Mark Schaefer
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- Sep 3, 2003
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Here is a news story link on a 67 year old man that died while hiking in a steep, wooded area of the Sam's Point Preserve on the Shawangunk Ridge. The report is sketchy, but the location is indicated by
The hiker's death seems to have been a simple fall in steep terrain and not a fall off one of the many cliffs. It points out the hazards of climbing in icy shoulder seasons before any significant snows arrive.
I know the area quite well and I believe the hiker was climbing up Shingle Gully and was not far off the Old Smiley Road (unmarked trail) that begins at a small park on Berme Road in Ellenville, NY. From Old Smiley Road there is a herd path that leads up Shingle Gully to the "Greater Ice Caves". This series of crevices includes features known as Grand Canyon, Sunken Forest, Labyrinth, and others. It is an area that requires (with good cause) a special use permit that can be obtained from the Sam's Point Preserve or the Nature's Conservancy.was hiking with a friend in a heavily wooded area at Sam's Point Preserve, about 1.75 miles east of Berme Road, when he fell backward while trying to climb a steep incline.
The hiker's death seems to have been a simple fall in steep terrain and not a fall off one of the many cliffs. It points out the hazards of climbing in icy shoulder seasons before any significant snows arrive.