SHAWANGUNKS xc skiing

 


Feb 23, 2014 - MINNEWASKA STATE PARK in the Shawangunks west of New Paltz.  $6pp to ski.  Out on the groomed Awosting Lake Carriage Road, a hint of iciness in the morning with temp in upper 30s.  View of Rainbow Falls.  To the ungroomed Lake Shore Carriage Rd & around Awosting Lake.  Side-trip to Spruce Glen for lunch.  Back to LA then under the overhanging cliffs of Battlement Terrace up to Castle Point (el 2,193') - wide-ranging views incl. High Point in NJ.  Generally downhill on Castle Point Carriage Rd on soft surface with temp in 40s, lots of viewpoints along the way.  Love the rocky scenery in the Gunks.  Good skiing on ~2' of snow, mostly novice, some steeper hills near Lake Minnewaska.  Most other skiers were on skinny skis & stayed on the groomed carriage roads. 11+ miles, 5.2 hours. 


Pics from a variety of trips in the Gunks:  








Park Info

Info

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BOREAS PONDS in the Adirondack Park

Image
Boreas Ponds Tract info . Seasonal access issues .  June 20-22, 2023 (Tue-Thu) - BOREAS & WHITE LILY PONDS paddling, hiking, & camping. High Peaks Wilderness. Highs in the 70s, lows in the upper 40s. Light mosquito activity at times, a moderate amount of young deer flies (not biting), and black flies are over with (they are hanging out on cooler mountain tops).  Day 1 - Drove 6 miles on Gulf Brook Rd (dirt/gravel) to the 4 Corners parking area (5 of the 15 spots were taken). Wheeled the boats ~1 mile on dirt/gravel road to the lean-to, white-throated sparrows sang along the way, & set up camp. Saw a ruffed grouse in the lean-to clearing. Wild strawberries too. There is a well-hidden thunderbox privy - it took a while to find it - it is in another clearing NW of the lean-to. The Ranger stopped by as we had lunch. Paddled the irregular perimeter of BP. Spotted a loon on a nest. Great blue heron. 5.7 miles. Saw a few other paddlers, mostly day trippers. Went for an evening p
Read more

UPPER HUDSON RIVER and OPALESCENT RIVER paddling, skiing, Adirondack Park.

Image
Sep 24 (Sat) - BLACKWELL STILLWATER on the Hudson River, plus Goodnow River. From the parking area on Drakes Mill Road, we wheeled the boats 0.3 miles to the Polaris Bridge, then L or N on a path between a campsite & the river 100' to put in. Paddled upstream, soon passing the mouth of the Goodnow River. Then had to paddle hard to get up a short rapid. Turned around after going ~1 mile at the bottom of a long rapid - nice spot tho. Back downstream with a view of Polaris Mtn & up the Goodnow. Up & over a beaver dam, then just a little further to a rocky rapid after going 0.6 miles from the Hudson. Back to the Hudson with another good view of Polaris Mtn & a large raptor flew by & landed on a tree branch. Swift current below the Polaris Bridge then flatwater for about 2 miles - now in the Hudson Gorge Wilderness . Turned around at the top of a rocky rapid & explores a backwater to the E for a bit then headed back to take out below the bridge (you don't re
Read more

HUDSON RIVER paddling, Thurman to Hadley.

Image
The Bear Slides on Butternut Brook is a half mile hike from the river at Darlings Ford. In summer, tubing is popular in the 2nd half of this trip. Oct 20, 2021 - Hadley gauge at 3.8' - a very nice level.  Sunny & temp rising into the lower 70s.  Some very nice fall foliage in the yellow/orange range but past peak for reds.  Moving water, fast water, riffles up to 1' - the current made it easy to keep a 3.5-4mph pace.  Steep hills on both sides.  Bald eagles, lots of Canada geese, a lone merganser.  14.5 miles, 5 hours (incl an hour-long lunch break near 1000 Acres Ranch).  However, what may have been a perfect day of paddling was diminished by a reminder that not all folks are having an awesome day - enough said - details below but BE WARNED , it ain't pretty . *After paddling downstream for 10 minutes, we spotted some debris on river R that looked like some clothing, a dummy, or something.  After a closer look, it was determined to be a dead male with an apparent se
Read more