Hoosick Falls Hike: Tibbits Forest State Preserve

This is our first year of real winter hiking, and therefore we are always learning new things. We recently took a hike at Tibbits Forest State Preserve in Hoosick Falls, and learned a new and valuable lesson (no real address, take route 7 heading east towards Bennington [from Albany] into Hoosick Falls, soon after Man of Kent restaurant keep your eyes peeled on the right there will be DEC signs for the park, and then a parking lot will come up quick; if you hit route 22 you have gone too far). Lesson being: we should probably invest in snowshoes. The particular day we hiked was extremely warm, and the previous day it had snowed a good deal, so there was tons of melting snow along the trails. We were in our normal hiking boots and before no time at all, our feet were drenched through, something that could have been avoided with a pair of snowshoes. After the normal amount of complaining, we got over it and began enjoying this beautiful, wet, hike. I am sure the situation would have been similar almost anywhere, but this is a seriously water filled hike. The trail is a 4 mile loop, most of it is a stream, follows a stream, or requires fording a stream, and mildly hilly. Though the trail was easy to follow, there were a few down markers and a couple of spots that could have used some maintenance, watch out for spikes and down trees! The trail was utterly desolate; we were the only ones there and the only sing of life we saw were deer tracks. It was really nice and quiet for a large part of the trail, then all the sudden we began to hear the thundering noise of flowing water coming from one of the stronger streams. The first few streams we had to cross didn’t intimidate us, but the last one was a pretty respectable length to jump. Jeff had the bright idea to pole vault, so we grabbed some walking sticks dug um deep, and used them to propel ourselves across the river getting no wetter than we already were. These ideas are the reason I bring him along ;)! A lot of the trail was by the water, but for a short amount of time we delved into a waterless wooded area which was very eerie and foggy, as though a Lord of the Rings battle was about to begin. Trench foot or not, I really enjoyed this beautiful quiet hike on a warm winters day, it is one we will not soon forget.