Badlands 2012

The Badlands National Park is just 1.5 hours from Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.  This is just one brief clip from our road trip last year.  If we had more time we definitely would have hiked through the park.  It is amazing with 244,000 acres!

Tarrywile Park, Danbury, CT 2012

Tarrywile Park in Danbury, CT is now the closest place for us to hike.  Tarrywile has several different trails to choose from, and varied scenery.  There are hay fields, ponds, forests, and a castle.  By the main entrance is the Tarrywile Mansion, the Children's Garden, and the Red Barn Environmental Center.

















The trails that go beyond the Parks Pond are generally moderate.  Some sections of the yellow trail, which branches off the blue trail, are more difficult due to an incline in elevation.  Along the yellow trail is the Mootry Peak Lookout, with a view of Danbury.  The orange trail, that crosses over Brushy Hill Road, is difficult as well.  Sections are a bit rocky and climb in elevation.  This section is referred to as the Old Ski Slope on the map.  We hiked this section back in September 2012.  During this fall season the hayfield paths were littered with grasshoppers.  We were practically under attack!  We kept getting hit in the legs in the chest...one even hit my sunglasses!  It was a beautiful fall day.  On the same side of the park with the orange trail you will find Hearthstone Castle. Hopefully one day this castle will be restored to its original beauty.

Lovers Leap - Nov 2012

Time to play a little catch up with the blog.  Back in November 2012 we went for a hike at Lovers Leap State Park in New Milford, CT.  It is not a large park with 140 acres, but the trails on either side of the Housatonic River take about an hour and a half to two hours.  Our first visit to the park, we crossed over the beautiful, red Falls Bridge to hike the Lovers Leap Trail.  There is a fantastic view from the lookout point of the trail. You can stand on the rock and gaze out over the Housatonic River.  This trail connects to the Tea House Trail, the Castle Loop, and the Hurd Estate Trails.  On these trails you will find the remains of structures that once marked the land.  There is a great deal of history that you can learn about this area.  Indians once lived in this very location hundreds of years ago.  This hike was relatively easy.  A nice way to enjoy the outdoors if you are short on time.

Macedonia Brook State Park

On October 13, 2012, we visited Macedonia Brook State Park in Kent, Connecticut.  This state park covers over 2300 acres and is also open to camping.  There are many trails to choose from throughout the park.  We started our day on the white trail named Cobble Mtn Trail.  This portion of the white trail was intense...since we have been slackers lately!  The incline is quite steep in sections but manageable. More like a climb on the way up than a hike!  The white trail crosses with the blue trail at the peak of the hill and you get a nice scenic view.  There are a couple view points from the blue trail which runs the higher ground of the park.  

We continued down the blue trail which was more challenging than the white trail.  This 0.44 mile section of the blue trail was steep.  You can't use your trek poles in certain sections because of all the rock face.  We had to slide down the rock in one part.  In another section we had to maneuver our feet and hands in order to get down.  This again was more of a rock climbing section.  But we welcomed the challenge.  Once we descended the blue trail, we hiked a small section of the green trail.  The green trail merges with the orange trail once you cross the road.  As you travel down the orange trail you run into the camp sites.  Each section of campsites have their own out houses.  So this state park is woman friendly!  Anyways, we walked past more campsites to the edge of the Hilltop Pond.  On our way back to the car we walked the Macedonia Brook Road.  We spent only 2.5 hours at the park this day since we did not realize how big the park was.  We logged about 3.5 miles and plan on hiking the entire blue trail on our next visit.  Don't forget to pack a lunch!

One Year Ago

Sam's Point, Verkeerdeerkill Falls, and Ice Caves in Ulster County, NY.  The hike up to Sam's Point is not difficult.  The trail goes up hill on a widely paved trail.  The path going to the edge is well marked.  Definitely worth the visit because you can see for miles on a clear day.  Who knew this beautiful scenery existed just 2 hours north of NYC!

              

The hike to the falls was more on the strenuous side.  The path is rocky and narrow through sections of the mountainside.  When it rains a good portion of the trail becomes flooded but is passable.  We could not get across the water to view the waterfall without getting wet.  So we decided to enjoy the fresh clear water and wade through the water at the top of the falls.  We were able to sit on the edge and enjoy our lunch before our hike back.  And of course take in the view of the beautiful falls.

Next we hiked to the Ice Caves.  The trail to the cave door was a slight challenge since the rocks were wet from recent rain.  There were wooden stairs and rock stairways.  Going through the caves was the easy part.  Wooden walkways were installed inside the caves along with solar lights to illuminate your way.  It is definitely colder inside the caves!  Once out of the caves there is a nice view of NY again.  We sat on the rocks and ate our mid-afternoon snack here.  I remember having blisters on my heels after this long day.  But well worth it!  You can't find hikes like this just anywhere.  

Time to Catch Up

On January 6th and February 11, 2012, we traveled to Devils Den Preserve in Westport, Connectiut.  The first time we hiked the trails at Devils Den, we logged approximately 6 miles.  We focused on the inner loop by taking the red and white trails.  We went off course a little to check out the vistas.  One is a small waterfall on the Ambler Trail that has a walkway over it.  The others are more lookout points, but they are overgrown.  It's too bad that there is not much of a view to take in.  On our second visit we hiked the yellow trail for a majority of the time.  We successfully made it 8.5 miles.  We stopped at another lookout but we were disappointed again...no view.  The trails themselves were not strenuous and there were many wooden platforms/bridges to cross in the water logged areas.  All in all not too bad for a day hike on the weekend.