Hiking Along The Hannacroix - Part 4

Our Sunday hike along the Hannacroix Creek had been pleasant, but there had been very few signs of spring greening. We'd come to the end of the trail and were on our way back when I began seeing that Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, had poked its purple hoods up through the forest floor. One of our earliest spring plants, Skunk Cabbage produces its own heat as it emerges, sometimes melting the snow around it. It's a fascinating plant and a most welcome sign of spring's arrival:

The dogs and I were returning to the Hannacroix Creek where the hike had begun:

We passed an old rotten log full of the shells of last year's puffballs:

And on past the remnants of more old stone foundations. This one appeared to have been someone's house. It had been situated on a pleasant hill just above a creek and right next to the road. My imagination could conjure up visions of hard working farm families, probably Dutch, in the era of Washington Irving and his stories of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle:

Just as we arrived at the waterfalls, the dogs began barking and ran ahead. I felt guilty for not having them on a leash, figuring they were again harassing the two girls whose lunch they'd helped themselves to. But I found the girls sunning themselves on the jutting rocks, oblivious to me and to my dogs who had discovered another hiker with two Boston Terriers. A man with two young boys, an adult dog and a puppy were enjoying Hannacroix Creek:

The dogs all got along well and the boys thought Seamus was the biggest, goofiest dog they'd ever seen:

Seamus accompanied the boys on a creek exploring adventure before we said goodbye. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the second boy hiding under the tangled tree branches:

I chose another trail to return us to the parking area, this one with a nifty bridge over a ravine:

The dogs are by now old hands at crossing bridges, so they weren't intimidated. We returned to our parked car and headed for home:

Sleepy Hollow Catskills Hike - Part 5

I was on my way back down the mountain and coming near to the end of a hike on the Sleepy Hollow trail with my four dogs - Seamus, Fergus, Daphne and Clover. This was little Clover's first hike and a learning experience both for her and for me. We'd seen out over the beautiful Hudson River Valley and were now hiking downhill toward the trail head:

It was a very hot day, but we'd mostly kept cool in the shady Catskill woods:

Clover, a Papillon puppy, had learned how to walk on a leash and come when she was called. She'd seen her first forest, her first mountain stream, her first horses. Clover had had a good time and advanced in both her training and socialization:

Seamus, my beloved giant, had kept calm and was enjoying being out in nature:

It occurred to me to take a video of what it's like just hiking along the trail with the dogs so I gave it a try. Fergus wanted to stay right there at my feet, so he doesn't appear. But perhaps you'll get a feel for the cool, quiet, shady woods and hiking with the dogs, their excess energy by this time mostly drained:



We arrived back at the trail head without incident, climbed into the car and headed for home. But I just had to shoot a few photos of the scenery from the roadside. This golf course had great views of the adjacent Catskills:

And like so many things in the area, it was named after Rip Van Winkle:

This herd of what appeared to be dairy cattle was slowly traveling, single file, back to their barn at the base of the mountains:

The cattle appeared to be headed to these barns. I never found out how they would get across the road. This farm raises and sells vegetables in a big way. And what a view they have! Those are the mountains in which we'd just hiked. I can still feel their draw even as I look at the picture:

But it was time to get home and resume life as normal. I took one last look at the Catskill Mountains and turned my car towards Albany:

Sleepy Hollow Catskills Hike - Part 4

The dogs and I had arrived at a flat grassy area high on a Catskill mountain with a scenic overlook. While I liked gazing out over the Hudson River Valley far below, the big attraction for the dogs, especially the puppies, was the flat grassy area. Such a wonderful place to explore and sniff!:

Enough sun reached this small plateau that there were wildflowers in bloom all over it. But I was particularly taken with these Smooth False Foxglove, Gerardia flava, a member of the Snapdragon family. As you can see, for Clover and Daphne it was merely another play area:

I'd never seen this wildflower before, but had recently read about it on one of the Adirondack nature blogs I follow:

Were Clover and Daphne baying at the skies? Treeing a raccoon? I think they were probably chasing butterflies, one of their favorite hobbies. Watching two Papillon puppies chasing butterflies in a sunny mountaintop meadow is pretty much like heaven:

This being a level spot, even Seamus become livelier. That's Fergus behind him exploring:

Clover and Daphne were not in any way tired out by the hike up the mountain. They had plenty of excess energy and wanted to play:




But the time soon came to begin the downward trek. We could have continued higher up the mountain, but I was tired and out of time. Besides, we had a long hike still ahead of us before we reached our parked car So we began to head back down the trail:

While the grade was continuous, it was not overly steep. So the trip downhill was easier and more pleasant. The puppies frolicked and Seamus kept a watchful eye on them:

And we never met another person on the trail. It's an odd but wonderful thing to have an entire mountain to oneself:

We passed by the old foundation of the Rip Van Winkle Inn and I noticed a third stone structure which I hadn't seen on the way up.

I found this old photo of the Rip Van Winkle House on the internet. I wish I'd seen it earlier, as it does explain where the old inn had been built in relation to the bridge - right next to it. The inn apparently spanned the creek. It was in decline by the late 1800s and a photo of it in 1902 shows it abandoned and falling down. But in its day it welcomed travelers to the Catskill Mountains:

A beautiful day, happy dogs, playful puppies and exquisite scenery. We continued down the trail toward the trail head:

Sleepy Hollow Catskills Hike - Part 3

I was hiking up the Sleepy Hollow trail in the Catskill Mountains with my four dogs - Seamus, Fergus, Daphne and Clover. We'd passed some people on horses but otherwise had the entire mountain to ourselves. Most of it was State land, but I kept seeing Private Property signs. The Catskill Park is, like the Adirondack Park, a mixture of State and private lands. Nevertheless, I was shocked to encounter this extraordinary building up on a rocky ledge overlooking the trail. It had a no trespassing sign and I didn't attempt to climb those stairs, but I confess that I was tempted:

The trail went continuously uphill without any breaks. Seamus and I were beginning to tire, but the young pups were still plenty energetic:

I passed by this giant, flat topped boulder with a soft layer of mosses on its top surface. I never got to see Rip's Boulder, where Rip Van Winkle reportedly slept for 20 years, but I'll wager it looked very much like this:

And we kept climbing upward. Even the puppies began to slow down. As many dog trainers are fond of saying, "A tired dog is a well behaved dog:"

And without warning, we came upon a broad, open space with a scenic view. The trees obscured much of the view, but if I stood on that boulder I could make out a good deal of the valley below:

The broad valley below us seemed perfectly flat and also seemed to stretch out clear to the horizon:

I stretched higher to get a better view and it was lovely indeed:

And then I noticed that long blue ribbon of water. This, I was sure, was the Hudson River. It was no wonder the valley was so broad:

This country was the historic Catskills, home of the legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Far below us was the historic Hudson River Valley. I decided not to climb any higher, but instead to begin descending the trail headed for our parked car. So we were only at the half way point. I'll post more tomorrow:

Sleepy Hollow Catskills Trail - Part 2

I was hiking with four dogs on the Sleepy Hollow Trail in the Catskill Mountains. We'd climbed up a very steep and rocky creek bed looking for Rip's Boulder, the place where Rip Van Winkle was supposed to have slept for 20 years. Alas, I never found it. I looked upwards toward where we could climb farther in search of this boulder but the climb appeared endless. So we began a cautious descent back down that pile of mossy rocks:

Going downhill is almost always more difficult and treacherous than going uphill, and all the more so when trying t navigate so many rocks. Daphne and Fergus were quite nimble, but Seamus and I were, shall we say, a bit overweight and long legged. And Clover was just a tiny puppy. So Fergus and Daphne simply had to wait for us slow pokes to catch up:

I snapped photos of the rocky scree hoping they would show how steep this was. But as is usually the case, the small amount of scenery captured in the photo looks almost level. I guess you'll just have to believe me that this was extraordinarily steep:

Besides the piles of giant boulders and smaller, ankle twisting rocks, there were mossy sections, fallen trees and weedy patches to navigate. I was glad I hadn't tried to climb any higher:

About half way down, I walked off into the woods and traveled the rest of the way on comparatively smooth (though still steep) ground. This way we avoided any more rock hopping:

When I got back to the trail, I saw this old rock wall near the bridge and wondered if this was the foundation of the Rip Van Winkle Inn. It was on a different mountain, so I may never have found the famous Rip's Boulder even if I'd made it all the way to the top of our former climb. And this mountain was even taller and steeper than the first. I was glad I'd turned back to the trail:

So we continued merrily on our way, now on the legitimate trail up, up, upwards into the heights of the Catskills:

Seamus huffed and panted, but appeared to be doing well. I'd brought along a big jug of water and a dog bowl just in case - but there was enough water along the trail that it was never needed:

Clover ran ahead and wouldn't come when called. When I finally got a hold of her, I put her on a leash. Well, she wanted no part of that either, so we had a lesson in how to walk on a leash. Then I let her drag it behind her for a while. When we met four horses and riders coming down the trail, I put Fergus, Seamus and Daphne on leashes. Clover was so excited by the horses that she again wouldn't come when called. First she wanted to get close to the horses, than ran away in fear. Finally I walked the other dogs quickly off the trail into the woods and Clover followed us. I'm happy to say that by the end of the hike, Clover was walking well on a leash and coming when called:

A short video of the dogs playing while descending the steep, rocky creek bed. In the beginning, I am encouraging her to climb the rocks. Then she attempts to scale a fallen log with Daphne and Fergus, but Daphne decides it's time for wrestling. Seamus pants and waits patiently to see which way I decide to go. I did eventually decide to follow the dogs up over that log and finish my descent on the smooth ground instead of the rocky scree:

Sleepy Hollow Catskills Trail - Part 1

The weekend had arrived, and I was tired from the rat race and by events up at the farm (I'm now paying for a whole new septic system). It was awfully hot outdoors, but I needed a hike. So I searched my trail books and found the Sleepy Hollow trail in the Catskills. It seemed to offer shade, a scenic overlook and historical sights. And I knew from past experience that the Catskill forests were probably cool and damp.

So on Sunday morning, I took Seamus, Fergus, Daphne and Clover hiking. Clover had never been on a hike of any kind, so I knew that this would be a learning experience for both of us. I found the trail head and met a wonderful family who lived in the woods right next to the trail head. The young girls went gaga for baby Clover. Then I started up the trail with the dogs. The first thing we came to was the site of the Rip Van Winkle House, a former inn. There was supposed to be a stone foundation, but what I saw was a bridge. It was hot and there was water underneath, so I brought the dogs down under the bridge to cool off:

Seamus was quite hot and panting loudly, so I knew he'd appreciate the cool mountain waters. It was so dark in the woods that none of my original photos were usable and I didn't realize what was happening until I tried taking pictures under the bridge which was darker still. In fact, I had to use the flash to take these photos. Here's a much relieved Seamus cooling himself:

No, he wasn't yet cool enough. A complete job would require immersion:

Fergus and the two puppies also enjoyed the cool, dark wetness. The puppies wouldn't go into the water, though:

According to the trail guide, I could find Rip's Boulder, the place where Rip Van Winkle slept for 20 years, directly behind the stone foundation of the Rip Van Winkle Inn. I assumed that the stone foundation over which the bridge crossed the stream was what they meant and began climbing up the rocky scree of the almost dry creek bed. The great contrasts between light and dark in the woods continued to be a challenge for taking pictures. Here's little Daphne bravely leading us uphill:

Seamus had a lot of weight to haul up that incline which was much steeper than it appears in the photos. So he lagged behind:

Fergus was as quick as the puppies and very good at finding water even in that almost dry creek:

I came to a huge boulder and we all rested there. I wondered if it might be Rip's Boulder until I realized how easily a sleeper would roll off of it and down onto the sharp rocks below. So I got out my trail guide for more guidance. It said the boulder was 600 vertical (not linear) feet above the inn's foundation. That was a lot of climbing and very difficult to judge. Our path was so steep and rocky that I decided to begin back downhill to the trail:

Going downhill was tricky and treacherous, but scenic. Fergus took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the forest:

But down the steep grade we went. I'll post more from our Sleepy Hollow hike tomorrow: