This is the Hike of the Week for 6/4/2009
as described on the NY-NJ Trail Conference site. Two weeks ago we did a loop on the eastern side of Wawayanda Lake. At that time we contemplated looping the entire lake
but there was a fair amount of snow on the ground and the going was slow. Today we returned to reassess, beginning at the Pump House trail. While the going was a bit slow
on that trail (which is almost the entire first half of the hike), we managed to finish that part within about 90 minutes. So, having made it to the point of no
return, we decided to continue, and ended up looping the entire lake in the snow.
The last leg of the described hike is on the Wingdam trail. Having done that entire trail two weeks ago we decided to continue on the Laurel Pond trail until we got back to the lake. Ironically, by doing so, while we looped the entire lake we didn't really see it except at the beginning and end. It was frozen solid, speckled with a smattering of ice fisherman. The temperature when we started the hike was 14 F but increased to a sweltering 29 F during the 3.5 hours it took to do the 6.7 miles. (Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)
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Ice fishermen on frozen lake |
Beach parking lot |
Beach house |
Pump House trail head |
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Dead field mouse |
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Lots of hiker prints on the trail |
Snow was about 4-5" deep |
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Bridge under the snow |
Snowy swamp |
Swamp |
Red-tailed hawk in swamp |
A bit of winter color |
Wawayanda Lake through trees |
Glacial erratic |
Curled up rhododendron |
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A snowy Pump House trail |
Rhododendron thicket |
Dense vegetation |
End of Pump House |
Snowy parking area |
Very snowy Cherry Ridge road |
Continuing on Cherry Ridge |
Very ice in patches |
Beautiful greens |
Trail stretching |
Heading NE on Cherry Ridge |
Gate near Laurel Pond trail |
North on Laurel Pond |
Tamped down snow on Laurel Pond trail |
View north |
Partial views east |
Rhododendron bud |
Taking previous photo [photo by Laura] |
Graffiti tree |
What the ? |
Phragmites |
Stream from Laurel Pond |
Bridge over stream |
View to Laurel Pond |
Climbing near Wawayanda Furnace |
Wawayanda Furnace |
Boardwalks |
Ice drill |
Lady of the lake |
Frozen Wawayanda Lake |
Boy Scout tents in parking lot |
View south of lake |
Boy scout meeting of some sort |
Tracks on snowy lake |
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Skirting edge of the lake |
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Ice fishermen |
Picnic benches at beach |
No picnics today |
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Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |