02-04-2019: CR-20 (5)

On Monday, the annual midwinter thaw intensified, temperatures reaching over 60 F in some parts of town. The sky was cloudless and much of the snow had already melted away, a welcome reprieve from the weeks of frigid conditions that preceded it. Naturally, I took this opportunity to finish walking the final portion of Greene County's CR-20 located within the Durham town limits.

I parked at the overlook spot, the same place I had parked the last time I walked this road. Despite the warm temperatures, the parking area was still covered in significant snow piled up by plows on the main road, which impeded parking a little bit.

View of the Hudson Valley from the parking area.

From here I hiked westward along the route, past cultivated fields with fantastic views of the mountains to the south. The road was very steep in this section, steeper even than it was in the portion below that I walked back in January. Warm weather and sunlight had mostly cleared these fields, which just days prior had been covered in over a foot of snow.

From left to right: Acra Point, Windham High Peak, Mount Zoar, Mount Ginseng, Mount Hayden, Mount Nebo.

Focus on Windham from a similar angle, showing more field and valley.

Mount Pisgah beneath the blinding sun. Note the extreme grade on this portion of the way.

I headed from here into West Durham, a historic portion of town that by now is largely abandoned, save for a handful of dairy and hay farms.

Barns, like this one, can be useful for storage in various stages of dilapidation. Moo.

View of the mountains from the field. From this angle, Mount Nebo occults Hayden to block it from view.

Another old abandoned structure, possibly an inn at one time.

Above West Durham the road leveled out a bit, not really getting any higher past the intersection with CR-10. I followed it all the way to the county line, the western terminus of CR-20, where it meets with Schoharie County in the neighboring town of Conesville.

The faded welcome sign at CR-20's western end. It should read 'Settled in 1764'.

Here I turned around and headed back to the parking area, passing a number of historical buildings and locations on the trip down. CR-20 was once part of the Susquehanna Turnpike, a buggy route connecting Catskill with Unadilla in the late-18th and early-19th centuries. The construction of railroads in the mid-1800s rendered it obsolete, sucking the life from West Durham and many other communities along its route.

The West Durham cemetery contains the graves of many early settlers dating back to the late 1700s.

Pentagonal reassurance marker. This is the last CR-20 sign you'll see, at least in Durham, on this page.

The abandoned Newell Inn. For nearly half a century inns such as this one along the Susquehanna Turnpike were the mainstay of the town's economy.

Historical marker at the Newell Inn. The Newell family was very prominent in the town's early history.

At four stories this old manor is likely the tallest building in Durham. Here it catches the sun's last light.

Returning to the parking spot I was reminded of the sheer beauty of the place I am lucky to call home. So elevated above the rest of the world; for nearly half a mile CR-20 has a spectacular view of the upper Hudson Valley that seems to sprawl on to eternity.

Looking straight down the road at sunset.

View of Windham and the moutnains from the lookout.

I have one more post in the wings, and if weather and circumstances cooperate I'll have more than that before I get it up here.