[July7, 2018, Blueberry Overlook, Black Rock Forest, Cornwall New York]. I parked off of Old Mineral Springs Road in Mountainville NewYork in the late morning, and took the Scenic Trail (blazed in blue) eastward and uphill into Black Rock Forest. I soon came to a large waterfall, which, upon seeing, I recognized as having visited my years ago with my daughter and her cousin. The water cascades down a high, wide and steeply sloping rock face. Today the flow was meager and the water broke up into two or three narrow cascades; I hope to return someday after strong rain to see it really roar. Boulders at the base of the falls have been rearranged to create a large pool, two or three feet deep. I walked up the trail to where I could detour to the top of the falls, and then followed the stream uphill for a bit. I clambered over several tall step-like ledges of tough Highland gneiss, each of which hosted a small waterfall. Tall trees arc over this part of the brook, shading it from the sun.

After reaching the top of the ledges, I returned to the trail and followed it uphill for a mile through mostly deciduous woods with Blueberry ground cover. The trail follows the brook for a while, and offers good views down into its narrow gorge. Eventually, I reached a side trail (blazed in white and marked with a small sign) that leads to Blueberry Overlook. It is a sparsely treed section of the ridge, with many bare rock ledges edged with Blueberry Bushes – both the low-bush and high-bush varieties. Their berries were ripe and I helped myself to a handful of each, coming to the opinion that the low-bush had a slight edge in flavor. The overlook looks south towards Mount Rascal (which is on Academy land) but the view is mostly obscured by trees. I poked around the overlook for a few minutes, enjoying the beauty of the rock ledges, Blueberry Bushes and surrounding trees.

I then returned to the Scenic Trail and continued eastward for a few minutes, until I reached the Jupiter’s Boulder overlook. This is a wide flat rock ledge just below the ridge-crest that commands an excellent view north and west. A very large rock, Jupiter’s Boulder lies on the ledge. The boulder, being of the same Highland gneiss as the ledge, is not erratic, yet it probably has been positioned by the Ice Age glacier, for it rests precariously on several smaller stones. I imagine that the glacier tore it off the base of the ridge, dragged it up the north flank and left it on the top. The view includes nearby Schunemunk Mountain, to the west, as well as Shawangunk Ridge (with its gleaming white cliffs) and the Catskill Mountains, far to the north.

I rested for a few minutes at the overlook, and then retraced my path back to my car. The view of the main waterfall was better, now that the sun was a little further to the west, for it was now lighting up the rock face.

About 2:30.