May 19, 2012 Cornish Estate

      It was a memorable walk to say the least.  It took a long time to decide which pictures to include so I ended up including too many.  I hope everyone enjoys them.  There were 13 of us at the beginning and we all walked up to and wandered around the ruins of the house.  [I googled Cornish Estate and found pictures of the estate ... look under (Edward J. Cornish Estate or e-mail hudsonvalleyruins.org/yasinsac/cornish/cornishhold/html. ..It was quite a place!]

      Not too far  beyond the ruins, four of our group [smartly it turned out] decided to go back to the parking lot.   The trail map is not very large nor is it topographical and none of us had been on the trail previously.  So the rest of us decided we'd try to walk to the yellow trail then across to the white trail which went down to the parking lot.  It looked good but what we didn't realize was that we would end up walking almost [or so it seemed anyway] to the top of Bull Hill (Taurus Mountain).  It was strenuous and the group must have gotten tired of me complaining "When is this trail going to start going down?"

The ruins

the trail

I think the bridge leads to trail connection to Breankneck

enjoying the view

looking toward Newburgh

Storm King Mt. across the river

looking toward Constitution Marsh

Cold Spring below us

      The views were spectacular!!!!  The walk down when we finally got to the white trail was very steep.  We met quite a few hikers coming up; that appears to be the recommended direction for the climb.  The walk took me four hours [I needed a lot of rest stops] some of the others were much quicker; and I'm glad to cross it off my bucket list cuz going that far up the mountain was a one-time experience for me.  I was glad to have had water [also a cell phone...just in case] and I recommend that everyone at least carry water on every walk.
     After we finally got to the parking lot and located the three friends who'd waited 2 hours for us to return, six of us enjoyed brunch at the Yankee Clipper in Beacon.

May 5: Vassar Farm

Vassar Farm

the beginning of the walk is open and wide

bluebird in nest

there were ponds along the route

rest stop by the brook

we walked thru the woods

 

flowers along the way

         It was a great day for a walk and there were 16 of us to enjoy Vassar Farm.  Before I became the "paperwork person," I didn't know the names of all of the Walkers.  Now I'm beginning to associate names with the faces and so it was a pleasure to "meet" Susan R today.  Theresa, who read about us in the paper, joined us for the walk and she promises to be back after a few weeks.  We hope so.
        It was my first time to walk there and it's a very nice place to walk; although we pretty much agreed that, since the first portion of the walk is very open, we should not plan to visit during the hot summer.  The temperature did get above 80 later in the day but we were done by then. 
        After the walk, five of us enjoyed brunch at the Acropolis Diner in Poughkeepsie.

May 5: Dutchess Rail Trai at Hopewell Depot

It was an overcast, almost misty day but our largest group so far this year, eighteen, enjoyed about a four mile walk.  They're working on the depot building and the left side is finished.  It was good to see Verna and Ginny joined us for their first walk of the season.  After the walk seven of us dined at the Red Line Diner in Fishkill.

the Depot by CJ

Walton Lake by CJ

Walton Lake

Walton Lake and the trail

Walkers on the trail by CJ

April 28: Norrie Point

It was chilly to start but it turned into a beautiful day and eleven of us had another enjoyable walk.  We welcomed Linne back from Florida.  After the walk five of us enjoyed brunch at the Ever Ready Diner in Hyde Park.
Pictures:  a view of the marina, looking accross Hudson from the trail, group at monument.

April 21: Winding Hills Park, Montgomery

Thirteen of us enjoyed the walk at Winding Hills.  We welcomed three new members: John, Lila & Patricia and Dave has rejoined us now that tax season is over.  Potential members Lylian and Syllvianne also joined us and we hope to see them again on  future walks. We walked around the lake and struggled up a very steep hill but I think everyone enjoyed the walk.  It was overcast in the beginning then we saw sun.  Six of us enjoyed brunch at the Montgomery Airport restaurant after the walk and then checked out the tulip display at the Arboretum.  Pictures:  a view of the lake, fisherman and his catch, we walked a little bit along the edge of the lake, there are swans in the lake and the entrance to the Arboretum.