If you haven’t seen the video, you can find it here:   Minnewaska Ice Caves

I used to live less than an hour away from this area, and yet I never visited it. I had visited it in college with the climbing club, and remember it as a very nice place so close to such a huge population center as the New York City – New Jersey – Connecticut metropolitan area.

Now I have a firm philosophy that the best things in the U.S. are greater than 200 miles from the coast. But this is one of the exceptions to the rule. Of course on a summer or holiday weekend this place is crawling with people, but it doesn’t really distract from the beauty or the attraction of the place. I try to come to these places at times of lowest use because of “the Boys”. And I was there for the video on a Thursday in November. It was no holiday, it was a school day, it was a regular workday. But there were still quite a few people there including school groups. But I would not recommend going through the ice caves with a dog unless it is the most well-behaved dog on earth. Because you are going to meet other people as you go through those caves, and not everyone is a dog lover.

It took me roughly 45 minutes to climb through the trail that is called the “Ice Caves”. I  edited that down into 10 minutes on the video, and so couldn’t show you everything, but I think I gave you a good flavor of what it was like. I think as a qualification of getting through the caves you can’t be too huge, either wide or tall, or you’re going to be scraping the rocks quite a bit. Otherwise it’s not much different than climbing a Rocky Mountain Trail. A walking stick or climbing poles can be very helpful. For my trip through the hike it was dry and fairly clean, but there are warnings that it can be Icy, muddy, or wet, with running water flowing through the rocks. Just after the first log ladder , there was a pretty good little stream coming out of the side of the hill which made the boys very happy to get a good long cold drink. But there was a wooden walkway over that section of the trail.

The Shawangunk mountains are made of a quartz conglomerate, a very durable rock that caps underlying beds of dark flaky shale. Sculpted by glaciers 15,000 years ago they are known for their magnificent “Sky Lakes”, dramatic “Cliffscapes”, and rock outcrops. There are beautiful cascading waterfalls, ice caves, and scenic views throughout the area. Within their Eco-zone, there exists over 30 rare plants and animals. The many interconnected protected areas include 40,000 acres allowing black bears, bobcats, fishers, coyotes, timber rattlesnakes and many other animals the habitat they need to survive.

Since 1994, 12 not-for-profit and public agencies working together as the “Shawangunk Ridge Biodiversity Partnership” protect the sensitive wildlife habitat and natural resources of the mountains. The network of carriage roads was created at enormous expense by the Smiley family, who first made the ridge accessible to the public more than a century ago when they created the “Mohonk Lake Resort” and the “Minnewaska Mountain House”. These rustic retreats epitomize the 19th century romantic notion of a return to nature. The carriage roads, built to the highest engineering standards of the day, were instantly successful. Taking visitors to the best vistas in the region and giving them immersion opportunities in rare ecological communities.

One of the neat things that really got me was the succession after the forest fire.  Mother nature has such a great ability to come back after disasters.  I wish I could be there next July when all those blueberry plants are fruiting !!  How happy the birds and bears will be.