I was feeling a bit frustrated after the disappointment of Twin Hill Preserve so I decided to take the dog for another walk, and to another new location. This time we went up Shenandoah Mountain at the north end of Fahnestock State Park. This was much more enjoyable. It’s a short (20-30 minutes) walk along a portion of the Appalachian Trail – short, but quite steep and it’s uphill all the way. There are nice views from the top (1282 feet but you start quite high so I guess you don’t cover the entire distance). Spend a few minutes exploring the top and admiring the views and then it’s about 15 minutes back down. The whole thing can be done in about an hour.

Of course you can also follow the Appalachian Trail as far as you feel inclined – the whole thing runs for 2,200 miles so you won’t reach the end any time soon.

9/11 memorial. Now quite hard to read.

In case you can’t read it it says “U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Reference Mark. For information write to the Director Washington D.C. $250 fine or imprisonment for disturbing this mark.”

Another view from the top.

As mentioned before I’m always on the lookout for new places to walk so I was pleased to find some information on the Twin Hill Preserve. Unfortunately when I got there I was somewhat disappointed.

First – it’s quite hard to find. It’s not really signed. You have to be on the lookout for a short road going down and over a bridge and it’s easy to miss.

Second – the preserve is not well maintained. A number of trees had fallen down across parts of the trail and even though it wasn’t hard to clamber over them it was a bit of a hassle. The trail is also somewhat overgrown.

Third – It’s not a very long walk. It’s a balloon walk i.e. a single trail, which forks into a choice a walking along a marsh or walking along a ridge. You go out on one and back on the other and then retrace your steps to the beginning. The ridge trail continues past the point where you turn onto the marsh trail, but I have no idea where it goes and didn’t feel inclined to follow it.

On a more positive note it’s a fairly peaceful location and while walking along the marsh you hear a variety of bird sounds. Also there’s another of Putnam County’s stone chambers (third and fourth pictures below) by the entrance to the preserve (see photograph below).

After we got back home I picked five ticks off our dog, and one of myself. And the next day I had a number of unidentified bug bites.

Another view of the marsh.

Stone chamber – exterior.

Stone chamber – interior.

I’m fascinated by these stone chambers and have taken pictures of a number of them already:

Another Stone Chamber
Mysterious stone chambers of Putnam County
A walk up Nimham My hountain

This one’s quite near where I live and is a little different from the others I’ve seen in that there’s a vertical slab on the inside holding up the roof (see second picture below). I hadn’t seen that before.

The chamber seemed to be quite visible when I walked by it. It was quite warm that day and I was a bit concerned that the dog might be getting too hot (he hasn’t had his Spring haircut yet) and it occurred to me that the interior of the chamber was probably cool and I could let him cool off there for a few minutes. So I was looking out for the chamber. Somehow, however, I walked right by it without noticing it. Maybe my mind was elsewhere. I know I was composing this post in my head. Or maybe the chamber had mysteriously disappeared 🙂 ?