909 - Mountain Biking the Pond Gut side...

Although I have hiked the seldom-traversed back side of Taconic 909 -  I hadn't biked it. Well - it is truly a marvelous area with quite a bit of challenging single track and amazing scenery!

Pond Gut Entrance

At the Pond Gut entrance

I stayed on the carriage road all the way north until it turned westward where the Getaway trail connected...

On the old carriage road

Getaway (orange) -Wow what a great trail!

After riding on Getaway for quite a bit, I mistakenly veered off Getaway and ended back on the old carriage road so I looked for and found the entrance to Outer Gut (blue) and rode the whole thing! Amazing trail - this is a masterpiece! (truth be told... this old man walked a lot of the uphills but I still enjoyed it - you are really deep in the woods here and the vibe is ancient as if the Druids walked here...!)

There's a long section where you ride on the edge of the marsh . =-
by this point you are deep in the gut

Outer Gut twists and turns quite a bit so after quite a bit of riding (and shameful hike-a-bike) I stared to get worried that somehow I was lost and the trail wasn't gonna loop back! This really is a long and tough trail. Fortunately, after sticking it out, the trail did loop back as expected and my worries re being lost disappeared... whew...

you reconnect with the old carriage road and swing by a gate -
the ancient carriage road continued northward here

I flew back south on the much-easier-to-ride carriage road and then swung off to ride Pirate Creek (yellow). It was much more manageable than Outer Gut but there were still plenty of challenges and a few up and down hilly sections.

Had a bloody wound on both legs from my pedals but what's a decent ride without a little scrape! <wink>

Great trails - great place to ride for sure! Trail Map here >

Pond Gut 909

I spent the weekend in upstate NY, visiting my mother and helping her reorganize her apartment. My original plans were to explore an abandoned mill up in Rock City Falls with a couple of local historians but my upstate trek partners said conditions will be lousy (super cold and 5 inches of snow cover) so I cancelled that and regretfully didn’t even bring my mountain bike!

Saturday

Saturday, on the way up, I stopped at 909 to check out a little of the Pond Gut area. Although I had created a map for the area (link) and biked and hiked much of the rest of the park — this section was unfamiliar to me.

It was cold but sunny and an enjoyable hike. I hiked in on the fire road and checked out a bit of the Yellow trail (Pirate Creek). It's really a nice trail and I am anxious to ride it. As I got to a couple of old foundations - my phone battery died before I could take any photos! &#% Super bummer -- but that made me determined to return on Sunday on my way back home.

The Fire Road in...

Where I turned off to hike the Yellow

 Sunday

Sunday’s weather was morbidly gray and overcast--more appropriate for an Edgar Allen Poe tragedy than a hike in the woods but I was anxious to photograph those foundations and get some steps... FitBit keeps you motivated!

Once the foundations were photographed, I trekked onward and upward on Getaway. What a magnificent trail! Once past an initial steep climb (incidentally that was roughed up by ATVs... ugh) I proceeded on tight singletrack over rocky hillocks, tapered valleys, cuts thru blowdowns and constant undulating topography that makes this one helluva great trail!

I had started late in the day and as it was already getting a bit dark so regrettably my original plans of hiking all of Getaway and returning via the fire road wasn’t gonna happen (traipsing in unfamiliar woods in deep darkness is not my idea of a good time!). I turned around once I got to the edge of the ravine and wisely headed back - by the time I got in the car it was turning dark!

Old foundations

More old foundations

 On Getaway - what a wonderful trail!

Getaway rocks!

End of the line for me today at the ravine's edge...

I'll be back to check out the other Pond Gut Trails next time I travel upstate!

---

Further Info

Check out the Trailforks map

Luther and 909

Nice mid morning ride at Luther. I snitched today 4-5 photos for this panorama:

 Took the trail to the bottom (for a change)

After lunch with a high school classmate at Carneys in Ballston Lake  - I got a ride in at Taconoc 909 before returning to CT. I took the same route as last time (BykHead Nirvana) . Descending BykHead is always exhilarating! Saw an owl on the drive out on Tyrrel Road.

BykHead Nirvana

On the way back from visiting my mother, I stopped by Taconic 909 late afternoon Sunday. The weather was perfect - sunny but not too hot with a refreshing breeze.

I parked at the Tyrrell lot and rode in on Brockway veering off at Mary Murphy. The great single track took me above the start of BykHead, so I rode on the double track (Horseshoe) and zoomed off down the connector to connect with BkyHead. That first climb is a doozy and although I didn't hike any of it, I did have to stop twice for a breather. Once at the top it was non-stop nirvana - some sections have so much great flow you fly at breakneck speed without a care in the world!

Once I reached the bottom, I rode a bit on the jeep road and veered off the the left on the connector to Mustang and then climbed Mercury (on previous visits I always rode in the opposite direction: descending).

It was a great ride and finally a bit of redemption for me as last time I visited, my bike broke on BykHead and I had to walk it out. Eeech - that was a bummer...

My ride (clockwise)

A brief stop on BykHead - the photo does not do justice to how great this trail is!

At the bottom of Mercury

A brief pause on Mercury

Back at the lot

909 Bust

I took Friday off to ride 909 on the way up to visit my mother. The weather was absolutely incredible - sunny and in the 70s. Just the shorts and a jersey was all you needed. I decided to finally ride BykHead -- the only time I rode it was years ago with my son.

I parked at the Tyrell lot and made a beeline south on Brockway, veering on Tent. I meant to turn off on Mary Murphy but somehow I missed it :-(.  Once I got to the main dirt road, I turned left and headed uphill past the chimney and found the other side of Mary Murphy (after continuing a bit too far on Anthill!). Mary Murphy is a great trail for XC. I ended looping back and crossed the dirt road to get on BykhHead. Once I got past where the other old log road crosses it (brown trails on the map), I recognized the climb I did with my son ages ago.

It was a tough climb but once the main steep part ends, you are rewarded with a great, great trail. After a bit of exhilarating riding - I hit a small rock and the back wheel froze! Bummer--the axle came out!!

I tried hard to put it all back together but somehow I couldn't. I also wrongly assumed I was missing an end bolt on one side. Can you believe it? I was finally on ByHead again over a decade later and my bike was inoperable - man I was bummed. I had to walk out of the park with the bike.

I tried slinging the back of the bike off the ground with my arm and helmet chin straps, gingerly walking my bike using sticks as an temporary axle to hold the wheel in place and finally simply propped the bike on my shoulder and walked for the next hour and half or so!  It of course felt like an eternity!

BykHead is the best!

These photos can't/don't capture the magic of this trail

Temp solution only!

Man - if only I was riding this!

Carrying my bike for seemingly forever...

Fortunately, I stopped at a great bike shop "Plaine & Son" in Schenectady a few hours later and they were able to fix the bike. :-)

909 - A quick hike...

On my way back from upstate NY, my obsession with getting the map right warranted a quick hike off Tyrrel Road. It looks like only a couple of small tweaks are needed!

Quick GPS hike - 7-12-15

#1

#2

 The bugs were nasty - I kept the hike brisk and short...

909 - Old Foundations and the Green Acres Crash

After a last minute call from my mother pleading to visit them on the weekend, I headed up and rode a bit more of Taconic 909 on Sat. I didn't arrive until around 1 PM in the afternoon and parked off the Taconic. The parking lot and park were surprisingly empty.

Although no one likes to ride in the afternoon because it is hotter - it wasn't too bad. Despite the intense sun, the humidity had cleared considerably and all in all it was a beautiful day to ride!

Using MapMyRide--I GPSed my trek and noticed up east of Tent, the map is off a bit--eventually--after subsequent visits--I will try to correct that a bit.

After looping thru Anthill and Mary Murphy,
the blue arrows indicate the second part of my trek.

Mustang and Mercury

As you ride along Mustang you see a lot of these large-sized termite mounds...

Termite Mounds along Mustang

Stream Crossing at the foot of the hill where Mercury ends at Mustang

At the Start of Mercury

This is where the connector turns off to connect with Tunnel

Ascending up Tunnel and Anthill

The climb up Tunnel was doable and after a short breather at the Brockway intersection, I proceeded to head up Anthill. Truth be told, it was very steep and I did the walk of shame up to a spot where it got flatter where I rested at a rock.

Anthill was steep!
I stopped for a rest here and caught my breath sitting on the rock.

Steep Hill near where Anthill connects with Brockway

XC Goodness

Right after the steep hill trail I photographed above, there's an inconspicuous turn off of Anthill right before you get to the Main Jeep Trail. This gets you on to all the great XC trails in this area. Needless to say---this is great riding! The terrain is full of short ups and downs, etc. and I didn't stop to take any photos cuz the flow was too great!

Up to Tent and Back

I headed up on Brockway and it was actually kinda fun as as you speed downhill and the breeze cools you off. Tent was no big deal and hardly ridden but I photographed the campsites (actually two separate fire pits) before heading up the Double Track and short single track. After reviewing the GPS, that part of the map seems a little off and will need tweaking.

Campsite on Tent

On Brockway here is where the Double Track connects

Looking south, main fire road turns to the left
The other trail is an easy single track connector

Discovery - Old Ruins!

As I headed off Brockway to explore a side trail, I discovered a set of foundation ruins. The trail was apparently an old dirt road and not used very much - it was almost invisible now...

Foundation Ruins

More Foundation Ruins - note old cash register machines!

The trail here is an old road - hardly biked at all
(leaves on ground - hard to find the actual trail...)

More Foundation Ruins

Green Acres Crash

The last part of my trek was to check out the Green Acres trail as I headed back to the car. The first section of the trail has nice XC flow but--in retrospect--I was lulled by the flow and completely caught off guard by a huge steep roller covered by thick entangled roots. I had my seat in the high position and hit a diagonal root  >> then wham >> ENDO!

I hit the ground hard and was lucky I didn't break any bones. I got up bruised and battered and seriously embarrassed. I limped on thru the next section as there were a couple more super steep rollers on the trail--although none were entangled by roots like the one where I took my spill.

I finally got back on my bike and rode on, taking the high-intensity last stretch that reconnects with the main Jeep road without a fall. Redemption!

Surface wounds after the ENDO but I bashed up a rib as well...

This is Green Acres - watch out!

I had a beer in the cooler in my car... man after the crash, it really hit the spot.