Kent Falls, CT Winter Wonderland

Surprise, Surprise. Bet you didn't think you were going to hear from me for another month or so. Well I missed you guys so much I decided to drive to upstate CT, freeze my ass off, and send you some assorted pics n' vids. Well kinda sorta. Actually me and my girl went to Kent, Ct for a little Bed & Breakfast getaway at the Fife n' Drum Inn. When we woke up we found out that no one was around until 11:30am to check out so we decided to drive up the road a bit to visit Kent Falls. I have been there a few times when it was warm out, but never in the dead of winter and needless to say it was FREEZING! However it was also beautiful and worth getting a slight case of frost bite on my fingers (OK it wasn't that cold). We were able to walk to the top, the path was in pretty good shape actually, snow but no ice. We drove around a little more and saw some of the usual sites, Bulls Bridge, Cornwall Covered Bridge, and of course it wouldn't be a complete trip without a wild turkey sighting. Back to the Fife n' Drum for a minute. Really nice place for a quick weekend getaway. We ate at their restaurant which had good eats and friendly peeps.
As usual I have pics n' vids to share. I didn't know what music I was going to use for the pics, but as I was editing everything the perfect song started to play on Pandora. Let me know if you agree. Seems like Youtube is not very pleased when I add music tracks to my pictures. They keep blocking the sound due to copyright issues. I have a work around but as you can see the pictures are much smaller and quality is lower. If you want the real experience I have a simple solution. Get you ass out on the trails so you can come home with your own tales!
Enjoy and see you again in a month or so!

Video Diary:


Picture Slideshow:

Anthony's Nose & The Camp Smith Trail

Happy Holidays fellow Ramblers. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are ready for some more winter festivities.
Last time I was out in the woods I was exploring the underworld. This past weekend I kept it above ground and headed up to Peekskill, NY where we did some hiking across the river from Bear Mountain. Very casual this time, just wanted to take advantage of the warm fall weather.
The trail we were on was called the Camp Smith Trail which, surprise, surprise, goes along the outer perimeter of Camp Smith which is a unit of the National Guard. As you can see from the pictures, the National Guard does not want you to stray too far off the trail. This blue blazed trail also links up with the AT at the top of Anthony's Nose. Why the hell is this mountain called Anthony's Nose? Well instead of just copying and pasting the answer you can find more info here.
This was a good day hike, it's also good for beginners. Total elevation is about 900 feet and there are some steep parts, but nothing too crazy. There were all ages of peeps roaming around. Full disclosure, I did wipe out a little going downhill because of all the leaves on the rocks. In regards to creatures, we did not see many, except for the Viper/Anaconda/Python which you can see in the slideshow. OK so maybe I exaggerated a bit and zoomed in a little with my camera.
Other than not too much to report. This whole area of the Hudson Highlands is great for hiking and there are so many options up here to keep coming back to. Check it out!
Well enjoy your winter people, I probably won't be back for a while unless there is a spontaneous snow hike I decide to go on. Enjoy the pictures, the Wandering Poet is OUT!

Southbounders Movie Review

Thought I would switch it up today a bit with a little movie review action. Last night on Netflix I watched an independent movie called Southbounders. It's your basic tale of a girl (Olivia) at the crossroads of life, please her daddy and go to college and be a doctor, or put that on hold to confront her fears and self confidence issues by hitting the trails for a 2,100 mile on the famous Appalachian Trail which goes from Maine to Georgia.
It's not a fast moving movie but the scenery is great and I really liked the soundtrack's vibe of hippie, mellow guitar rock. Perfect campfire music. You get to see and understand someone of the challenges one would have on such a long journey in the woods. Blisters, crappy weather, creatures going through your backpack, lack of hygiene, etc. Olivia also meets some characters along the way but there are two she ends up hiking with. Slackpack, the overweight funny guy who talks to much, and Rollin, who she starts to cozy up with.
I wish there would of been a little more action in this flix, I am sure they could of thought of a few things based on the subject matter of hiking over 2,000 miles in the woods. But this mostly a story about a girl with some inner issues she needs to figure out and the romance she starts up with Rollin. Hey I am not going to lie, this is normally not a movie for me, but since it was one of the few movies that co-starred the AT and I just came off a great hike over the weekend it was totally in my wheel house.
So if you love hiking, then yes this is a must see movie. If you are looking for a date movie or chick flix I would pass on this one and rent something like Love Actually (Widescreen Edition).
Wandering Poet review for Southbounders: 2 1/2 Blazes out of 4.
www.southbounders.com

Housatonic Range Trail

This is the final post about this past Sunday's hike. Let's call it the ABOVE ground chapter. After exploring the cave we hiked the southern portion of the Housatonic Range Trail. It was only about a 2.5 mile hike to the summit of Candlewood Mountain (902 feet) but since there were so many different rock formations that had a ton of moss on them it made the trek a little sketchy at some points. Especially Kelly's Slide (not in video) which is a huge slanted slab of rock. There was a large tree down going across it and that was the only thing stopping you from sliding down over a cliff. VERY SKETCHY! Pic of it can be seen here.
Enjoy the vid!

Spelunking at Tory's Cave New Milford, CT

Here is a brief video of us checking out the caves. From what I was told we only did a portion of it, there were another 3-4 rooms to explore. Will save that for next time. Enjoy!

Tory's Cave & Housatonic Range Trail

Oh what a day! Perfect fall weather and not a cloud in the sky. It's trail time! My sister and I went up to Tory's Cave and Housatonic Range Trail near New Milford, CT. Neither of us had any idea what we were getting ourselves in to (literally). When we got to the opening of the cave we both said no way in hell were we going to go down there. But then a few other spelunkers showed up and we couldn't look like skirts so down we went. The caves were very cool and the hike up to Candlewood Mountain was great too. Not many views but a ton of rock structures that were great to climb. We hiked 3 miles of the trail which is about a total of 6 miles. Next time up there we will finish it off (and hit the caves one more time). Today I have a photo slide show but over the next few days I will put all the video clips together so you can really understand what went down and where we went. I am happy to report that there were no bat sightings!
Enjoy the entertainment. Click on the HQ button (should be red) for better quality playback.

Fall Hiking Season in full effect!!

What up Ramblers?? The Wandering Poet is back from the dead. Had a great summer, no complaints there, but the weather has gotten a bit cooler and its time to get back in the woods damn it!!!

So this past weekend was PERFECT hiking weather, 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. A great time for a warm up hike at good old Bear Mountain State Park in NY. I brought my girl Dianis with me, she's a little new to the woods and at first it was a bit touch and go but she got a second wind and we made it to the top without a problem. This season I am going to be focusing on new trails in NY so stay tuned. I have my new super zoom HD camera ready to shoot as many creatures I can possibly come across. So get your ass out there this fall, that's what DVR's are for. Enjoy the quick vid of the trip.