Today, Tredhed and I decided to check out Kunjamuk Cave in the Speculator Tree Farm. Tredhed skied here many years ago from Speculator and I've never been here in the winter. We figured it might be nice to walk the road from the Christine Falls dam to the cave on this nice early spring day.
After some minor maintenance at the Hamilton County Mosquito preserve, we hit the large parking lot just off of Rt. 30.
Just 50 yds down the road, we crossed the Sacandaga River on a tired old bridge which provided great views of the rushing water.
Since neither of us had been this way before, we weren't sure if we'd need snowshoes, spikes or bare boot when we started out, so we were prepared for each eventuality. When we got to the snowmobile super highway, spikes were the footwear of choice.
The trail/road led up and down passing some lease camps along the way. There were some good views of Rift Hill as we made our way to the cave.
Looking back the way we came, we were happy to see a good (although backlit) view of Burnham Mt. just south of Rt. 30.
As we approached the saddle between Rift and Cave Hills, the wind picked up, but if a few minutes, we arrived at the "Historical" Kunjamuk Cave.
To say that Tredhed is a grammar aficionado is an understatement. The next few minutes answered the age old question "What do you do with a BA in English?". Our ensuing discussion about adverbs and adjectives promptly gave me a flashback to Schoolhouse Rock
Questionable grammar aside, we set out to explore the cave. Unfortunately, most of the cave was obscured with a beautiful ice fall.
However, peeking inside the cave, we noticed a nice icicle coming from the hole in the roof.
While Tredhed contemplated how he was going to correct the egregious grammatical error in the signage, we hoofed it a couple hundred yards downhill to the Mighty Kunjamuk River. Not five seconds after I took this picture of the bridge and Oak Mt, a beautiful coyote ran across the road in front of me. Gorgeous animal!
We then scared a couple pairs of hooded mergansers off the flowing waters of the Mighty Kunjamuk as we admired the fantastic scenery.
When it was time to go, we re-traced our steps back down the snowmobile super highway. It was a very easy walk and brought us the 1.4 miles back to the parking lot in no time at all.
Initially, I was a little disappointed with the trip. The trees were skinny, the walk was "too easy" and the cave was iced over. Sitting back and thinking some more, I came to realize that this was a great little hike. We got out on a beautiful spring day, we saw some cool wildlife and had the place to ourselves. Come to think of it, of all the hikes we've done this year, we haven't seen another soul :clap: Just the way we like it.
After some minor maintenance at the Hamilton County Mosquito preserve, we hit the large parking lot just off of Rt. 30.
Just 50 yds down the road, we crossed the Sacandaga River on a tired old bridge which provided great views of the rushing water.
Since neither of us had been this way before, we weren't sure if we'd need snowshoes, spikes or bare boot when we started out, so we were prepared for each eventuality. When we got to the snowmobile super highway, spikes were the footwear of choice.
The trail/road led up and down passing some lease camps along the way. There were some good views of Rift Hill as we made our way to the cave.
Looking back the way we came, we were happy to see a good (although backlit) view of Burnham Mt. just south of Rt. 30.
As we approached the saddle between Rift and Cave Hills, the wind picked up, but if a few minutes, we arrived at the "Historical" Kunjamuk Cave.
To say that Tredhed is a grammar aficionado is an understatement. The next few minutes answered the age old question "What do you do with a BA in English?". Our ensuing discussion about adverbs and adjectives promptly gave me a flashback to Schoolhouse Rock
Questionable grammar aside, we set out to explore the cave. Unfortunately, most of the cave was obscured with a beautiful ice fall.
However, peeking inside the cave, we noticed a nice icicle coming from the hole in the roof.
While Tredhed contemplated how he was going to correct the egregious grammatical error in the signage, we hoofed it a couple hundred yards downhill to the Mighty Kunjamuk River. Not five seconds after I took this picture of the bridge and Oak Mt, a beautiful coyote ran across the road in front of me. Gorgeous animal!
We then scared a couple pairs of hooded mergansers off the flowing waters of the Mighty Kunjamuk as we admired the fantastic scenery.
When it was time to go, we re-traced our steps back down the snowmobile super highway. It was a very easy walk and brought us the 1.4 miles back to the parking lot in no time at all.
Initially, I was a little disappointed with the trip. The trees were skinny, the walk was "too easy" and the cave was iced over. Sitting back and thinking some more, I came to realize that this was a great little hike. We got out on a beautiful spring day, we saw some cool wildlife and had the place to ourselves. Come to think of it, of all the hikes we've done this year, we haven't seen another soul :clap: Just the way we like it.
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