Besides and behind the Breakneck Ridge
September 29, 2007
Breakneck Ridge, what a horrible name. My experience of leading hiking trips told me it is not a usual hiking trip but with adventure element because some rock climbing technique required. Also, the loose stony trail and entire mile of upslope climbing are not easy for beginners. I had seen a young woman’s lips turned black and face turned pale after climbing 10 minutes on the trail. In addition that, in order to make this trip super challenging, we would climb up Bull Hill after descending from Breakneck. Because of this reason, I rejected a few new hikers and accepted only 12 sign ups. We had 3 cars on that day so car shuttle was not a problem.
It was a shame that the alarm clock was wrongly set the night before that made me overslept. Luckily, Chen Feng could substitute and picked up those “orphans” at Manhattan for me. We had 2 new faces of NYC, Sunny and Kwan Mui; long trips fans: Moon, Kelly, Miu, Xin Li, Chen Feng, Jessica and Mike V. It was Danny’s second trip with NYC and Joe Lee’s toughest trip so far. We began the hiking at 10:15am.
It took us an hour to climb to the first viewpoint which was only 0.3 mile. The reason was two folds: trail was not easy and scenery was beautiful. All photographers were busy taking photos. There were so many hikers on the trail including a group of teenagers. It was disappointed that the huge American flag was gone and replaced by a paper sized one. We took the group picture at this spot with the help of Chen Feng’s magic tripod and his speedy 10 seconds running down from the small hill.
The trail was marked on a huge rock which was the biggest challenging spot of the day. All guys and most of lady hikers could climb up except Miu and Kelly who needed a helping hand or leg. Joe had extensive experience on rock climbing in Taiwan so he took this chance to instruct the young hikers. Nicer viewpoints came as we climbed higher on Breakneck Ridge. We took lunch at a viewpoint at 12:30 after finished only 1.5 miles.
The descending trail from Breakneck was fast. We reached the abandoned church and settlements in 0.5 mile. The trail then turned east and climbed up the 1,000 feet Bull Hill. It was my first time climbed up this mountain. The views from Bull Hill overlooking Hudson River and Storm King State Park were great. It looked like was a popular trail because we met a lot of hikers coming up from Cold Spring. It might be a substitute trail for those afraid of the Breakneck Ridge. As the trail descending, we went to a viewpoint that could include entire Cold Spring town. We could even see people playing football in the field.
There was a big hole on the Bull Hill which looked like an impact strike of meteor from outer space. The truth was mining. The granite rocks were dug out here when they built Brooklyn Bridge in 1870. We had a closed look at the mine hole. It was as huge as Shea Stadium. After the final 0.5 mile downhill, we reached the parking lot at Little Stony Point at 3:30pm. We had a strong team today. I conclude it is time to plan for long trip to the west coast or outside New York State. Our hiking potential cannot be tested if we stay only within Harriman State Park.
