The Long Path: High Adventure along the Hudson!

Scott and I at the southern terminus of the Long Path: the 175th Street Subway Station

Our first miles have been breath-taking in more ways than one! We are presently en route to Chester, NY having covered the Palisades and the Hudson Highlands, however for the sake of brevity...well kind of...I will catch you up on the first four days.

Firstly, I must say navigating parking on Labor Day in Fort Lee so that we could begin our hike at the 175th Street subway station and walk across the Hudson River on the George Washington Bridge was a challenge in and of itself. Thank you Mom and Dad for braving the city driving! But it was well worth it - the bridge was surprisingly majestic, with the American flag hanging from its archway and my parents walking hand and hand before Scott and I accompanying us for our first few miles along this 400 mile trail through New York. Even with the bicyclists zipping by, the runners weaving their way between us, and the steady stream of cars whizzing down its corridor, it couldn't dampen the magic of the moment...in fact I believe it enhanced it. This trail was surely created as a respite from the harried experience of urban living...and never before had I begun a trail is such a setting...it was perfect. The more I have hiked long distance trails the more I have come to realize that I appreciate those that blend civilization with wilderness, people with nature. I see no reason why we have to see ourselves as separate when we are obviously intertwined.

Mom and Dad guiding us down the George Washington Bridge to the start of the trail in Manhattan

The Palisades Park proved to be far more grand in its beauty than we had presumed as well. I have always thought of the Palisades as the interstate and never as an actual park. Sure, the park's corridor is slim but it is lined with incredible vista after incredible vista and all along a level walking trail...well for about the first half until you start to hit the rock steps. The historical sites along the trail were intriguing and sometimes masterful and we couldn't help but marvel at the number of old growth trees along the way...how had they survived the quarrying and logging? This section was a perfect way to start a long trek, nice and easy and with lots of rewards. We walked this park for roughly the first two days and covered about 24 miles.

Hugging a Black Poplar (Populus nigra) along the Palisades - how old do you think this tree may be?

View of George Washington Bridge (GWB) from along the Palisades 

early evening view along the Palisades with Hudson River and Yonkers in the distance

Scott playing King of the Castle at the Monument to the Women's Federation who were instrumental in  forever protecting the Palisades from quarrymen (let's not consider the contradiction here) 

Scott descending large stone slabs in Palisades Park

We dropped into the town of Piermont for an icy cup of chilled coffee at Bunbury's Coffee and after many ups and downs through the rocky hillsides in high temps (summer had suddenly returned!) stumbled into Nyack at about 8:00 pm and treated ourselves to a rather glamorous hotel - but no more expensive that your average Day's Inn - called the Time. We had no idea the atmosphere we would encounter when we made the reservation over the phone! This place had oriental rugs embroidered with Day of the Dead skulls, faux white fur sofas, and the entire place outfitted with Alexa - that app that lets you make lights turn on, gadgets start working, and make phonecalls using only your voice like in the Jetsons. Let's just say it took us 5 minutes to figure out how to turn on our bedroom lights. It was a far cry from the trail but a welcome haven from the rainstorm that would be rolling in that night.

Hanging out at the post Time Hotel in Nyack

On our third day, my father came to meet us for lunch and to switch out some gear. Turns out we didn't need that cold-weather sleeping bag after all. Thank you, Dad!! That helped us drop some weight and lifted our spirits on a day where we would be walking for the afternoon in the rain. Although this day was short in mileage - about 6 miles total - we summited Hook Mountain which was all the more stunning in the fog and mist. We remarked at not only the native Prickly Pear that we found in large communities at its summit but also the candelabras of Mullein that stood on its peak - again a juxtaposition of native and non-native, wild and civilized.

View from Hook Mountain with silhouttes of Mullein stalks

View from Hook Mountain

Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa)

We also had the pleasure of meeting a unique soul named Lisa Snyder who hikes the trail daily with her menagerie of lovable dogs. We stopped and chatted and she informed us that she has walked this trail daily for 7 years and never met someone doing what we are doing. Well after learning what she did, we informed her that we had never met someone who did quite what she did - dedicating her life to the bettering of the lives of dogs. Check out her non-profit page on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/Free-Dog. It was a pleasure meeting you, Lisa! Thank you for all that you do! Also thank you to Knickerbocker Engine Company near Rockland County Park for bringing us in to fill up our water bottles!

Scott, Lisa, and myself along the Long Path

On our fourth day, we hiked a solid 13 miles beginning late and leisurely enjoying the rolling hills of Rockland State Park and summitting High Tor...the highest mountain along the Palisades. The climb was rocky and the views were tremendous, giving us a view far away down the Hudson from where we had come, the towns of Mount Ivy and Haverstraw below to which we would descend and the green mountains of Harriman State Park in the distance.  

View from summit of High Tor

From summit of High Tor

We were happy to descend from here to a number of miles on forest road and then along a grassy cliff filled with Cedars and Hickorys and grapevines, we felt as if we were walking along a mountain-top garden. Along the way we even caught a glimpse of the Manhattan skyline now foggy and almost imperceptible except for the rectangular outline of a handful of builidings...we were a long way from the George Washington Bridge!

view of Manhattan skyline from cliff above Mount Ivy

Hickory nut

Finally descending to the road, Rt. 202 in Mt. Ivy, we were pleased to see a host of stores and restaurants - supermarket, pharmacy, liquor store, every kind of restaurant (including an Indian one we had visited nearly a year before and we didn't even know that we were in the same town), and a pizza place that had the most amazing eggplant rolls ever. Thank you to the kind pharmacist in the pharmacy on the corner of Rt. 202 who helped us assess our fire ant bites...we had no idea the damage these critters could inflict...think tiny boils all over...we were definitely in need of some first aid.  However due to our lengthy stop, we found ourselves literally hiking into the darkness at about 7:30 pm for what we thought would be an easy 1.5 mile walk into the woods to camp for the night. Turns out not too many people hike this portion of the trail. It was the most overgrown with weeds that we had seen and was really not one to have taken on in the dark when the trail was really nothing but a jumble of ankle twisting rocks. We walked a narrow strip of land just below the Palisades Parkway on one side and a chain-link fence on the other. We searched for blazes in the dark with our faint headlamps and even crossed a narrow stone walkway over what looked like a very deep and dirty stream...not one that you would want to fall into. After this fun we ascended  Cheesecote Mountain and finally gave up just before the top somewhere in the woods at about 9:30. Note to self...this portion of trail best reserved for hiking in the daylight.

Scott along a ridge in Harriman State Park

The next morning we entered into Harriman State Park...one of our favorite in the region...this post soon to come!