Over Thanksgiving Break I returned back to my hometown of Cheshire, CT. There, I ended up visiting one of my favorite locations, Sunset Rock. Sunset Rock is actually quite far from Cheshire, but I visited twice. Once on the first Sunday of break, and again on the second Saturday of break. Sunset rock is a large rock that overlooks the town of Copake, NY from the east. In the west you can see the Catskills. This is right off of the South Taconic trail, and is accessible from a trailhead .6 miles away. The view faces out westward, and I imagine the sunset looks beautiful from there, hence the name. My first visit I was there with a friend, and we were doing the Tri-State U loop: a 30 mile route that includes the highest peak and point in CT and a few peaks in New York State and Western Mass. The second time visiting I brought my girlfriend there, as that area is known to have the least light pollution near us and the stars are very visible. The forest has an active overstay and understory, despite the fact that it sits atop the Taconic ridge. The over story is dominated by red and white oak, with some maples, as despite the prominence on the ridgeline it doesn’t seem to get much wind and the trees would be what I would categorize as medium-large in size. The ridge seems a bit worn down by erosion in this section, and is no longer as prominent as the more southern sections of the trail, such as Brace Mountain’s summit. The understory is very much dominated by mountain laurel, and also includes a few evergreen shrubs on the cliff edges. The makeup of the over story is indicative of an old growth forest, which makes sense as it is sitting on top of a ridge line, in an area that was not very much developed for farming (though often there are remnants of what once was a farm in lower lying areas, as well as many farms in the valleys that are still in operation today). This spot is very different from my spot in Burlington. As my Burlington spot is surrounded by roads and development, this one is very much surrounded by wilderness. The Burlington one is low lying, while this one sits atop the Taconic ridge. In Burlington, my spot only has an overstory, as it is mowed, whereas here there is a dense understory. I didn’t leave anything either visit, as I think that would have gone against leave no trace, which I do my best to follow.
