Skip to content
Hiking Photos

Great Saw Mill River Cleanup 2016 – Farragut Avenue, Hastings

  • 6 photos
Great Saw Mill River Cleanup 2016 – Farragut Avenue,  Hastings

This was my first time volunteering at the Great Saw Mill River Cleanup, organized by Groundwork Hudson Valley.

Each year’s cleanup event takes place at 8-10 different locations along the Saw Mill River. This year I chose the Farragut Avenue location in Hastings.

I learned how Oriental bittersweet and porcelainberry vines threaten local trees by depriving them of sunlight and nutrients, and in some cases even strangling them to death. I helped clear said vines from jeopardizing about 30 trees along the Farragut Ave portion of the river.

Photos

More hikes

Harriman State Park – Breakneck Pond, Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail, Big Hill

  • 6.43 mi
  • 1,089 ft gain
  • 03:09:00

Our annual friends trip to the AMC Harriman Outdoor Center landed us in Stone Lodge this year — private bathrooms, a kitchen, and a level of comfort the shared-facility cabins can't match. Between the boats on Breakneck Pond and the buffet dinners, the real draw was the trail: a long push up the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail past a Big Hill lean-to, the Jackie Jones Mountain fire tower, and the crumbling ORAK ruins. Sunday brought something quieter — a memorial on the Long Path for the victims of Northwest Orient Flight 6231.

Emery Park – Collier’s Climb Trail, Leonard Mountain, Club Gateway

  • 2.29 mi
  • 722 ft gain
  • 01:36:44

I helped lead a group of Club Getaway guests up the Collier's Climb Trail in Emery Park, near Kent, CT. The route to the summit of Leonard Mountain is a steady incline — not incredibly steep, but consistently at an angle and rarely leveling off. At the top there's a view of the surrounding mountains and valleys, partially obstructed by summer foliage. We went on an exceptionally hot, humid day and stopped a few times for water. We had hoped to descend a different trail, but a recent storm had left it blocked by downed trees, so we retraced our steps for a 2.29-mile out-and-back.

Taxter Ridge Park Preserve – Yellow Trail, Danny Gold Blue Trail, Woody Crest, Orange Trail

  • 5.6 mi
  • 840 ft gain
  • 02:01:13

Taxter Ridge Park Preserve was the site of my first COVID-era hike, and returning six years later reminded me why I fell in love with it. Despite heat and humidity in the low 80s, the trail delivered — open meadows, dense woods, old carriage trails, a marsh, a water tower, the ruins of a 19th-century sanctuary, and glimpses of stunning multi-million dollar homes along the way. I had the entire 200-acre park almost entirely to myself. Not a single person, not a single car in any of the three parking lots. Just the trail, a lingering deer, and a 2.5L hydration pack I was glad I brought.