Hike #611; Hook Mountain NY
2/5/12 Hook Mountain Loop; Nyack and Long Clove (Haverstraw) with Shelly Janes, Amanda Rosenblatt, Jack Lowry, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, and Eric Pace
The group on Hook Mountain
My next hike would be a big loop beginning in Nyack, NY, starting off where we had left off on Halloween of 2010. At that time, we had followed the Long Path between Piermont and Nyack, and closed the gap with the Old Erie Railroad trail. This time, we would follow the Long Path north and return on other trails.
Hudson river from nyack new york
Hudson River sunrise in Nyack NY
We met in Memorial Park in Nyack, a lovely waterfront park along the Hudson where we'd met the previous time. I was originally intending to start the hike here, but the mileage would have been much higher, so I instead opted to usher everyone back into their vehicles to head up to the Long Path. Starting further up would eliminate some road walking at the beginning and cut the hike to about sixteen or seventeen miles rather than twenty or so. I had changed the route last minute when I realized it was too far.
Still, it was good to meet where we did because we got fantastic views of the sun coming up and the seagulls over the Hudson.
Old mile marker
We parked at a small mini mall on Rt 59 in the western part of town. There was a little deli there, and I was totally hungry. We would be able to get lunch and snacks here. There would be no stores or anything along the way. We spent a good amount of time in the mini mart. I got a nice breakfast sandwich, and Mr. Buckett was making us laugh at odd things. He kept singing Toto songs.
When we were finally ready, we walked out of the back of the mini mart onto west Depew Ave. This took us a short distance to Waldron Ave, the route of the Long Path. We could see to the left where it came out of the woods, which we covered on the Halloween hike over a year before. The trail followed the road down hill and across Rt 59, ironically passing Toto Court along the way. We then crossed over Rt 287 on the Mountainview Ave bridge. On the other side, there was an old mile marker with a plaque on it, denoting the one mile to Nyack. Of course, at the time, the town would not have extended to where we were standing as it does today.
Long Path in Nyack, NY
The Long Path skirted the edge of the road heading up hill, next through a small memorial park for police officers and more, with paver base.
In Nyack NY? Huh.
Long Path in Nyack NY
Long Path, view of the Hudson in Nyack
We passed by a giant mirror and took a group shot into it, and then went by some apartment complexes. One of them was called "Warren Hills", ironically the name of the high school Eric and I attended.We continued up the road just a little bit more, and the Long Path turned off into some woods. It almost immediately crossed over an entrance road to the apartment complex, and then went into a narrow strip of woods that separated two apartment areas. We continued through some woods, and when the buildings ended, some views through the trees toward the Hudson appeared. The Oak Hill Cemetery appeared on the right through the trees as well at this time.
Nyack NY cemetery from the Long Path
Long Path in Nyack NY
View from the Palisades in Nyack NY
Long Path in Nyack NY
View north from the Palisades in Nyack
Old house site on the Long Path, Palisades in Nyack
Building ruins on the Palisades, Nyack NY
To the left, an orange blazed Mountain Trail joined in this area. This trail leads into Mountainview Nature Park, with more side trails. We wouldn't be following these today, but rather continuing along the Long Path. There were soon fantastic views out over the Tappan Zee, at one of the widest points on the Hudson River, over Oak Hill Cemetery. We continued as the trail turned to the left up past a big water tank.
We made our way up onto the Palisades, which at this point was a smaller hill, but a continuation of the same rocks. We skirted some apartment complexes to the left of us, and soon had the Nyack High School below us to the right. After the apartments ended, we turned somewhat left, and came very close to some new homes. At one point the trail almost went out onto the cut lawn.
The trail ascended to knoll, the top of a rise that was very flat, and picked up an abandoned paved driveway. There was certainly a house on this point at one time, now long gone. Below us and to the left, another side road led to the ruins of another building site.
Long Path following an old road in Nyack NY
The trail turned to the right where the turn off was to the foundation ruins, and then began to descend. It was a really nice old roadway, and it pleasantly lead us down to Christian Herald Road. As we turned right along the road, I saw painted out blazes to the right. The Long Path had apparently been moved to that old roadway rather recently. I could see the rock work of the old route leading up hill from another old road/trail access near the high school.
Long Path in Nyack NY
Old Mountain Road, cut off along the Long Path in northern Nyack
The trail continued to follow Christian Herald Road heading down hill to the right. It followed a paved path parallel with the road after a short distance, with school property on the right of us. We passed under a foot bridge and then soon came out to Rt 9W. Here, the trail turned left. We crossed the road and stopped in a little mini mart for a quick bite. Jack bought us both snickers ice cream bars, which were quite good. We then walked from the service station along the right side of Rt 9W, past the former connection with Old Mountain Road, now cut off from traffic at this end.
Long Path turning off of Rt 9W, Nyack
We continued along the road, and passed a bike shop called "Toga". It was neat to see so many cyclists patronizing the place, none of them using cars. They all came in on their bikes. The trail continued along the road, with the cliffs towering above us on the left. There was another park atop these cliffs, shown with a trail that has aqua colored blazes on my map. I assumed this either was at one time, or is planned to be another portion of the Long Path, since it's already blazed like it, but hasn't been connected yet.Soon, the trail turned off to the right of 9W, through a cut section of guard rail.
View of Hook Mountain on the Long Path
The trail slowly made it's way further and further away from Rt 9W. After not long, The Nyack Nature Trail, white blazed, turned off to the right heading down hill. This would be our return route later. We continued on with a rather nice view ahead of Hook Mountain.
Long Path on an old road nearing Hook Mountain
Hudson and Tappan Zee View from Long Path
View from Hook Mountain
View from Hook Mountain toward Tallman Mountain
View from Hook Mountain
Tappan Zee Bridge from Hook Mountain
The trail continued rather pleasantly ahead. We were starting to pass other hikers as we walked on by. We hadn't seen any at all up until this point. The trail here was actually another old road, which was down hill to the east of Rt 9W. It was really cool looking because it was strewn with boulders that had fallen from the talus above us to the left.
This section was very pleasant along the old roadway, but then the trail became a foot path and started making the steep climb up to the southern peak of Hook Mountain. I was actually surprised it wasn't tougher. The most amazing thing about the trail, as the views started opening up to the south, was the fact that it ran so closely to dangerous drop offs. The treadway was clearly established, but there were crazy drop offs to the right. They were not vertical cliff faces, but rather very steep hillsides. If one fell from it, they would not be able to stop themselves.
Long Path ascending Hook Mountain
Long Path ascending Hook Mountain
More views opened up to the south, and I could see the Tappan Zee Bridge clearly, and down to Piermont and Tallman Mountain. We came to an outcrop to the right where I could see shriveled up Prickly Pear cactus growing naturally on the south facing slope. It made me think of the Milford Bluffs back nearer to home, as well as the Pocono Rim.While hiking up, Jack played the Bill Withers song "Ain't No Sunshine".
View west from Hook Mountain
View south from Hook Mountain
View down the Hudson from Hook Mountain
We continued as the Long Path continued to gain more elevation. The very top of Hook Mountain was soon in sight. As I approached the summit, I turned back to look behind me of the already great view facing the west. This view wouldn't be as good from the very top, but every other angle was better.Once at the top, there were great views all the way up and down the Hudson, with bright sun glistening on the water.
Hook Mountain View
View south from the southern end of Hook Mountain
View south from Hook Mountain
Tappan Zee Bridge from Hook Mountain
View toward High Tor from Hook Mountain
View from Hook Mountain
View of Rockland Lake from Hook Mountain
View across the Hudson from Hook Mountain
View southwest from Hook Mountain
I was first to make it to the top, but there were already two others up there. A young blonde girl and an Indian guy. I said hello to them as I began taking multiple pictures of the almost 360 degree view. I could not see as much west, but I could see clearly the other section of the Palisade ridge that was set further back from the waterfront, where we had just been with homes across the top.
View of Nyack, Piermont, and Tallman Mountain from Hook Mountain
The group on the southern end of Hook Mountain
View down the Hudson from Hook Mountain
The Long Path on southern Hook Mountain
To the south, the town of Nyack was glaring next to the Hudson, with the sun shining brightly overhead. Clauseland Mountain was visible down the ridge, and Tallman Mountain near Piermont dipped down dramatically as the last bit of land visible before the Horizon. We could see the tops of buildings, presumably of Manhattan, and all of the communities on the east side of the Hudson including Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. To the north, I could follow Hook Mountain around it's bend, to the quarried section at Long Clove Road which was our northernmost destination for this trip. The obvious point of High Tor, the tallest point on the Palisades stood out amazingly, and I was excited at the thought that I would climb to it's peak on a trip in the not too far future. Rockland Lake was also in plain view ahead, and we could see much further up the Hudson beyond Haverstraw.
When everyone else arrived at the peak, they continued with the crazy conversations that had been going on prior to arrival, and I told the two who were already there not to mind our craziness. They were very cool about it, and might have even appreciated some of the nutty behavior. The girl's name was Petra. She was from the Czech Republic, and had blonde dreadlocks. The guy, who's name I couldn't pronounce correctly lived in Hartford, Connectucut, but was from India originally. Mr. Buckett again made comments about eating with hands; The man was a good sport, and was forthcoming in conversation."Noooo, man..." he replied. He went on to say that everyone ate with forks and knives, unless they went to a poorer region, out in the country. He said then, he would be fine with sitting on the floor and eating with his hand. Jack went on to ask which hand they eat with. "The left?" he asked. The man was a good sport and replied, partly amused at the inquiry, saying "Noooo, man! Left hand is for shit!". We had a nice long conversation with the two of them, and the Indian fellow said that when he first came to America, he saw the movie "American Pie", and his first reaction was "You Americans are fucking crazy!!!". We had some really nice conversation with them before we continued on our way along the Long Path, which headed down hill a bit from here. Eric went ahead and waited for us at the next view point over the Hudson.
Eric on Hook Mountain
View from Hook Mountain
View south on Hook Mountain
Palisade Cliffs of Hook Mountain NY
View up the Hudson from Hook Mountain
View toward Nyack from Hook Mountain
Hook Mountain Palisades
Tappan Zee Bridge from Hook Mountain
Palisade cliffs from Hook Mountain
View down the Hudson, with the Tappan Zee and Tallman Mountain from Hook Mountain
View from Hook Mountain south
Long Path on Hook Mountain
View across the Hudson from Hook Mountain
Ruins on Hook Mountain
Rockland Lake from Hook Mountain
Long Path on an old road on Hook Mountain
Giant stone wall on Hook Mountain
Giant stone wall on Hook Mountain
View north along Hook Mountain to High Tor.
View across the Hudson, Hook Mt.
Light house on the Hudson from Hook Mountain
Island in the Hudson from Hook Mountain
Hook Mt view
Tappan Zee Bridge from Hook Mountain
View across the Hudson from Hook Mountain
As we continued on, the bright sun to the south started to give us a break from the heavy glare that came off of the water, and so the views got to be a lot better.Hook Mountain has an odd shape to it, not only because it hooks around when seen on a map, but because unlike many of the other Palisade sections, the top of it is very bumpy. There are several small peaks, and so walking along the top of it means doing a series of ups and downs, much to Eric's dismay.We continued, with many more views, and passed a yellow blazed trail that turned off to the left in this area. Rockland Lake State Park was adjacent to this section of the Palisade ridge and Hook Mountain State Park just to the west, and there was this connector and many vague unofficial other connectors.There was one pretty cool point where the views to the west across the Hudson opened up, and the drop off to the right was a Palisade cliff I had become used to like the ones to the south. Besides just seeing the Hudson and the towns across, we could see the Shore Path, our return route, below us.
The Long Path left the east facing ridge eventually and made it's way toward the west edge. There weren't really any open spots with views, but we were treated to nice seasonal views over Rockland Lake. The trail soon joined a well built old woods road and began to descend a bit. There was also a point where there was an impressive stone wall along the left side of the trail as we continued north.
The trail continued to weave around, and then we came to a spot with an unmarked side trail to the right. I was keeping an eye on the NYNJTC map as we left, to make sure that we wouldn't miss any points of interest. This looked to be an unofficial trail to a view point. I opted go head on up the trail to investigate.When I reached the top, it was well worth the hike. The views were fantastic, out across the Hudson again to the east, then north toward Bear Mountain State Park, with another great view of High Tor ahead.
The communities on the east side of the Hudson were more prominent, and made for different scenery. I think it was here that I got my first view of the town of Haverstraw ahead.
The ridge of the Palisades formation ahead looked interesting, not only because of High Tor, which served as a strategic view point during the American Revolution, but because of the section of mountain between Hook Mountain State Park and High Tor State Park. One section had been quarried out on the southwestern side. A Tilcon quarry had ruined what would otherwise have been a continuous ridge. I wondered to myself whether they would be allowed to remove the entire mountain or if they'd reached a point the couldn't pass.
High Tor from Hook Mountain
Ruins on Hook Mountain
Long Path descending near Rockland Lake
Big tree on the Long Path, Hook Mountain
Ice house ruins at Rockland Lake State Park
Probably ice house ruins at Rockland Lake State Park
Interpretive sign
Wells Cemetery
Wells Cemetery along the Long Path
Well Cemetery
Wells Cemetery
Wells Cemetery
Wells Cemetery along the Long Path
View from the Long Path looking south
Hudson view from the Long Path, Tallman Mountain State Park
Shore Path from the Long Path, Tallman Mountain SP
Light House from Tallman Mt SP
Hudson
Hudson
Tallman Mountain State Park, on the Long Path
Along Rt 9W and the Long Path
Tilcon Quarry cliffs on the Palisades
Abandoned former Rt 9W
I called to the others to come up and see the view with me, but I guess none of them heard me because none came up. I took plenty of pictures and then decided to just head back down to join them.Once back together, we continued to the north. The trail descended as a very good foot path past some nice giant trees.Once we had gotten just about to the bottom, there were foundation ruins of two buildings. I suspect these may have had something to do with an ice house complex that was once on the site. I had always through that the ice companies were right on the shore of the lakes themselves, but we were still a ways off from Rockland Lake. We couldn't see the lake itself from the low vantage point.As we approached the next road crossing, Landing Road, we found an historic marker denoting the Knickerbocker Ice Company. This ice company was once the top supplier of ice to New York City. I read that rail cars on an incline track headed down the mountain to the Hudson River where the ice was loaded onto boats. I suppose Landing Road and some others in the area might have been built on some of these former rail lines.
After crossing Landing Road where there were a lot of cars parked, we came to the Wells Cemetery. An old family cemetery with stones all laying flat on the ground was there. Most of the residents of this cemetery died in the early to mid 1800s. There was one grave of a young child upon which people placed teddy bears and toys. Quite interesting.The Long Path made another steep ascent up the next section of Hook Mountain. We came to one spot with a really nice view out across the Hudson, with the Shore Path visible in the foreground, and some side views of the Palisade cliffs around us. Some of these sections I believe were quarried for a time, due to the lack of talus at the base. As we continued on, there were also more views up and down the Hudson. Shelly and I took to the front, while the others hung back, all singing along with Jack. Earlier in the day, Jack came up with yet another original composition, the "Shelly/Freedom" song. He's got a remarkable talent for just plucking out an entirely new sounding melody from seemingly nowhere. It's even more amazing that he's able to continue this while walking on often arduous terrain.We passed near to the Rockland Lake Championship Golf Course, and then were in the woods farther from any civilization for a while.
Eric was having a hard time with the constant ups and downs of northern Hook Mountain. He did really good the first portion of it, and he could have made it, but would have had a tough time. We all stopped for a break on a nice area of exposed rock where Eric decided it would be best if he turned back to Landing Road, and descended to the bottom of the Palisades and the Shore Path, then have us meet up with him.
After our break, we continued along the Long Path, as it crossed up and down over a few more small peaks, then began to descend. There were a few views toward a large island out in the Hudson, and another little light house out on the water.
As we descended a bit, close to the cliffs, the trail split. The Long Path went to the left, while the white blazed Treason Trail continued ahead. The trail was named such because it led to near the Benedict Arnold Treason site was.
This trail might have been one opportunity, but I wanted to keep with the Long Path to where we would begin the next section hike to the north. The trail turned left and rose over another higher area in the ridge, then made a hard right where a crudely blazed unofficial trail went left. The Long Path soon passed under a utility line, and continued through woods on the other side. We descended more, and soon Rt 9W came into view. We descended right to the highway, near the intersection with Long Clove Road was. Long Clove Road is the route of the Long Path north.
Abandoned former Rt 9W near Haverstraw
Old road down the Palisades near Haverstraw
We turned right onto 9W for a moment, then turned right onto the abandoned concrete slabs of what I presume to be an older alignment of Rt 9W. It descended slightly, and then had a sudden drop off. The road continued through a cut ahead, but there was an old concrete bridge to the left of us.
Old road bridge
Old road down the Palisades near Haverstraw
Upon looking at it more closely, I presume that the bridge was once the 9W route. The approach to it was moved away, and maybe at one time the bridge was a road underpass for the route we were following down hill. The roadway over the bridge seemed to lead back out to 9W, while the road we were following continued to lose more elevation.
Tunnel near Haverstraw
Old highway bridge near Haverstraw
Old road bridge
The road made an abrupt turn to the left, then headed down hill with another abrupt turn. The road was obviously used for some sort of equipment access occasionally. We were approaching the former Erie Railroad tracks, still very active in this area. In fact, we head the whistle of the train blowing rather plainly when we were taking a break back up on the ridge. I noticed at the turn the mouth of a railroad tunnel under Hook Mountain. Always an interesting sight to see.
Graffiti
graffiti
When the road hit the railroad tracks, I looked for where it continued on the other side. My NYNJTC map showed that it continued, but I saw no sign. I continued walking, and then saw some sort of an old road grade off to the right. I then realized that I was standing on top of a concrete bridge, barely noticable! The grade of the road was somehow moved, and filled in, to the point where the bridge was easy to miss.
Old railroad underpass
Old railroad underpass for an abandoned road near Haverstraw
After crossing, I descended to the former road route, and called everyone to follow me down. They didn't get it right away, because they ended up crossing, and then making their way down after seeing me on the old parallel road route below them.Inside the culvert below the tracks was some rather impressive graffiti. In somewhat urban areas, seeing graffiti is welcome to me, especially when it's tastefully done and less vulgar. I had a little time to myself in this area, and I thought back at where I was, where I had been.I tried telling everyone a story back on the ridge, but everyone was in the moment with conversations and didn't seem all that interested. I didn't mind; it was something really only I could appreciate anyway. I thought back to around 1988 when I got my first NYNJ Trail Conference maps. My grandfather somehow got advertisements of the Kittatinny Trails maps, probably in the National Geographic magazines he has always gotten. Since we were out hiking every Sunday since I was only three, he ordered me copies of the Kittatinny Trails maps (he actually ordered both north and south sets, but they sent two copies of the north sets, so we explored a lot of Pocono Rim stuff back then as a result. My cousin, Tanner, got the other set. I would get the south set later).I absolutely loved the maps, and have of course become a member of the Trail Conference, and even written for them. But I distinctly remember looking through the maps, and the paperwork that came with them. Inside the zip lock bag were some small advertisements. One of the papers was a large scale map overview. The overview was of northern NJ and southern NY. It showed the Appalachian Trail, which at the time was a dream of mine to hike, and this other one I had never heard of: The Long Path. I had somewhat of an obsession with the AT and the other trails shown on my maps. From that young age I wanted to hike every one of them, see everything there was to see. This "Long Path" seemed like this foreign land, and it made my imagination soar with what could possibly be on it.It was on this hike that I realized, I had now hiked the Long Path from Fort Lee to where we just were, on the outskirts of Haverstraw, as well as portions in Harriman State Park, and all of it from Wurtsboro to Verkeerderkill Falls NY. I wish I could share the level of excitement I feel when I see these places that I've been staring at on maps for years, but no one else could possibly understand.
Treason site! Haverstraw Woods
Ruins
Ruins in the Haverstraw Woods, Haverstraw Beach State Park
Taking surprise crotch shots for Shelly! lol
Tunnel beneath the Palisades
Abandoned near Haverstraw
Abandoned near Haverstraw
Abandoned near Haverstraw
Abandoned near Haverstraw
Abandoned near Haverstraw
Abandoned near Haverstraw
Abandoned near Haverstraw
Abandoned near Haverstraw
Abandoned near Haverstraw
Abandoned near Haverstraw
The old roadway continued to lead me down hill. It led directly onto the Shore Path. The junction was within sight of the very northern end of the Shore Path, and I could see the first homes along the road ahead, part of the town of Haverstraw.
Haverstraw is one of the oldest names in America to have appeared on a map. I believe it dates back to 1617. It was referred to on the maps as "Haverstroo", a dutch word meaning something like swaying wheat or something. It took that name because of the swaying grasses that one sees in the estuary marshes at the bottom of the Palisades along the Hudson.
I turned right and began following the Shore Path north. The others could then see where they could make a short cut from the road onto the Shore Path.The Shore Path at this point was also a paved road. It was certainly one time a main road along the bottom of the cliffs.
Just ahead of us was a sign that read "Treason Site". It was here that Benedict Arnold met with British Major John Andre in the middle of the night to discuss the surrender of West Point. Arnold was at the time Commander of West Point, and was intentionally weakening the forces there. He had delivered plans for West Point to Major Andre for the use of the British army on a beach along the Hudson here. This area is now Haverstraw Beach State Park. There is also a "Treason Rock". I saw one rock below the trail on the hillside, but nothing that looked too spectacular. There was also a stony beach below, but I could not pick out what site they could be referring to.Major Andre was captured and hanged, while Benedict Arnold joined the British and escaped to England to live out the rest of his life. His name is now synonymous with "traitor", and even military monuments like the one at West Point does not mention his name as a commanding officer. It simply reads, "General" with limited info and the dates he served.We continued along the Shore Path further, and when Shelly wasn't looking, Jack and Mr. Buckett were taking crotch pictures using her camera.We passed the lower end of the Treason Trail, and came to the ruins of an old building on the left. It was in poor shape, but seemed to still have a roof. It appeared as though it might once have been a park building.A bit further, another old house was on the left of us. This one would have been in better shape, but it had been burned. The stone facade was still in reasonable shape, but most of it had no roof, and the floor was collapsed into the basement. I was able to go into a door on the north end of it where there was still floor and a roof, and could get right to the edge of where it was burned out. I beams reinforced the floor making it safer to walk on.
Abandoned near Haverstraw
Palisade Cliffs, Haverstraw Beach State Park along Shore Path
Shore Path south of Haverstraw
View of ruins along the Shore Path
Ruins along the Shore Path
The trail continued on very pleasantly, but it was no longer paved beyond this old house. The paved section was cut off and had barriers over it. The route was still an obvious former road, only with a simple dirt or gravel surface the rest of the way.It kept to higher above the river, unlike Shore Trail in Palisades Interstate Park by the NY/NJ line. As we walked on, we could look up at the towering Palisade cliffs to our right. These cliffs looked different than the previous ones we had seen in NJ and NY to the south. I believe these had been quarried, and therefore did not retain a natural look. First of all, some of the patterns of the rocks look like it might have been blasted, and second, there was again no talus along the base. There were a few rocks here and there, but there should have been many more if they weren't taken. Probably an entire slope.To the left of us, there were often old foundations of who knows what. At one point, there was something that looked like it might have been part of a trestle or something, a long line of piers. Maybe they were, like some sort of unloading area for ice from Rockland Lake that needed distance to make the gradual descent to the Hudson River.
Along the Shore Path
Ruins along Shore Path
Ruins along Shore Path
Hudson view from a washout along Shore Path
Ruins along Shore Path
Old restroom along Shore Path
Abandoned restroom along Shore Path
My maps showed that there were ruins along the trail at the bottom of the cliffs, but we ended up finding more than we had anticipated to find.While still higher above the river, we next came upon an old stone building that seemed to be built up agains the edge of the slope. We went on up to have a closer look at it.The facade looked rather peculiar. Nice stone mason work in areas, but with a whiter, milkier looking stuff above, and a poured concrete roof that looked to have been placed there. Inside there was pretty much nothing. I didn't give it much thought, but soon realized what might have happened.When this was taken over to become part of a state park, there were already ruins on the site. This such site was an historic ruin with only the bases, and corners of original masonry in place. The park, I assume, built a new doorway, and then piled new rocks to rebuild the walls on top of the original masonry. This would explain why the original masonry has no cement or anything, while the stuff on top seems to have a white mortar mix, and is made with much smaller stones like the ones that can be found easily there. A poured concrete roof was then easy to place on the top. Even as an updated older building, this one was certainly there for a long time, abandoned. We could tell because there was a large tree that had begun to grow onto and around the corner of the building's roof!We continued on the trail, and passed a really neat spot with a huge washout down to the river. It afforded us with a nice view of the Hudson and across.We then continued on further to find yet another building set back off of the trail, up the hill to our right. There was even an old pedestrian pathway that had been cleared to it by grading and piling of stones, but had it been Summer, we would not have been able to see it at all.
Abandoned restroom along Shore Path
We walked on up to the building, which was much smaller than the previous one. It had entrances on both the left and right, with a sort of flat-ish topped roof. Jack and I went in to have a look, and it turned out to be an old restroom, long abandoned. There were holes in the floors where the toilets used to be.
Ruins along Shore Path
Ruins along Shore Path
Ruins along Shore Path
Palisade Cliffs along Shore Path
Ruins along Shore Path
View of the light house from the Shore Path
Ruins along Shore Path
Hudson River from Shore Path
Along Shore Path
Along Shore Path
Shore Path
Ruins along Shore Path
Shore Path
Shore Path
Shore Path, Nyack Beach State Park
Hudson River downstream
Shore Path, Nyack Beach State Park
Hudson Palisades in Nyack Beach State Park
Shore Path, Nyack Beach State Park
Palisade Cliffs from the Shore Path
Hudson view from the Shore Path
We continued heading south along the Shore Path, and came to yet another old building ruin, this time on the right side. It was right next to the former road, and also in poor shape. This one however, had more character than the other ones would have had. The inside had a lovely old fire place in the middle, which was still attractive despite the missing floor and roof on the place.
The trail began to lose some more elevation in this area, and the huge Palisade Cliffs on the right of us of course seemed to look much taller.It didn't take too long before we came to the bottom of Landing Road, which we had crossed earlier near Rockland Lake, which actually wasn't too far from us just up the hill. The old road had what seemed to be two intersections looking up, and there was a bunch of masonry work on the slope just past where the former road joined. I didn't know it at the time, but it was possible that these additional roadways could have once been some of the rails that were used to haul from the Knickerbocker Ice Company.
We passed by the roads and continued much closer to the Hudson with some nice views. After a bit, yet another branch of the old road came in from the right hand side. I assumed that this too could once have been one of the old railroad grades. There were also plenty more ruins along the way, though none as extensive or in as good shape as the ones we'd seen earlier. There was only one that I could remember that even had a roof, like the size of a spring house.We were losing light pretty fast here. The sun set to the west, but for us it had set much earlier than for most because we were right there below the cliffs. Still, we had enough day light.The Shore Path became much more manicured as we continued to the south. The surfacing was more improved with gravel, and less and less trees appeared between the Hudson River and where we were walking. The Shore Path soon was right there along the edge of the water, offering us superb views across and down the Hudson. The sky turned a pinkish color as the sun was setting, out of site beyond Tallman Mountain.
We could now see the Tappan Zee Bridge once again, the lights of Nyack, and down the river beyond where Tallman Mountain was once again visible making it's dramatic dip into the Hudson.
Hudson view with Tallman Mountain from the Shore Path
Nyack Beach State Park entrance
We were now in Nyack Beach State Park, another small park with actually no visible beach that I could see, just trails. As we neared the trail head, there were trees planted on the left side of us, lining the route. We passed visitor center buildings on the right that bore a resemblance to the ones that were in ruins to the north of us. We passed a great many people walking on this section of the trail. Jack had even asked me earlier if I'd thought the place got busier on the weekends. It was busy now, but our problem was that we were just hiking too far out to interact with any of them.
Hook Mountain from Nyack Nature Trail
I suppose you might be wondering what happened to Eric during this whole time. Well, he made his way safely down to the Shore Path, and rather than wait, he opted to walk south into Nyack by himself. After the Shore Path, I don't know what routes he took, but somehow he ended up hanging out for a couple of hours at the Starbucks coffee place in town.The rest of us walked across the parking lot and out past the welcome sign to Nyack Beach State Park. A white blazed trail began at the park, the north end of the Nyack Nature Trail which we passed the beginning of earlier in the day.The trail followed some road walks at first, North Broadway Ave to a right onto Larchdale Ave. This was a nice road walk because we got a very nice view of Hook Mountain across the yard of the Marydell Faith and Life Center, a church property.
The trail turned left onto Midland Ave for a bit, passed the entrance to a new development road that seemed like it was never completed, and then turned off into the woods to the right. It followed this narrow swath over some really seriously muddy terrain. It was awful trying to walk through, and getting our feet wet after all day of having no such problems.After a bit, the trail began to ascent, and came a bit closer to yards to the left. It continued up hill until it ended at the Long Path where we were earlier. We turned left and continued following it south, through the hole in the guard rail we had come through earlier, and back along 9W south.While on Nyack Nature Trail, we were trying to convince Eric to come and pick us up because we had already taken quite some time, and were now already over our fifteen mile mark by a bit. Mr. Buckett couldnt' convince him on the phone to come and get us because it required him walking up hill to his car, but when Amanda got on the phone with him, she convinced him to come on out.
Shitgo is GOOD GAS. Nyack NY
We walked back across the abandoned intersection with Old Mountain Road, and then came back to the Citgo station where we'd been earlier. We didn't wait very long at all, just a few moments, when Eric pulled up! We all somehow managed to pile into Eric's car, a tight squeeze, and then headed back to our cars to the south.
It was an absolutely excellent day, with excellent scenery and excellent people. The day left me excited about all that was to come, with the next section of the Long Path being High Tor. There is only seven miles of the Long Path remaining on the Palisades ridge I have yet to cover. The next section hike will lead us onward to the border of Harriman State Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment