Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Well, the Gunks were filled with tourists yesterday, it was gorgeous and warm, and the leaves were ready to be peeped! 
After watching Army win a football game, we had a few hours to kill, so we decided to watch the sunset from Bonticou Crag, a small open hill near the Mohonk Mountain House.
The parking lot was jammed when we got to Spring Farm. It looked like it had been even more jammed before we got there, as people were parked all over the road as well.
We started up around 6:00 PM. There were a lot of people coming down, and that was good! At the bottom of the crag, we met a couple coming down, which is tough going. The crag is a good tough scramble going up and I never go down the front face. We worked our way slowly up, watching the sunlight slowly vanish from the top-most cliffs. We must have arrived just a few minutes too late, but the views were still gorgeous. We could see the Catskills, and everything else for miles around, including a HUGE traffic jam getting back into New Paltz!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC06860.JPG - Sunset
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC06861.JPG - Catskills
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC06863.JPG - Venus is there!
A few minutes after we arrived, a young couple left the summit area. After they passed us, Laurie heard the girl say, 'Do you think they got up here before we finished?!' (I saw nothing, I swear!) Then another woman arrived by herself and said hi. She didn't have a headlamp, and so she didn't stay long. Having the luxury of 3 headlamps, we stayed until it was almost dark. Venus and Jupiter were visible, as well as a nearly full Moon.
We can see the Crag from BLM, but we forgot to bring binoculars, or for that matter, the direction to look from here. Oh well, one of these days!
The walk down was fun. We took the back side of the crag back down. It was cool to hear the animals and the owls. After a while, we broke out into the fields and walked with just moonlight to guide us.
When we got back, there was only one other car in the lot. And they would have not been there, except they appeared to be fixing a bike.
A beautiful way to end a day!
After watching Army win a football game, we had a few hours to kill, so we decided to watch the sunset from Bonticou Crag, a small open hill near the Mohonk Mountain House.
The parking lot was jammed when we got to Spring Farm. It looked like it had been even more jammed before we got there, as people were parked all over the road as well.
We started up around 6:00 PM. There were a lot of people coming down, and that was good! At the bottom of the crag, we met a couple coming down, which is tough going. The crag is a good tough scramble going up and I never go down the front face. We worked our way slowly up, watching the sunlight slowly vanish from the top-most cliffs. We must have arrived just a few minutes too late, but the views were still gorgeous. We could see the Catskills, and everything else for miles around, including a HUGE traffic jam getting back into New Paltz!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC06860.JPG - Sunset
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC06861.JPG - Catskills
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/DSC06863.JPG - Venus is there!
A few minutes after we arrived, a young couple left the summit area. After they passed us, Laurie heard the girl say, 'Do you think they got up here before we finished?!'
(I saw nothing, I swear!) Then another woman arrived by herself and said hi. She didn't have a headlamp, and so she didn't stay long. Having the luxury of 3 headlamps, we stayed until it was almost dark. Venus and Jupiter were visible, as well as a nearly full Moon. We can see the Crag from BLM, but we forgot to bring binoculars, or for that matter, the direction to look from here. Oh well, one of these days!
The walk down was fun. We took the back side of the crag back down. It was cool to hear the animals and the owls. After a while, we broke out into the fields and walked with just moonlight to guide us.
When we got back, there was only one other car in the lot. And they would have not been there, except they appeared to be fixing a bike.
A beautiful way to end a day!
