Clarence Fahnestock State Park, Putnam and Dutchess Counties, New York – January 16, 2011

YBS, Xi and I were interested in cross-country skiing or snow shoeing, so we headed north to Clarence Fahnestock State Park, which has a winter park featuring groomed trails and gear rental. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, close to 11:00 a.m., the man at the gate told us that the parking lot was full and that they had rented all the ski gear. Disappointed, we drove southwest on Route 301 a half mile and decided to hike a bit.

We started out exploring Conopus Lake, to the north of Route 301, joining a number of skiiers and at least one ice fisherman who were enjoying the lake, which had several inches of powder over thick ice:

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One of my roommates lent me his snow pant bibs, which came in very handy. I've never worn any before, but I enjoyed both the insulation and the waterproofing.


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I try making snow angels. Xi was a prettier snow angel, but she has to decide whether to post pictures of herself or not.


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After an hour or so on the lake, we left and crossed to the south of Route 301, hiking southwest on the Appalachian Trail.


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After about ¾ mile we stopped for lunch:


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It was a sunny day, with a clear blue sky:


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After a mile on the Appalachian Trail, we turned left onto a blue-blazed park trail, hiking roughly northeast back toward Route 301:


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Even though Conopus Lake had been frozen, we did find a few streams that still had running water:


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Some tracks diverted southeast. This was apparently the green-blazed park trail, though at the time I didn't see any blazes.


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We continued on the blue-blazed trail, however.


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A fallen tree:


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Another fallen tree frames a depression:


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We only hiked about 2.5 miles on the Appalachian Trail and blue-blazed trail, and maybe we covered another mile at Canopus Lake. It's much harder work to hike in snow than on hard-packed ground, so even though we were only at the park about three hours and didn't cover many miles, it was still a fun trip and a workout.