On Saturday, October 5th, 2002 my good friend Midnight A. Mutilator and myself left Long Island for an adventure on the mainland of the United States. Our destination, Lake Minnewaska State Park, located in Ulster County New York. To reach it, we travelled about 120 miles (192 K) by car. We had many exciting adventures in the car, including traffic (mostly in the Bronx, NY), witnessing about half a dozen fender benders as well as (again, mostly in the Bronx) and delighting in how we avoided the terrible drivers on the road ourselves, particularly the ones who got in front of us, like these people below. |
Once we reached the park our adventure began in earnest. The scenery is breath taking and the park police were out in force collecting the $ 8.00 fee from everybody they saw. The best feature of the park is that it encompasses part of the Shawangunk Mountain Range, truly a geological wonder. The continent is pushing from both sides, and this produces steep cliffs on either side of the range which are favorites for rock climbers. The picture below is from a bridge leading to the 10 mile (16 K) hiking trail that was our quest for the day. In the distance you can just make out some of the cliffs, and while they look small in this picture they are hundreds of feet high. |
Below is an example of the western side of the range. On this side, the limestone rock, slopes around 30 degrees all the way into the valley below. The stone is imbedded with small quartz crystals which makes the stone shine brightly in the sunlight. We started the trail on this side, which winds for a long way, then slowly snakes in a broad u-turn, and leads back along the eastern side of the range. The rock breaks in giant slabs, as seen below, leading to some of the biggest rocks I have ever seen in my life. |
The Shawagunk range is really two seperate ranges lying parrallel to one another. The below picture is of the western range, again with the sheer cliffs on the eastern side. While not evident in the photo, the valley really lies in two distinct levels, which leads me to theorize that in a few million years there will be three ranges. I believe that the highest point the mountains reach is 2,000 feet above sea level. At the end of this report I will add a link with plenty of facts about the area. |
