Hook Mountain State Park, along with the adjoining Nyack Seaside, Rockland Lake and Haverstraw Seaside State Parks, is certainly one of my go-to native recreation spots. The Mountain itself is about 700 toes tall and a part of the Palisades, a string of cliffs alongside the western shore of the Hudson River that start additional south in New Jersey.
Previously I’ve used it extra as a spot to launch my kayak into the Hudson or to trip my bike however this 12 months I made a decision to spend extra time mountaineering there as a substitute, as a manner to enhance my endurance and total health — type of a problem to step it up a bit.
There are a selection of hikes to selected from there. The most well-liked is an up and again from Nyack Seaside to the Hook Mountain summit. From Nyack Seaside, you observe a white-blazed path up a collection of switchbacks and a protracted gradual southwesterly climb till you attain The Lengthy Path, marked by aqua inexperienced blazes.
Following the Lengthy Path north brings you to the highest of Hook Mountain. Up and again is beneath 4 miles and takes an hour and a half for those who don’t dawdle. This can be a fairly cool little hike. The payoff is taking a beautiful view of the Tappan Zee and surrounding space.
Somewhat extra formidable — and the route I’ve repeated most this 12 months — is to go from Nyack Seaside as much as the Lengthy Path after which take that each one the best way as much as the Rockland Lake Firehouse, the place you may descend to a motorbike path and observe it again south alongside the Hudson to your start line.
This loop is simply over seven miles and, after a bunch of ups and downs alongside the ridge, will get you about eleven hundred toes of vertical. It takes me between two and and three hours. You get extra train, some good views of Rockland Lake, Croton Level, the Hudson and much outdated ruins within the woods, remnants of when quarries and the Knickerbocker Ice Firm monetized the Palisades’ pure sources with a vengeance.
Hikers don’t have to show round on the firehouse. The Lengthy Path and the bike path each proceed to the north from there. I had by no means achieved this portion earlier than this spring (simply wasn’t on my radar). On a wet Saturday this previous April, I parked on the firehouse and headed north as a substitute of south on the Lengthy Path.
Proper after beginning out, I got here throughout an outdated household cemetery. It is extremely outdated and the grave markers are lacking or too weathered to learn however an indication by its entrance gate — put there as an Eagle Scout venture — recognized it because the Wells household plot and detailed who was buried the place. As an apart, Eagle Scouts have achieved tons of excellent on this space. There are infographics, mile markers and different initiatives throughout with completely different youngsters’ names on them. The path maintainers have achieved nice work too. Every little thing is impeccable.
From the cemetery, you climb up onto the ridge and observe it north. It was apparent that this portion will get much less site visitors than Hook Mountain. I feel I solely noticed one particular person till I used to be again on the bike path for the return loop. I had somewhat route discovering drama that first journey. I knew that there was a path all the way down to the Haverstraw finish of the bike path however I missed the flip and ended up on Route 9W.
This wasn’t that large a deal, despite the fact that I used to be now on the unsuitable facet of a freight rail line that paralleled the river there. There was a historic marker for Snedeker’s Touchdown that I’ve pushed previous a thousand instances and a gravel highway simply to my proper. I adopted the gravel path eastward and, after some poking round I discovered a tunnel beneath the tracks and all the way down to the the bike path. I walked again to the firehouse by way of the bike path- one other profitable journey within the books. In accordance with Strava, I’d achieved virtually eight miles and, stunning to me, virtually the identical vertical because the Hook Mountain loop. There have been loads of ups and downs.
Since then, I’ve achieved the Hook Mountain hike a couple of extra instances. My objective was to place all of it collectively and hike the total size of the ridge. Based mostly on my previous Strava information, I believed it’s round fourteen miles. To that finish, I’ve been paying extra consideration to my train routine this 12 months, attending to the gymnasium extra, taking lengthy walks round city or on a close-by rail path. Discovering time to suit greater than that into my schedule was difficult. By the second week of August, I made a decision to only do it. On Saturday, I bought up early, headed all the way down to Nyack Seaside.
On the gate, the park ranger checking me in talked about there have been a bunch of runners there already, doing a race. Fascinating. After I made it to the car parking zone, all there was to point something particular was a single unattended cover with some coolers and baggage beneath. I parked and, with three liters of water, some Sort bars and additional socks in my day pack, I headed up the path.
I moved quick on the primary part as much as the Hook Mountain summit. Getting all that climbing out of the best way boosted my confidence some. I paused to catch my breath and take a pair footage. There’s a small uncovered summit and the bushes that develop round it are brief and stunted in the best way you count on to see at a lot increased altitudes. The view actually is spectacular. As I used to be standing there, two guys got here charging up the path, glanced on the view, nodded to me and saved going. Yup, there’s a race right now, I believed.
As soon as I’d caught my breath and sipped some water, I moved on, following the aqua blazes north. As soon as up on the ridge, the trail is a little more enjoyable, snaking forwards and backwards. In some locations it drops down right into a saddle after which climbs once more, weaves by means of the bushes in some spots and in others treats you to extra views of the river.
A pair extra path runners overtook me. I paused for a snack and a relaxation, then saved on. The path ultimately settles right into a extra mild monitor alongside the jap facet of the ridge, in locations following the trail of deserted roads. Elsewhere there are are outdated rock partitions and the stays of outdated buildings, harkening again to business ventures lengthy gone. There’s tons to discover in these woods however I used to be on a mission so I caught to the path.
It was scorching. The miles gathered and I began feeling it in my legs. I contemplated turning again on the firehouse and simply doing the seven mile loop however as I started to listen to the sounds of households picnicking at Rockland Lake, I felt higher. By the point I picked my manner all the way down to the firehouse, I’d resolved to push by means of and hike the entire route.
Up previous the Wells household cemetery, I moved with objective. My good angle lasted awhile; then I used to be doubting myself once more. None of it was actually steep however the relentless ups and downs and the warmth took a toll on my center aged physique. My legs felt like rubber. I contemplating texting anyone to select me up in Haverstraw however disgrace stopped me. Then I thought of bushwhacking a shortcut all the way down to the bike path however it could have required discovering my manner between the excessive rock faces that make up the Palisades. The prospect of getting cliffed out and having to climb again up dissuaded me.
Extra runners glided by; not less than they moved slower now. Then a girl coming the opposite manner requested how many people there have been working right now, considering I used to be a part of the race. That’s humorous, I believed. I advised her I’m not racing — simply ended up in the course of it by chance. Me too, she replied.
Then I bought a break. Whoever organized the race had marked the switchback path that led all the way down to Haverstraw Seaside State Park with pink ribbon, recognizing that it was simple to overlook I suppose. I regarded down and acknowledged a low crumbling cairn with two light, virtually gone white blazes. I turned and will select a faint path and some white blazes and tons of pink ribbon. After one other temporary cease for a snack and extra water, I descended one steep, slender switchback after one other, by far the gnarliest a part of the journey.
Quickly sufficient, I made it to the underside of the switchbacks and emerged onto the bike path, proper throughout from the ruins of an outdated constructing I had biked, walked and XC skied previous many instances. Stepping onto the crushed stone of the bike path felt like my return to civilization. A dad and baby flashed by on bikes. The laborious half over, I used to be nonetheless over 4 miles from my automobile.
These 4 miles had been simple bike path miles however I used to be shot. I walked sluggish, took extra breaks, fueled up with one other Sort bar and the final of my water, and ultimately made it. Strava recorded it as 13.14 miles, 2,168 toes of vertical and 29,160 steps — not precisely extremely runner stuff however the furthest I’ve walked in a very very long time.
