Bike & Hike to Mount Everett State Reservation

I finally did it today, combined a long ass cycle ride and did a little hiking as well.  Today's destination was Mount Everett State Reservation which is in MA right near the NY/CT border.  Next door to Everett is Mount Washington State Forest and Bash Bish Waterfalls.  Basically there is a lot of hiking up here and plenty of scenic views.  I am definitely coming back (with an SUV) to explore further.  As you can see in the pics the Appalachian Trail cuts through here as well.  Going up I took Route 22 in NY for most of the way.  There were not too many places to really open up the bike but as I got close to my destination the scenery picked up a bit.  Lots of mountains, farms, and stinky farm animals by the side of the road.  As for hiking on Mt. Everett, it actually was not that great.  The views from the summit were blocked by a lot of trees and brush.  I think Mt. Washington has many more trails, however I learned the hard way that the "roads" around this area are basically wide hiking trails.  I rode my street bike on about 12 miles of dirt and rocks going about 9 miles an hour just to get out of there.  This happened because I decided to change it up a bit on the way home and go down Route 7 in CT instead of going back the way I went up.  HUGE mistake.  Like I said the roads back to civilization were all off-road.  I kept saying to myself if I get a flat up here I am SOOOO screwed.  After about 12 miles I finally got back on the real roads, and then the fun really started!  I was up around Lime Rock, CT and up here the roads are twisty, wide, and empty.  I was able to really open up the bike all the way down Kent, CT.  This is a great area for motorcycle riding, and I easily saw over 100 bikes today, and most of them ended up stopping in Kent to get a bite to eat.  Overall it was a good day.  Right now I feel like I can ride about 120 miles total in a day, 200 was a little too much on an FZ1.  My ass is NOT happy with me right now.
If you are interested in learning more check out these links:
Mount Everett
Mount Washington

No video highlights this week, just some pics.  Enjoy!

Hook Mountain & Nyack Beach State Park

I finally was able to get out on the trails after a 5 month hiatus!  Wow that's long but it was just too damn hot to hike.  Until today that is.  75 degrees, sunny, with a nice cool breeze.  Hiking season 2010 is in full effect.
I did a good tune up hike today at Hook Mountain in Nyack, NY.  It's about 45 mins out of NYC, and 30 mins from my casa in Connecticut.  The hike starts in Nyack Beach State Park.  Just don't plan on bringing a towel and speedo's because there is no beach and swimming is not allowed, go figure.  Hook Mountain is only about 700 feet up so it's not that challenging of a hike.  It's a bird watchers haven as you will see from the video.  Not too many creatures on this hike and after you get to the summit I suggest you walk a little farther to the edge of the cliffs.  Once past that point it's mostly a long ass leisurely walk back to the car.
It was a 6 mile hike and took about 2 1/2 hours with a few pit stops to film and take pics.  Overall a decent tune up hike or rookie hike that you can finish up by lunch time when you can then hit the quaint town of Nyack for some eats.  More details regarding this hike can be found here:
Trail Description
Nyack Beach State Park

Of course my blog post would not be complete without videos.  The first one is the video diary, the second one has pics with tunes.  Enjoy.