August 13th, 2011 between 10 and 11am I park my dad's car at the pull off near Jone's Point on 202 / 9w in Rockland County. The actual entrance into the 'woods' is about twenty yards south of the parking area. Initialy the trail winds through a blanket of what I like to call vine monsters or vine caves. Two asian men hike out and I step off for them and then at a small junction swerve around a lost couple's lunging husky. The grade becomes steep right after the vine monsters. The first switchback turns away from some heavily etched trees, showing names and signs people have left over many years. Just ahead of me a short stone tunnel sits below another switchback. A rock staircase or two and some exposed rock outcroppings and you are at the first junction. I will descend the trail that comes down off the front of Dunderberg later and end up at this junction. Taking the left fork, through some really great open forest area, I hike up the gradual trail. It fucking winds around and heads east for a bit. The trail generally aspires to the west though, into the park, along the ridge. The forest before The Timp is amazing. Out on The Timp is very pretty. A woman parked up there feeds her dog. I see more women comping up from the Timp's Pass. It's a short mile or so over to West Mountain. An older bro who wouldn't shut up just at the rising arc of West Mountain kinda tails my ass. Four asian's lunch on a rock and two bros smoke in the shelter, which kinda looks uninviting on the inside. I eat lunch. I head over to Cat's elbow, and it's real pretty over there. This is the thing to the south of West Mountain. After coming down of Cat's elbow and crossing the Timp Pass again the trail slopes east wart and then bangs north up an insanely steep grade. I took a break at the red-blue trail junction and consider heading back on blue, the way I originally came over Dunderberg. A deer with two small horns, not yet antlers ate shit out of the leaves about thirty yards from me. I try to sneak up on him and record him up close. The trail descends and then heads east towards Dunderberg. Oh first you come to Bald Mountain which pokes out towards Bear Mountain, then you duck back in on the ridge for a few miles of gradual slopes and thin forest (evidence of the forest fire a few years ago still existing in randomly burned dead trees). After what seems like the summit of Dunderberg you go through this little forest on top, like a covered trail, tunnel type section that fun walking through. Then I start heading down. I neglect the little look out trail cause my feet are really hurting me at this point. I think I've gone about 8 miles or 9 miles so far. I drink some stream water here. I'm on the graded section that was part of the old spiral railway project of 1890 or something. You go down this graded little ridge that awkward cause it's all stones for footing. Then you're back at the junction. Very fun hike. Saw a turtle, a frog, a deer with antlers.
a man-made cave intended to channel the spiral railway through the obstacles of natural dunderberg
looking up at west mountain from the timp, the shelter is tucked in at the top there
some of the pretty ass grasslands in the pass between the timp and west mountain
somewhere on cat's elbow maybe, inwards near the timp or past it you get this sweet peak of the hudson below verplank
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