[Journal entry for July 122, 2012; Cedar Swamp, Sterling Forest State Park, Eagle Valley, NY] I parked once again at Blue Lake, off of Long Meadow Road in Eagle Valley. My goal today is to walk around Cedar Swamp.

The swap is bounded by four woods roads. The Lake-to-Lake Trail (blazed in white) follows on the south, Cedar Pond Road (unblazed) on the east, the Sterling Ridge Trail (blazed in blue) on the west, and Cedar Swamp Road (unblazed) on the north. Cedar Swamp is set in a bowl between highlands, and is at significantly higher elevation than Blue Lake. I have previously tried to circumnavigate the swamp counterclockwise, but was stymied when I could not find the Cedar Pond Road to Cedar Swamp Road intersection. Last time, I took what appeared to be a reasonable left turn at the north end of Cedar Pond Road, but though it headed west, it fizzled away. Today, I try the clockwise circumnavigation.

After about a half hour of hiking (about 2 miles) along the Lake-to-Lake Trail, past several wetland and numerous puddles teeming with frogs, I come to the intersection with the Sterling Ridge Trail. It is well-marked by a trail sign. I take Sterling Ridge north. It climbs up onto a ridge that has several excellent overlooks. These are lichen-covered rock ledges that command great views to the south and west. I can see Buckford Mountain to the west, on the far side of Greenwood Lake (but cannot see the lake). I continue northward on Sterling Ridge until I come to an intersection with a woods road that heads back east. I take this road, but find that it peters out fairly quickly at the edge of the swamp and becomes a bushwhack. The boundary between ridge and swamp is one of the many glacially-plucked scarps of the highlands. I can only walk atop the ridge, for the bottom is full of both large stone blocks and Mountain Laurel bushes, which in combination leads to impassible conditions. Traversing even the top of the scarp is tough, owing to all the dead Hemlock tree trunks strewn over the ground. They have been killed by the ongoing infestation of Woolly Adelgid scale insects that has plagued the Northeast.

I come to a spot where I can see tall Cedar trees growing just a few yards from the scarp, so decide to investigate. I force my way among the Mountain laurel, on flat terrain that is moss-covered and rather boggy. The Cedars are tall stately trees, with trunks a couple of feet thick. I continue onward, a little beyond the trees, to the edge of a small pond, not quite jumping from hummock to hummock and getting my feet rather muddy in the process. Cedar trees are growing around much of the pond’s periphery, along with smaller plants and especially blueberries. This is the smaller and westernmost of two ponds in the swamp, and I have been fortunate to find a route to it.

I then try to follow the scarp northeastward, hoping that I will pick up the same road that I walked previously, which also seemed to follow a scarp. This goal proves very tough, for the terrain is difficult due to all the Hemlock deadfall and Mountain Laurel groves. I wind up heading north, and connect again with the Sterling Ridge Trail, which I take north. In a few minutes I come to an intersection marked with a sign that indicates that a fire tower is another half-mile north on the Sterling Ridge Trail. The sign does not mention the woods road, but I take it east. As I had hoped, it seems to follow the northern edge of the swamp. After a few minutes, I come to an intersection with a woods road heading south. I take it, but, as is the case with many of the woods roads in this area, it slowly fades away. I backtrack and continue east. In a few minutes I come to a fork with another woods road that heads southwest. I think that this is the road I took previously, the one that fizzled. I pass it by and am soon at the intersection with Cedar Pond Road, or at least what I think is Cedar Pond Road. This time, I guess right, for after a few minutes on it I begin to recognize features that I encountered previously, and eventually the road passes the east shore of Little Cedar Pond, as indeed it must do if correctly identified. The road, which had been rising for a while, now steeply descends back down, crossing a stream, flowing amid tightly packed rocks that must be the outflow of the swap.

I find the rest of the walk to be very tedious, as I am tired, muddy and harassed by rather too many flies. I reach the car in another half-hour of walking. Overall, about three and a half hours.