The Jewish Outdoors Club
Event
- Title:
- Fall Foliage Hike - Train Accessible
- When:
- Sun, Oct 25, 2009
- Where:
- Bear Mountain State Park -
- Category:
- Hiking
Description
TRAIN ACCESSIBLE FALL FOLIAGE HIKE
ORGANIZERS: Nachi Winkler & Shira Rose
DATE: Sunday, October 25, 2009
WHERE: Harriman State Park
DESCRIPTION
Join us on the last Sunday before they change the clocks- and take away our extra hour in the sun thereby cutting us off from Summer 2009 forever- for a moderate hike in southern section of Harriman State Park including: scenic viewpoints of the park including lake views from atop Parker Cabin Mountain, Cluudius Smith Den (a cave-like formation), and hopefully some fall foliage.
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Long day hike, approximately 4-6 hours, some uphill climbing, less than 1000 feet of elevation gain, some ups and downs, need to have healthy knees and good balance.
We will keep a moderate pace (not rushing but also not leisurely).
WHAT TO BRING
Essentials: $3 JOC fee, a good attitude, minimum 2 liters of water, lunch, snacks, backpack, ankle-supporting hiking boots/trail shoes/sneakers, sun hat or baseball cap, sunscreen, extra layer (long sleeve tee/fleece sweatshirt), rain gear
Optional: binoculars, camera, sunglasses, extra pair of socks, energy bars/extra snacks, trekking poles, compass, Swiss army knife, flashlight
Disclaimer: We reserve the right to turn down anybody who arrives without proper gear, especially but not limited to, missing backpack, water, or inappropriate footwear.
RAIN CANCELLATION POLICY
Cloud cover or overcast weather will not cancel. Steady rain and even light rain will cancel the hike. Drizzle or mist may or may. I will give out my phone number to registered participants only and you can check with me morning of if conditions are questionable. Rain check date (if any) TBA.
TRANSPORTATION & MEETING DETAILS
There is a Metro-North train that leaves from Grand Central Station and stops at the beginning of the hike. The destination train station will be revealed to registered hikers. While I will try to arrange the hike start time (and projected end time) to accommodate the train schedule, train travelers are on your own to find out about the details of the commute and to get to the trail head on time by using www.mta.info.
If there are enough volunteer drivers the rest of us will be traveling by carpools. Thank you to all drivers in advance. We will be facilitating but not arranging rides for passengers. Contact information about volunteer drivers from your area will be sent to passengers via email and you will be responsible to contact them to secure your ride. If necessary, you may be asked to meet your driver at a meeting point of convenience.
Passengers: Please be courteous to drivers since they are volunteering their services. Don’t book a ride with multiple drivers, bring exact change, and pay your driver appreciation fee BEFORE being asked. We are suggesting that drivers leaving from Manhattan and nearby points in New Jersey are reimbursed $10 by each passenger and those leaving from other NYC boroughs or further sections of NJ are reimbursed $12-$15 to cover additional tolls.
Meeting time (it will be a morning start), location, and directions will be provided to registered participants only in a separate email.
COST: $3 JOC Fee, plus $10-15 driver appreciation fee (passengers please bring exact change)
REGISTRATION
Send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the following information clearly and put ‘Fall Moderate Hike’ in the subject line (incomplete registrations may be rejected):
Commuters: full name, email address, phone #, indicate that you are planning to take the train
Drivers: full name, email address, phone #, area leaving from, # of passengers can drive
Passengers: full name, email address, phone #, area leaving from, area you can meet a ride if necessary
Notes:
-Registration will be limited to a maximum of 30 people; after that you will be waitlisted.
-Registration will close at 10 PM on Wednesday, October 21, no exceptions.
-First come, first served basis unless there is an overflow of non-drivers, in which case drivers will be given preference to accommodate carpool needs.
-Disclaimer: By registering, you are agreeing to allow the organizer to share your email address and/or phone number with the rest of the participants for the purpose of arranging carpools.
QUESTIONS?
Please reread above CAREFULLY and if you still have an unanswered question, contact Nachi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
For registration-related questions contact Shira at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Looking forward to greeting you at the trailhead!
ORGANIZERS: Nachi Winkler & Shira Rose
DATE: Sunday, October 25, 2009
WHERE: Harriman State Park
DESCRIPTION
Join us on the last Sunday before they change the clocks- and take away our extra hour in the sun thereby cutting us off from Summer 2009 forever- for a moderate hike in southern section of Harriman State Park including: scenic viewpoints of the park including lake views from atop Parker Cabin Mountain, Cluudius Smith Den (a cave-like formation), and hopefully some fall foliage.
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Long day hike, approximately 4-6 hours, some uphill climbing, less than 1000 feet of elevation gain, some ups and downs, need to have healthy knees and good balance.
We will keep a moderate pace (not rushing but also not leisurely).
WHAT TO BRING
Essentials: $3 JOC fee, a good attitude, minimum 2 liters of water, lunch, snacks, backpack, ankle-supporting hiking boots/trail shoes/sneakers, sun hat or baseball cap, sunscreen, extra layer (long sleeve tee/fleece sweatshirt), rain gear
Optional: binoculars, camera, sunglasses, extra pair of socks, energy bars/extra snacks, trekking poles, compass, Swiss army knife, flashlight
Disclaimer: We reserve the right to turn down anybody who arrives without proper gear, especially but not limited to, missing backpack, water, or inappropriate footwear.
RAIN CANCELLATION POLICY
Cloud cover or overcast weather will not cancel. Steady rain and even light rain will cancel the hike. Drizzle or mist may or may. I will give out my phone number to registered participants only and you can check with me morning of if conditions are questionable. Rain check date (if any) TBA.
TRANSPORTATION & MEETING DETAILS
There is a Metro-North train that leaves from Grand Central Station and stops at the beginning of the hike. The destination train station will be revealed to registered hikers. While I will try to arrange the hike start time (and projected end time) to accommodate the train schedule, train travelers are on your own to find out about the details of the commute and to get to the trail head on time by using www.mta.info.
If there are enough volunteer drivers the rest of us will be traveling by carpools. Thank you to all drivers in advance. We will be facilitating but not arranging rides for passengers. Contact information about volunteer drivers from your area will be sent to passengers via email and you will be responsible to contact them to secure your ride. If necessary, you may be asked to meet your driver at a meeting point of convenience.
Passengers: Please be courteous to drivers since they are volunteering their services. Don’t book a ride with multiple drivers, bring exact change, and pay your driver appreciation fee BEFORE being asked. We are suggesting that drivers leaving from Manhattan and nearby points in New Jersey are reimbursed $10 by each passenger and those leaving from other NYC boroughs or further sections of NJ are reimbursed $12-$15 to cover additional tolls.
Meeting time (it will be a morning start), location, and directions will be provided to registered participants only in a separate email.
COST: $3 JOC Fee, plus $10-15 driver appreciation fee (passengers please bring exact change)
REGISTRATION
Send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the following information clearly and put ‘Fall Moderate Hike’ in the subject line (incomplete registrations may be rejected):
Commuters: full name, email address, phone #, indicate that you are planning to take the train
Drivers: full name, email address, phone #, area leaving from, # of passengers can drive
Passengers: full name, email address, phone #, area leaving from, area you can meet a ride if necessary
Notes:
-Registration will be limited to a maximum of 30 people; after that you will be waitlisted.
-Registration will close at 10 PM on Wednesday, October 21, no exceptions.
-First come, first served basis unless there is an overflow of non-drivers, in which case drivers will be given preference to accommodate carpool needs.
-Disclaimer: By registering, you are agreeing to allow the organizer to share your email address and/or phone number with the rest of the participants for the purpose of arranging carpools.
QUESTIONS?
Please reread above CAREFULLY and if you still have an unanswered question, contact Nachi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
For registration-related questions contact Shira at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Looking forward to greeting you at the trailhead!
Venue
- Venue:
- Bear Mountain State Park - Website
- State:
- NY
- Country:
-
Description
Bear Mountain State Park is located on the west side of the Hudson River in Rockland County, New York. The 5,067-acre (20.51 km2) park offers biking, hiking, boating, picnicking, swimming, cross-country skiing, cross-country running, sledding and ice-skating as well as a zoo, trailside museums, a hotel called Bear Mountain Inn, a carousel and a dining facility. Bear Mountain State Park is a separate entity from the adjacent Harriman State Park.
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Stats
For those of you keeping score at home:
Forty adventurous Jews, 60 degree weather, six hours, not one but two summits, five viewpoints, three lunch breaks (okay maybe we should call them lunch, leftovers, and dessert respectively), one cave (sort of), zero injuries, one shoe fatality, and even two deer, all add up to one awesome fall foliage hike!
Trail Route
We started from the Tuxedo train station entered the woods and soon thereafter picked up the Triangle Trail (yellow) which took us all the way to the top of Parker Cabin Mountain. We had lunch on an overlook of picturesque Lake Sebago.
We then headed back on the Ramapo-Dunderberg trail (red dot) along the ridge of Black Ash Mountain took a side trail (blue disc) to scramble up and over an unnamed peak (anybody want to submit a name to the NY-NJ Trail Conference? Who votes for Leftover Potato Kugel Mountain?), and passed Claudius Smith Den- cave, if you can call it that, where outlaw Claudius Smith and his band of robbers hid out after their exploits of local farms (and arsenal trains during the Revolutionary War? Wrong century, train invented in 1822! Zev we’re counting on you to solve this mystery.).
[For more on Claudius Smith and a picture of the cave check out: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~frederick/docs/CSmithfact&fiction.htm]
We then descended back to Tuxedo via the red dash and red dot trails, eyeing two deer on a hill and a final viewpoint overlooking Tuxedo and beyond. We rounded off the day with a nice Mincha minyan and enough traffic for everybody.
Weather Report
Despite the stormy Shabbos, we enjoyed perfectly sunny weather, minimal mud, and a stunning display of fall foliage. [To learn more about why leaves change color in the fall check out: http://www.google.com/search?q=why+do+the+leaves+change+color&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7RNWN_en]
Health Report
40 in and 40 out, 100% survival rate, & thank G-d the first aid kit was never even unzipped. Once again we had one shoe fatality (no, not Josh this time; kudos to Esther for finishing the hike despite her injured hiking boots.)
If you haven’t already, inspect yourself for ticks. (A red ring with a black dot in the center resembling a bulls’ eye should be shown to a medical profession.)
Thank You Section
Thank you to:
- Shira Rose who single-handedly coordinated registration and ride share information with a smile on her face throughout. This hike would not have even gotten off the ground if she did not accept this challenge so graciously. Another job well done. Round of applause everyone.
- All the generous drivers, most of us could not have gotten there without you, literally.
- New Jersey Transit for delivering seven of us to the trail head and back to the city safely.
- Amy F. for picking up & bringing the walkie-talkies & first aid kit and for convincing me to start leading hikes and her support ever since.
- Our orienteering staff, Liza R. & Ari W., who faithfully followed the trail markers wherever they went, even when that meant ascending again.
- Our sweep staff, Gerson S. & Amy F., for making sure nobody was left behind to be eaten by the bears or the deer.
- Moshe W., our trained medic, for volunteering to carry the group first aid kit and to G-d for not giving us reason to use it.