance from this point. There were people swimming in the pond below.We continued heading down hill, and the Highlands Trail turned right when we reached a series of woods roads, and eventually turned right off of it to begin descending, co-aligned with the Scenic Trail.

We gained elevation once more before the final descent to the end, climbing to Jupiter's Boulder, with one last view of the Schunemunk Ridge, the Shawangunks, and the Catskills before heading into the glen of Mineral Springs Brook. This too was a really nice break.We continued to descend along Mineral Springs Brook, and we crossed a rickety stick bridge, which was actually pretty cool. As we lost elevation, the cascades became larger, and I recognized a spot on the creek that was the "upper falls" which Dorothy had shown me pictures of in the morning.While we were descending on the trail, Brad found us after having hike to catch up with us from the end on the wrong trail. He followed Scenic Trail through instead of staying on the Highlands Trail, but fortunately found his way to us.We soon reached Mineral Springs Falls, a popular old bathing spot from the days when Helbing's Farm was a boarding home, which Dorothy had told us stories of. I jumped in and felt really great to be in the same pool of water that so many of my relatives had swam in in years past. No one else got in, I guess it was getting too cold for them.The falls were beautiful, luckily, because they had been reportedly dry before the heavy rains of the preceding week. We'd been in a drought. We soon descended, from here on woods road, out to Old Mineral Springs Road. There, my old friend Bob "Bode" Bodenstein was waiting for us, as well as Eric and the other new guy. They drove people back for their cars at the beginning point while the rest of us continued to walk south on Old Mineral Springs Road. The forest manager was there when we got to the road, and he asked what was going on. I told him we were heading to my cousin's, who he knew, and he gave me a strange look. He asked "Does she know you're all coming?". I said "Yeah!". He gave me an even stranger look and said "okaaay...".We headed further down the road to Mineral Springs Road, and it started pouring down rain, just before finishing. We'd made it out of the woods on time. Ernie too wasn't too far behind us, because he'd met rangers or something and they told him where to go. We all made our way to the house, and we hung out for a while under the pavilion going over maps and such.When everyone arrived, we ushered everyone in to get drinks, and sit around the living room. Dorothy would give us a little history lesson, and I wanted to do some introductions since she hadn't met the group, and some of them hadn't even met each other. I thought it would be interesting to have them say who they were and how they came to find my group. Everyone had something wonderful to say, and often very humerous. Brad told us that on his first hike, he was to attend a party afterwards. He'd never told any of us before, but when he arrived over two hours late, he found that it was his own birthday party! Mr. Buckett of course went off on a long and  humorous story about his first hike, and the bucket for which I gave him his nickname; Jack had a nice way of saying what I wrote earlier, how all these other groups are so set in their ways about how a hike is supposed to be, how they dictate what should be worn, and how our group was more focused on having a good time; Shelly talked of how everyone told her she needed to be on my hikes; Haobo referred to us  humorously as "Bohemian", Susie joked that she liked that my hikes were dog friendly, but that they were unfortunately not husband friendly (LOL); Bode acknowledged how we met over a shared love of history, and Derek likened the hikes as a metaphor to life, and how the hikes pretty much offer a truncated version of all life has to offer.Dorothy then gave us a great talk on the family history, had displays and books out for everyone to look at, and we ate fantastic dinner she'd prepared; baked ziti, chicken, two salad dishes, and a dessert of Apple Crisp. There was also plenty of wine and such, further adding to an evening of obstreperous merriment.

The night ended with a wonderful feeling of fulfillment, and I think everyone else felt it too. I'm so very lucky to have so many great people in my life, sharing these great times with. There is so much mutual appreciation, and if only for a few hours every week, I feel like I've found Utopia.

 

PS: On the ride up, I offered the girl at the toll booth one of my junk pairs of sunglasses because she told Derek it was too bright while he was paying the toll.Derek told me during the following week that on the way home, while passing through the toll booth, I was passed out and mumbled that I would give the toll collector sunglasses, but I had to dig for them in my pack! LOL!!!!! It was totally dark out and I don't remember a bit of it!!!!