This is a slightly shorter version of Western Hudson Hike #3 ("Ridge and Shore Loop") from the book
Take a Hike: New York City (1st edition) which is also the Hike of the Week for
9/19/2002 as described on the NY-NJ Trail
Conference website. The difference is that we skipped the visit to the fire tower, which we have visited several times in the past. So instead of continuing
west on the Sterling Ridge trail when we intersected with the Bare Rock trail, we made a left on that trail and took that south to Sterling Lake.
After spending a week hiking in Virginia, which was just beginning to show autumn color, this was basically our first home fall foliage hike, and it was not disappointing. The colors in Sterling Forest varied from barely any, to quite high, as you can see in the photos. It was a gorgeous, windy fall day, so windy that I'm sure loads of leaves were blown from the trees before reaching peak color. In essence, this might have been our last chance to see really good fall foliage this year, though we're keeping our fingers crossed that this isn't the case. Total distance traveled was 5.6 miles in approximately 3.5 hours. (Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)
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Northern start of Sterling Ridge trail |
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[photo by Laura] |
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Autumn yellows ... |
... on the ridge |
[photo by Laura] |
Small cascade |
[photo by Laura] |
Nice climb here |
Sun came out |
Power line cut looking west |
Power line cut east |
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Near an outcrop |
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One of many views east |
Hills of Sterling Forest |
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Zoom view east |
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Mountain Laurel thicket |
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View of Sterling Lake from ridge |
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Explosion of yellow |
Rebuilding a cairn |
Ridge pine |
To another vista |
View of Sterling Lake |
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Fall foliage |
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[photo by Laura] |
South on Bare Rock trail |
Two-colored leaf |
Leaf-topped water |
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[photo by Laura] |
Lots of leaf drop |
Creek |
Descending on Bare Rock trail |
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Bridge across creek |
The creek is nearly dry |
The Sterling Lake trail |
At lake level |
Sterling Lake ... |
... and fall foliage |
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Continuing on Lake trail |
Dog goes fishing |
At the NW tip of the lake |
Taking a break |
View south |
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Visitor Center across lake |
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[photo by Laura] |
Resting in color |
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View south |
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Lake trail north |
Colors on Sterling Valley trail |
Cascades |
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Lots of leaf drop |
Creek off S. Valley trail |
Beautiful color |
Shooting into the light |
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How did they know? [photo by Laura] |
Color in power line cut |
View west |
Leaves in the path |
Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |