2021-12-29: Winter Clove Road

The hamlet of Round Top is known for its many resorts, restaurants, camps, and other tourist attractions, and by far the majority of these are located south of the hamlet's center. The resort at Winter Clove is significant enough locally to give its name to not one but two roads in the southernmost part of the town of Cairo, near the border with Catskill to the southeast. I headed out to walk a five-mile loop in this resort-heavy area, and against my better judgement continued when fog fell early in my walk. I pulled off the road early as darkness fell, and although walking in the fog was dangerous, it made for some incredible scenes.

Roads walked: CR-31/Hearts Content Road, Floyd Hawver Road, Maple Lawn Road, Winter Clove Road, Winter Clove Road Extension

I parked near the Round Top Firehouse, which had this bright red light blinking outside.

Thin pine forest on Maple Lawn Road, just as the fog was beginning to set in.

A view down Maple Lawn in full fog. It thickened rather quickly; suddenly, I could hardly see.

Forests around fields along the road. The previous day's snow met with rising temperatures, leading to the dense fog.

A collapsed shed at the far side of a field. There appeared to be more collapsed buildings or debris beyond, but the fog made it impossible to know for sure.

Snowcapped dirt piles at a construction site looked like miniature mountains.

The bare branches of one young tree stand out against the thickening fog.

Rock formations jut out atop a hillside near a dangerous curve in the road.

A shot through trees of a sizeable (~20' tall) waterfall on the Countryman Kill. The Maple Lawn Resort surrounds the waterfall.

Smaller rapids on the Countryman Kill just upstream from the waterfall.

Festively decorated signage at the crossing of Floyd Hawver and Storks Nest roads points to the trailhead for the Dutcher Notch Trail, which I had used to climb Stoppel Point a few days prior.

Floyd Hawver Road is lined by many fields, which made the fog seem more imposing and dramatic.

Fields seem totally empty in the fog; anything could be hiding beyond the white wall of water.

Thin tracks in the slush-like snow lead out of sight and away into mystery.

The twists of Winter Clove Road actually add to visibility in the fog.

This stop sign, at the end of the very backwoods Winter Clove Road Extension, was covered in moss from years of decay.

Glen Falls, a large waterfall on the Kiskatom Brook, hosts a sizeable resort and satellite businesses in an otherwise underdeveloped area.

Water droplets hang off a small branch over the road, the fog making everything seem almost greyscale.

A few oak leaves cling to their trees in the mid-winter weather.

Dense vines completely engulf the walls of a monastery off of Hearts Content Road.

An ominous-looking field blanked out by evening fog. At this point, walking along the road was becoming dangerous, so I cut my walk short and headed home for the night.