Follensby Clear Pond Camping

A few years ago a friend of mine was married on the summit of Cascade Mountain at sunrise. Part of the wedding weekend involved camping out on an island on the Follensby Clear Pond system. I had never been much of a camper, but I fell in love with the spot and planned to return.

Follensby Clear Pond

Camping on Follensby is a great experience without the added labor. There is no need to hike in with heavy packs, just load up your water craft of choice and paddle to your chosen camp location. For this trip we booked a 2 person and 3 person canoe from Raquette River Outfitters a few weeks prior. Early Friday morning we packed my car and after a few rearrangements, fit everyone in and headed out.

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Return to The Blue Ledges

The Blue Ledges is a wonderful spot on the Upper Hudson River. We often dream about a visit, but only occasionally follow through with plans. It’s not a tough hike by any measure, and the destination is really nice. The drive to the trailhead is several miles on a banged-up dirt road, so maybe that slows us down.

Huntley Pond
Huntley Pond

This past Saturday was one of those times that we went. At the trailhead on Northwoods Club Road at 11:30 am, on mid-summers day.  It’s a good start time, for reasons I’ll explain.

After a half sandwich and a chug of water, we headed into the relatively new (2014) Hudson Gorge Wilderness. Mileage estimates for this hike vary from 2.1 to 2.5 miles, depending on the source. The DEC sign at the trailhead calls it 2.3.

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Diary of a 46er

My becoming a “46’er” started innocently enough.

I have done a good bit of hiking over the years, mostly in the Catskills and downstate. A few years ago we were able to extend our range with a little place in the capital region opening new and more consistent opportunities for outdoor endeavors. While our place is not near any particular destination, it is almost equidistant between the Catskills, Southern VT, the Berkshires and the Adirondacks.

Avalanche Lake

Without a grand plan, in the Summer of 2017, after a little research, I got up early and day hiked over Mt Colden. I was curious to see if it felt too far to drive up and back and if it was as great as I remembered from prior trips.

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