Breakneck Ridge, White to Yellow to Red

On May 12th Jenn, Paola and Grant and I went up Breakneck ridge for a slightly different adventure. This time we climbed the white trail from the tunnel on 9D to where it meets the yellow trail for the first time. This hike took us about 2.5 hours with frequent breaks and photo stops. It runs about 2 miles.

Paola is a veteran already; this is new to Grant. They're ready to go. 

Check out Paola's guns.

Tug and barge on the Hudson.

Grant's doing OK.

Pleasure craft on the Hudson.

First break near the flagpole, white trail.

Further up the white trail.

This was our pointer to leave the white trail and start dropping on the yellow trail. It goes mostly down (there  is one point at which it takes you back up, do not be discouraged) and to where the red trail is.

Down the yellow trail a way, Paola poses with the wet rock face.

Grant wanted a waterfall. He got one.

This is part of the Cornish Farm, which was once a dairy owned by the Cornish family. It was abandoned in the 1940s.

Some kind of machinery in the old dairy.

I am not sure what this is - old, woven metal cables - but I have seen it used for rip-rap and also to cover certain areas during road construction.

Jennifers' favorite fallen tree.

Grant disrupts the ecosystem therein.

Tree huggers.

We got back to route 9D and headed north back to the car. This is what the ridge looks like from the road.

Here is the south side of the tunnel on 9D. We have to walk through that to get back to the car.

On the other side now, you can see how popular this trail is by the cars lining the road, not to mention the people risking their hides to walk along the road and get to the trail head.

Panorama shots:

White trail, near flagpole.

White trail, near flagpole w/Jenn.

Newburgh, NY.

Wappinger Creek Panoramic

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Bear Mountain Scenic View Panorama

Click on the image to see a larger view. 

Birds Who Live In Glass Houses

Oughtn't throw stones? 

I saw this last Saturday at Hudson Beach Glass in Beacon, NY. 

Easter Sunday In Beacon

The warm, sunny weather continued today so we got out to Long Dock Park.


Some anglers hope for striped bass off the pier at the Southern Dutchess Country Club.

The pier at Long Dock Park. Nearly high tide or just past.

Looking from Long Dock back toward Mt. Beacon. Directly below the two white puffy clouds is Dia: Beacon.

A newly created path (new as of last year).

Amphibian in a hole. I can't tell a toad from a frog, you tell me which it is.

Driftwood along the shore. You can volunteer to help clean up the shore and some artists will take your found objects and assemble them into art for you on April 22nd. Seems kinda lame to me; I'd rather do it myself.

Most of the time when you see trash on the beach it's a tampon applicator, a wrapper, a tire, old fishing lines and lures, or beer cans. Today I found something of personal interest. This is the ring that gets inserted into a magnetic data tape reel so that you can write to it. It's a lot like the tape you have to put over the holes in the right or left top end of a cassette tape. I found of personal interest because I work in the data processing industry, and I have since reel-to-reel magnetic tapes were last used in the early 1990s. There may still be some people that use them, who knows.

A small amphitheater.

Berm and weeping willow.

If you have $2.9M, you can have this diamond on the hill overlooking the Hudson.

DUCKS are ALWAYS cool.

The historic "red" barn, then...

...and now.

Breakneck Ridge, White-Red-Yellow Loop

Paola and Tyler visited today. Paola lives in NY and Tyler is a PhD candidate at Lehigh. They came up for a hike, so we took them to Breakneck Ridge.

At the trailhead we were asked a few questions by some people trying to improve the infrastructure for hikers and visitors who enjoy the Hudson Highlands. We told them we'd love to see sidewalks or a trail along Rte. 9D to make it safer, among other things.

This is the route we took, starting at Breakneck Point, going up the white trail (W) to the red trail (R) and taking it it to the yellow (Y) and the yellow back to 9D where we parked. Some 2.5-3 miles all told, about three hours including breaks and waiting on me as I changed lenses and such.

The white trail up is a long scramble to several rewarding views of the Hudson. Don't look back or down, though.

Here we are on one of our first breaks. I am looking roughly northward from the trail.

On another break.

Shot of a tug and barge taken with a telefoto lens.

Paola is sneaking some shots of her boyfriend Tyler.

Paola loves to jump.

Pushing it back Sisyphus style. This was shortly before we left the white trail and turned onto the red.

Pollepel Island with Bannerman Castle at the point.

Jennifer's jump/shadow shot, her own thang.

Another jump by Paola at the highest point on the red trail.

We descended down the red trail shortly after this. Much easier than going backwards, but harsh on the knees.

Some cute chick who was on the trail checking me.

She took another jump shot nearby.

I took these photos from the highest point we reached on the red trail. They are 'stitched' together with software from Canon. Click on the image to see a larger view.