Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Minnewaska State Park official site
a site with lots of info about Minnewaska
an excellent guidebook to Gunks trails
photo slideshows:
Lake Minnewaska & Millbrook Mountain
Awosting Falls & Lake Awosting
Castle Point
I first visited Minnewaska State Park Preserve in 1999, when I went there for the Summer Solstice Run. I fell in love with the place almost immediately, and have tried to go back every chance I get. Over the years I've run in 6 races there (4 Summer Solstice Runs and 2 After the Leaves Have Fallen 20k's) and Ann and I visited there two summers ago to ride some of the carriage trails. I knew I wanted to get back there this summer for some more riding, and finally managed to do so today.
The drive down was uneventful, except for the unsettling sight of cloud cover off to the west. In the end, I decided there was nothing to be done for that, and all I could do was enjoy my time there. regardless of whether or not I had blue sky for the many photos I expected to take.
Wolfed down some quick lunch while I changed clothes and got set up, and then headed out on the trails. One of my goals for this visit was to ride some paths I hadn't been on before, so I started out with a warmup around Lake Minnewaska (quite a warmup - there are a lot of hills!) and then headed out on the Millbrook Mountain carriageway. Some climbing, and lots of downhill on the way out (meaning I was looking at a lot of uphill on the way back... sigh.) But it was well worth it - there were wonderful views both along the path and from the cliffs at the end.
Headed back to the Lake Minnewaska carriageway and made my way back to the car to resupply. Then I rode down the fairly steep Sunset carriageway to the park entrance... it was along here that I discovered that my front brakes had worn down to the point where they weren't much use for stopping anymore, though they still slowed the bike down. Followed the Awosting Falls carriageway down to the waterfall and then all the way to the edge of the park, where the path changes over to the Trapps road through the Mohonk Preserve. Since there's a separate fee to ride at Mohonk, I headed back to the park entrance and made my way to the Lower Awosting carriageway at the edge of the lower parking lot.
I knew there would be some climbing on the Lower Awosting carriageway - after all, the trails from Lake Minnewaska to Lake Awosting go uphill, and I had done some substantial downhill to reach the lower parking lot. Overall, this path wasn't terribly scenic... basically, a sunny dirt road through the woods which took me gradually but consistently uphill. As I gained elevation, it was interesting to watch the vegetation change from deciduous forest to conifers and eventually scrub pines. Just before reaching Lake Awosting, the road went up and up and up and I had to get off and push the bike for the first time all day (apparently, this stretch is nicknamed "Cardiac Hill")
The loop around Lake Awosting is one of the more technical sections that I've ridden - somewhat rocky and eroded, with views of both the lake and the ridge overlooking it. Once I'd circled the lake, I headed down the Upper Awosting carriageway to return to the car. I have to admit, by this point I was hot and fairly tired, so the fairly consistent downhill was great! Since the sky was still cloudy, I didn't stop to take many pictures - besides, with the Hamilton Point carriageway closed to bikes, I'd be passing this way again on my final loop.
Back at the car I ate a bit, which helped me regain a bit of energy and enthusiasm, and worked on my brakes, swapping the front and back pads. I also debated over which way to ride the final loop, but finally settled on taking the Upper Awosting Carriageway back to the lake, and then climbing up and over Castle Point on the Castle Point Carriageway, which would leave me with a long easy downhill most of the way back.
As I rode out, the sun came out, and the last loop turned out to be spectacular - lots of climbing for the first four miles, but great scenery and views! It turned out to be slow going, mostly because I kept stopping to take pictures. I stopped briefly at Castle Point to take in the view - gorgeous! And then made my way downhill and back to the parking lot, where I packed up and left as quick as I could, since the park was closing in half an hour.
All in all, a good day spent at Minnewaska. As I was riding some new (to me, at least) trails today I was struck by what a great place this would be to do a long run - I'll have to give that a try next spring or summer. Also, as much as I enjoyed riding the trails, I have to admit to feeling a bit sad during the last loop, both because Ann couldn't be there and because today really signals the end of my summer break. And for the fourth day in a row, I watched the moon rise as I wrapped up the day's activities... there's no real significance to that, but it really struck me when I saw the moon sitting big and orange just above the horizon as I drove down into New Paltz after leaving the park.
JMH
