Aug. 22 - Minnewaska State Park Preserve

Kerhonkson, NY

“The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done." —Arnold Palmer

We had planned to spend a few weeks doing a road trip to Nova Scotia starting last week, but we have a grand-baby due soon, so we decided we better stay closer to Pennsylvania until the baby arrives. We'd hate to have to do a 15 hour run from Halifax to Bloomsburg when Bryt goes into labor. So we're filling our days with things around here. We spent two days with friends in Connecticut at the beginning of the week, we ate a lot, talked a lot and had a wonderful time catching up with Ted and Sally. 

On our way home we did a little hiking in the Catskills Mountains. There are A LOT of places to hike and beautiful places to visit in the Catskills, but we decided on Minnewaska State Park Preserve. It's situated on the dramatic Shawangunk Mountain ridge, which rises more than 2,000 feet above sea level and is surrounded by rugged, rocky terrain. The park features numerous waterfalls, three crystalline sky lakes, dense hardwood forests, incising sheer cliffs and ledges opening to beautiful views, 35 miles of carriage roads and 50 miles of footpaths.

It would be impossible to see all of Minnewaska’s beautiful spots in one day, so we decided to take in some of the best views from the Gertrude's Nose Tail. It's a round trip hike that includes four different trails and is approximately 7.5 miles long. The loop hike started on a nice, smooth, fairly level carriage-road that took us around part of Lake Minnewaska. The next section was also on a carriage-road with a slight increase in elevation, but still a walk in the park compared to what was to come.

Millbrook Mountain Carriage Road gave us some wonderful views of the Palmaghatt Ravine. One of the interesting geologic features along this section was a large glacial erratic called Patterson's Pellet. A glacial erratic is simply rocks that were picked up by the glaciers and dropped out as they melted. 

Shortly after that we left the carriage-road and began the Gertrude's Nose Footpath (2.7 miles). It was challenging, but spectacular, it meandered along quartz conglomerate escarpment, laced with deep cravats and offered spectacular views of the Palmaghatt Ravine and Hudson Valley. The trail included short, but steep, inclines and declines, as well as two moderate rock scrambles. I thought the hardest part of our hike would be over when we reached the Millbrook Mountain Footpath, but we still had another 1.2 miles of steep inclines and declines before we would be back to the lake. At the highest point along this trail we were rewarded with a peak with a 360º view.

A few photos of the Gertrude's Nose Footpath.

At some points the trail was hard to find...this small peak was the only way to continue on to Gertrude's Nose.

Photos from the Millbrook Mountain Footpath. It was definitely a workout.

Sights along the trail

There were blueberry bushes...everywhere. We enjoyed some as a snack along the way.

Some of the beautiful vistas we enjoyed along the hike.

Closer to Gertrude's Nose with wonderful views of the Hudson River Valley.

A few rain showers in the distance. The showers caught up with us for awhile, but the trees kept us pretty dry.

At one of the higher peaks we found these rock markers and lots of shrubby Pitch Pines.

Once we reached the lake both Stan and I waded into the water to cool off. We were now back on the Lake Minnewaska Carriage Road...only one more mile back to the car. Of course this road started at lake level and we had to get back to the top of the cliff, so we were still climbing. We took our time and enjoyed the views of the lake, stopping at several places to relax. We definitely got a good workout on this hike.

Minnewaska is a name derived from Native American languages meaning "good water". One of the most enjoyable parts of this hike, besides the amazing views, was the smell of the fresh air. A combination of pine, juniper, wildflowers and blueberries...it was absolutely incredible. I can share pictures of what we saw, but unfortunately I can't share the amazing smell.

Views of the lake on our last mile of the hike.

Stan relaxing and taking in the view.

Almost back to our car...by this time we (I) was pretty tired.

This is the loop we made at Minnewaska State Park. The orange lines represent carriage-roads and the blue were the footpaths.

The statics on our hike today

May 25-26 - Cheshire, CT

"...you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent." –Barbara Pierce Bush

We love our new home in Ithaca. We like being close to our family, we enjoy all the activities in the area, we really like the temperature here in the summer, no biting bugs and there are so many places to explore. Did I mention the grandkids live close...we really love that. The only downside is not running into old cruising friends on the water. The only way to see them now is to visit them by car, so this past weekend we drove up to Connecticut to visit the crew of Amici. We haven't seen them since last April.

No trip to New England would be complete without lobster and Ted made sure we had plenty of lobster to eat...in fact they probably were the biggest lobsters we've ever seen. Our whole weekend was fantastic...great conversations, great food...great friends. 

Pizza is a big thing in New Haven, CT. Their style is Neapolitan pizza, locally known as apizza. It originated at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana and is now served in many other pizza restaurants in the area, most notably Sally's Apizza and Modern Apizza. We went to Pepe's for lunch today and we at Modern's when we were here years ago...hard to say which is the best.

Our selection for lunch today were white clam pie and a margarita pizza...they were huge and very good.

We met some other cruising friends at Stony Creek Brewery in Branford in the afternoon...we had fun catching up with them, but it was very crowded since it was such a beautiful day. Summer has arrived in New England and everyone was out enjoying the sun.

Circle of Friends - Susie, Stan, Noel, Robin, Ted and Sally

Before we headed back to the boat on Sunday we stopped at Lock 12 Historical Park in Cheshire, it's part of a multi-use trail that was once the Farmington Canal. The canal was also known as the New Haven and Northampton Canal, which was a private canal built in the early 19th century to provide water transportation from New Haven into the interior of Connecticut, Massachusetts and beyond. The canal only operated from 1828 to 1848, then trains became the preferred form of transportation. At that time it was it was converted to a railroad. Lock 12 is the only restored lock remaining today, but the Farmington Canal Heritage Greenway covers a route of approximately 84 miles from  New Haven, CT to Northampton, MA. Over half has been developed as a paved trail for non-motorized recreation and commuting. 

July 10 – Stony Creek, CT

Amici Mooring Ball

"At night, when the sky is full of stars and the sea is still you get the wonderful sensation that you are floating in space." —Natalie Wood

We always enjoy our stay in Port Washington; it’s a great spot to stop when you head up Long Island Sound. The city really caters to transient boaters. They provide free mooring balls with two town dinghy docks that put you close to any supplies you need. You can also get a pump out and water at the main city dock. The town is full of great little Italian restaurants and pizzerias...our favorite is Salvatore's. We've even taken the train into New York City from here, but our stay this time was short and we headed to New England this morning.

We stopped in Stony Creek for the evening and picked up Amici’s mooring ball, we’ll catch up with Ted and Sally on Block Island tomorrow, but this evening we had a chance to enjoy the spectacular view of the Thimble Islands and visit with our friends Robin, Noel and their cute dog Ginger.

The Thimble Islands is an archipelago consisting of small islands in Long Island Sound, located in and around the harbor of Stony Creek in the southeast corner of Branford, Connecticut.  It looks like a little piece of Maine was washed ashore in New England. The islands are made up of Stony Creek pink granite bedrock that was once the tops of hills prior to the last ice age. Their name derives from the thimbleberry, a type of black raspberry that used to grow in abundance on the islands. There are 90 or so homes scattered over the 33 inhabited islands, from a 27-room Tudor-style mansion built in 1902 to small summer bungalows. All the islands are privately owned and all have a story to tell. President Taft had a summer cottage here and legend tells that Captain Kid hid his treasuries on one of the islands.

Just a couple of the beautiful homes along the shore of Manhasset Bay leading into Port Washington

The captain caught a Blue Fish on our way to Stony Creek today. It made a very good dinner.

The wonderful views from our boat this evening

Aug. 26 - Branford, CT

Branford Yacht Club

What a difference a day can make. It's Monday and the marina is very quiet...everyone has gone back to work and school will start later this week. One more week and summer will be over up here. Our picture perfect weather has turned to clouds and rain. The wind was howling last night and we were rocking quite a bit even tied to the dock. I'm sure glad we weren't anchored or on a mooring. 

We had a pretty lazy day since the weather was so threatening. We used the car to pick up a few more supplies and then had lunch at Lenny's. It feels nice to be stocked up on food and have clean clothes...and the boat is looking great. We're ready for company and New York City...our time in New England is over for this year. We had a wonderful time and we will definitely return. 

Aug. 25 - Branford, CT

Branford Yacht Club

Today was a repeat of Saturday…cleaning, polishing, shopping and laundry, plus the parade of boats was even more impressive. It was an absolutely wonderful day, weather wise and the world was out enjoying it. Even with all our work we enjoyed it too. It’s been wonderful having a place to get things back in shape after a long cruising season. We will stay here another day and then move down Long Island Sound to Port Washington and then into New York City on Friday. We are very excited about our son and his wife joining us next Saturday for a little fun on the boat and exploring New York City.

Aug. 24 - Branford, CT

Branford Yacht Club

Work, work, work was the theme of our day. That and watching the parade of boats come in and out of the harbor. It was a beautiful Saturday...one of New England's last summer Saturdays, so people were out soaking it in. We're in a slip at the end of the pier so we had a great place to watch the show...as we worked. Stan cleaned the port side of the hull and transom, tomorrow we will move to the other side of the dock and he'll be able to clean the starboard side. He also waxed the flybridge. I defrosted the freezer and got rid of mildew in our main head. Sally lent me her car so I also had a chance to provision the boat. What a luxury...I was able to get everything in one trip. It wasn't an exciting day, but one we've needed for quite a while. We’re beginning to look a little more presentable. We were looking more like an old fishing boat than a yacht.

We're white again!

Aug. 23 - Branford, CT

Branford Yacht Club

We decided to give up on exploring anymore of Long Island and headed back across the Sound to Connecticut today. The morning was very windy, but we’ve discovered it's hard to determine the weather and winds up here. It can be windy in one place and a few miles away the wind settles down. By the time we got to the cut into Long Island Sound it was pretty rough, but once in the Sound the winds laid down and we had a very smooth ride. The weather changes quickly in New England, so you just have to be prepared for anything and go!

Tonight we are back at our friend's yacht club in Branford. We've spent most of the summer on mooring balls or anchored, not including the time we left the boat in July to go home, we've only spent eight nights at a marina since we left here on June 18. We needed the luxury of being on a dock with all the water and electricity we wanted. The boat hasn't been washed since the beginning of June...that's a lot of salt, grime and mildew that needed to be cleaned. Some of the decks were literally black. I should have taken a picture before we started scrubbing; so we could compare the difference...she looks so much better now.

Late this afternoon we had a chance to visit with our friends Ted and Sally. We are almost at the end of our cruising season, but they're getting their boat ready to start theirs. They'll begin to head south soon.

The water was just a little rough going through the Plum Gut Cut this morning

We cruised by the Thimble Islands again today

Heading into Branford

Our beautiful view this evening