909 acres (and 909 bugs in my face!)

On the way back from spending a Father’s Day morning with my Dad (frail but still alive and kicking at 93!), I stopped back at 909 to better orient myself with the trails that veer off the main east-west fire road. I parked at the Taconic State Parkway lot. Due to the overbearing humidity, previous heavy rains and a still defunct Camelbak bladder, I wisely decided to hike in rather than bike.

The fire road was covered with huge puddles and--under the canopy of the forest--it was like a sauna.  Frustratingly for most of my hike I was swarmed with an endless amount (909 of ‘em?) of bugs in my face. Not too many were biting but it was tough to take photos as they were constantly in my eyes  -- hence a couple of out of focus photos! I even inadvertently swallowed a few bugs (not too tasty!).

The Fire Road

Swampy and Wet!

I snapped photos of trail intersections as I made my way east and – to the best of my ability- tried to match them with location on the map.

1 - Trail Intersection

2 - Trail Intersection

3 - Trail Intersection

The Fire Road Continues

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Part way in, I noticed remnants of an old dam – perhaps the marshy area behind it was an old mill pond ages ago…?

Dam Remnants

This 1876 Map reveals there was once a lake (pond)  and other buildings in the vicinity...

1876 Map of the area

Fire Road Curves 

Two Fire Roads intersect - not on map
but noted on the historical map

Where Brockway meets the main road

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The chimney area was a lot more overgrown than when I last visited (years ago) and I noticed some interesting other cement relics (antenna foundation?) nearby. A couple of trails leading northward behind the chimney were noted as well.

At the Chimney area

Close up - Antenna Foundation?

4- Trail behind Chimney

5 - Another Trail behind Chimney

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The entrance to Byk Head strangely wasn’t well marked but I made a mental note of the intersection as I intended to ride it again sometime. I rode it years ago with my son and remembered it was awesome.

Byk Head Intersection

Where Byk Head Starts

The Fire Road continues to climb...

6 - Trail Intersection

7 - Trail Intersection

My destination was the double track loop Horseshoe and as I made my way down the south part of Horseshoe’s  wide curve, three mountain bikers whizzed by – my first encounter with anyone else in the park!

Horseshoe is a double tack (jeep road)

7- Beaver veers off (easy to miss!)

I noticed a couple of double track trails off to the left. The park is riddled with vestiges of old roads- probably part of (as I understand…) still active lumbering.

Horseshoe

8 - Double Track veers off downhill

8 - The second double track veering off

9 - Beaver intersection

Horseshoe rejoins the main road

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Next, on my descent back down the fire road, I veered off on a single track to the right and wandered on this for a while. It was great- super flowy XC trail with the occasional terrain challenges here and there. I encountered a couple of bikers on this trail who said it was called "Mary Murphy". It looks like a fun trail to ride...

A section runs somewhat parallel to the Fire Road

Finally I noted Mary Murphy merged with Anthill, the trail I was on Friday. I hiked onto Brockway and made my way back to the car.

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Summary

Despite the swarms of bugs – it was a productive trek. I made a couple of corrections to the map based on my on site observations and know which trails to ride whenever I return!