Then we set off to accomplish one of my personal unofficial goals for this trip, and that was to be up to hiking 5 miles before I got home.
First we went to Thorn Preserve. I believe they are trying to restore it to a prairie, but at this time of year it's just a big mowed field. It's primary feature is the best view of Overlook Mountain in the area. This is part of the Catskills.
Sawkill Creek also runs beside it. Anyway, we walked around on mowed trails and some other places for 2.8 miles.
Then we went back by the club to get some lunch and use the facilites. No work involved. Our next stop was Ferncliff Forest, which has lots of trails. We could have done all our miles there, but Thorne was a new find, and we wanted to check it out. Ferncliff has topography and a LOT of trails. We took the Orange Trail, also called Bridle Trail, but in reality it was a mountain bike trail. That wandered over a lot of small ridges and crossed a small creek. I thought the ice crystals made this log look like a big bug.
That eventually dumped us out near South Pond after we crossed this little rocky ridge outcrop.
You are allowed to camp at Ferncliff with reservations. There are several shelters and some tent pads. This was the nicest shelter.
We took the white/Scout Trail back to the parking, but it wasn't quite enough mileage, so we headed out again on the Red Trail and looped around to the Church Trail. We're glad we did! We found two of these structures. This one was rock, and the other was part brick.
We found out they are root cellars left over from when there was a farm commune on the land. I've never seen them built with curved roofs like that. Very interesting!
Then we came back to Marie's and repotted a huge plant that she needed help with. I think we did all her projects!
Mini health update: I'm down to 3 ibuprofen a day. I haven't have to sleep with an ice pack on my face since I left home. I wasn't exhausted after the working and hiking today. I'm very pleased! The neuralgia isn't gone, but it's manageable.
Now we have to eat an early dinner and then head for the train station. Sigh. I will be glad to get home, but I hate to leave Marie. Probably one more adventure before I get home. Stay tuned.
Miles hiked in 2025: 40.9.
Thorne Preserve, Zena, NY, 2.8 miles. Ferncliff Forest, Rhinebeck, NY, various trails- 2.4 miles, total 5.2 miles
 | See Falling Waters- Saugerties |
1 comment:
Those root cellars are quite interesting. That trip went by fast.
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