Blue Trail Loop & Yellow Trail Loop, Ward Pound Ridge

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/4/2018	3.8 miles (blue) and 2.7 miles (yellow)	80 minutes (blue) and 53 minutes (yellow)			74.9

Map: Pick up a map when you pay for parking.

Parking: Enter park, pay for parking and drive to the parking lot for the blue trail. Drive to a separate parking area for the yellow trail. There is plenty of parking. Cost is $10 without a Westchester County Parks Pass. $5 with a Parks Pass. I went on a weekend, when they do charge. In the winter we haven't been charged on weekday evenings.

Directions: Blue trail loop counterclockwise. Yellow trail loop counterclockwise.


I had wanted to go to PA this weekend, but we had a bomb cyclone. It sounds so dramatic. We had 4 trees come down in our yard and some snow. Most of the snow has melted, the trees will have to wait a bit until we can get a tree company out here. We are without power, but are so grateful to have a gas generator - our house is warm. We didn't go out on Saturday - it was still pretty windy. Sunday was better, so we did a local hike. I didn't want to go too far with the generator running at home.

I am trying to increase my mileage gradually each week to help prepare for spring hiking. It's harder to get many miles in during the winter. I always think I'll hike tons in the winter, but most years don't work out that way. This week the goal was to hike 6 miles both days. Saturday was a bust, so I treaded for 6 miles at various inclines. How boring is that? I was so excited to get outdoors on Sunday. My body is sore today. I'm starting to add strength training back into my life. My hamstrings are tight. It's so odd - I never used to have tight hamstrings when I trained. My hip was sore too, so more Aleve for me tonight.

We got a late start, but were able to do two loops at Ward Pound Ridge to get our 6 miles in. I was surprised at the number of cars in the parking lot. I'd figure most people would be dealing with house issues after the storm. We did the blue trail first. Going counterclockwise puts the steeper sections in the beginning and the easier woods road section at the end. The trails were wet, slush, and a little slick in the steep spots.

We drove over to the yellow trail and did a loop there next. This trail had a lot more blowdown from the storm. We did some trail maintenance - throwing branches off the trail. Trek loves it when we do trail maintenance. He thinks we're playing a game. Thus, 50% of the branches we throw off the trail end up back on the trail. Maybe he thinks they're more aesthetically pleasing there. The yellow trail is easier than the blue trail.