Plateau and Sugarloaf Hike

Posted on by Peter Minde

On the last Sunday in June, I returned to the Catskills for another dose of torture. After mulling various options, I parked the shooting brake at Notch Inn Road, off Route 214 north of Phoenicia, and set out for Plateau and Sugarloaf.

Trail along Warner Creek

In the northeast that weekend, the weather was sketchy. On Saturday, I threw down a hard rollerski workout and beat the rain. With a 50% chance of thunderstorms and a chance for hail Sunday afternoon, I was cautiously optimistic.

I kitted up and set out. Notch Inn Road is a private road, with property owners granting an easement for access to the state forest preserve. At the end of the road, in an unmarked gap in the trees, was the trail head.

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Tagged: Catskills, Hiking5 Comments

Delaware River Rafting: Barryville to Pond Eddy

Posted on by Brownski

Most of my paddling is what can be called “flatwater” kayaking. I put my boat in the water someplace, paddle for a while, turn around, and then get off the water in the same place I launched. It’s not that the water doesn’t move, just that there’s no overwhelming, one-way current that prevents me from returning to where I started. Even when I get on the waves with my surf kayak, I can return to my parking spot. Where I put in is where I need to take out.

Barryville base

Whitewater boaters leave a vehicle where they plan to end up, then drive upriver to their launch point. Two vehicles and drivers opens all kinds of possibilities. My only experience with this was years ago when I brought my sit-on-top surf kayak on a Lake George vacation with me.

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Tagged: Kids, Paddling7 Comments

Nyack Kayak and the Concrete Barge

Posted on by Brownski

It seems like anywhere I paddle around the metro area, I come across the remains of an abandoned boat. On the Rondout’s Creek in Kingston, in Piermont Marsh, the Middle Bay on Long Island, there’s always a long abandoned hulk, usually so old that the hull has been eaten to the water line. Sometimes all that’s left is an old V8 sticking out of the mud at low tide, watching the years go by as it slowly rusts to nothing.

Tappan Zee boat launch

One of the most baffling examples sits in the middle of “my zone” — the west shore of the Tappan Zee in Rockland County. Right in Nyack, yards away from the marina sits a deteriorating hunk of concrete in the unmistakable shape of a ship. I’ve always been intrigued by the wrecks I’ve encountered but this one fascinates me the most.

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Tagged: Hudson Valley, Paddling5 Comments