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and picked out a hike in the Mohonk Preserve, Giant's Workshop. Giant's Workshop starts at the Coxing trailhead. We parked there other times to do the High Peter's Kill Trail, but this time we started out in the opposite direction, past the Coxing Kill and Split Rock on to the Old Minnewaska Trail about two miles.
The Old Minnewaska Trail starts out more like a carriageway. A bit less than half-way the road turns into more of a trail that ends at Laurel Ledge Carriageway. Giant's Workshop is a short scramble up through and over some talus above the carriageway on Giant's Path. The entrance to Giant's Path is about 100 feet to the left where the Old Minnewaska Trail ends, but we missed it and didn't read the guide book to see our mistake till we got 10 minutes down the trail. We backed up and found the Giant's Path entrance set back from the road a little bit, so I understand why we didn't see it the first time by.
J—— and I hiked a couple of hundred feet up to the beginning of the scramble part of the path. J—— is generally scared of anything with height exposure, so after going up through a small cave, we turned around and walked back up Laurel Ledge.
We weren't sure where we were going to go now. The map showed a few other trails farther on that doubled back and met back up with Giant's Path above the scramble. The first trail we came to was Plateau Path, which led up from the carriageway and went along a (large) ledge. When we met up with Giant's Path again, we appeared to be right above where we turned around before. I climbed down through the blocks to make sure and to see what I had missed.
When we turned around at the scramble a little earlier, there were three Japanese girls and one guy who seemed to miss a turn and were going up a different way. They said they saw a trail marker, but after scouting the path from above, I'm not sure how they would have made it. I might have to check out that direction myself next time just to satisfy my curiosity.
J—— and I took Giant's Path to where it met Humpty Dumpty Carriageway. Just past the intersection of the trail and the carriageway there was a small covered lookout perch. We sat down there and enjoyed a view of the Gunks and Catskills to the north. We thought it was Cope's Lookout shown on the map, but when we continued walking down the carriageway to Cathedral Path, we realized Cope's Lookout was at the beginning of Cathedral Path. We passed three different little gazebo-like structures in this area.
J—— and I walked down Cathedral Path and hit a small scramble section. I was afraid we would have to turn around but it was really a pretty easy scramble. The toughest part was squeezing through a hole in the rocks at the end of the scramble.
Cathedral Path ended at the Plateau Path where we began the small circle. We reversed course and walked back to Old Minnewaska Trail after passing some boulderers on Laurel Ledge. I was surprised to see boulderers so far from a trailhead.
The sky was cloudy when we started, but by the time we ended, back at Coxing Kill and Split Rock, it was a beautiful, sunny day. J—— and I sat by the stream. I waded in the water in my Vibram Five Fingers, then went down to just my shorts and dunked my body in the water to wash off. The stream felt colder than the water in Lake Awosting two weeks earlier. I dried off in the sun for a bit while J—— went to change. Then we went to find a coffee shop that had outside seating.
