This past weekend I went for a short hiking trip to the Mohonk Preserve in the Shawangunk Mountains in NY. I hiked through just a tiny portion of the preserve, starting at the visitors center, and I would definitely love to go back and see more of it someday.
I started along undercliff road, which is one of the gravel carriage roads that run through the entire preserve.
turtle along undercliff road
Approaching rhododendron bridge, I encountered a turtle!
closeup of turtle
I continued on along laurel ledge road, another carriage road. The highlight of that stretch was the very fervent moss and large boulders along the path.
along laurel ledge road looking up at plateau path
closeup of ladder along plateau path
moss!
a shot of laurel ledge path, complete with dog
I tried to hike into the mountain house lands, but every path I tried had a sign prohibiting pets from entering. So we turned around, backtracked along laurel ledge road and continued on to overcliff road. Overcliff road had nice views of the catskills, but my camera is not equipped for panoramic shots of things in the distance. Coming back toward trapps bridge, I saw a lone ladyslipper!
Then we found a cozy little nook above undercliff road and took a nap.
naptime!
To top off the day, we persevered through the midday sun to the millbrook ridge trail, and it was well worth the effort. I was especially charmed by the gnarly pine trees growing amidst the rocks.
ascent in the beginning of millbrook ridge trail
And of course there were the views — these are the cliffs above undercliff trail, looking roughly west-northwest from millbrook ridge trail.
view of cliffs from millbrook ridge trail
views of cliffs from millbrook ridge trail
The large path to the left of the driving road is undercliff road.
closer views of cliffs from millbrook ridge trail
All that before 2pm! Whew!