Giant Stairs in the Palisades

The VPo Man and I combines our resources for this hike. He found an article online about Giant Stairs and I had my newly acquired NY/NJ Trail Conference maps of the Palisades.

The Giant Stairs are basically a mile long section of trail that runs along the Hudson filled with giant boulders. It's a half mile walk from the NY/NJ state line parking area. The approach included areas of dense vegetation.

Once on the giant stairs, the going was slow, but quite enjoyable with the views and the breeze from the Hudson River. Before heading back up, there was this tree swing with views of the decrepit Tappan Zee Bridge. The climb up was about 400 feet and from the top of the Palisades you were afforded views of New York City and the Hudson.

Sherman/9-11 Memorial Hike

In 2003 I decided to go for hikes in memory of 9-11. Upon returning from a 9/11 hike in 2005, I found my cat Sherman in a box after he'd been run over by a car. After taking a three year hiatus from hiking in the Adirondacks on 9/11 (2007 I was on my cross country trip, 2008 I spread Sherman's ashes on Overlook, 2009 I had classes and worked), I returned in hopes of tackling big bad Allen Mountain. In days past, Allen would be a backpack. In today's world of herd paths, Allen was a nice 10 hour walk.

The trail in starts near the Upper Works where there are remains of old mining operations. Early on the trail crosses a creek and wooden planks assist in the crossing of a pond. The trail then uses old logging roads for the next 4 miles before taking the herd path to the summit. The hike started at near freezing temperatures. So it was much to my dismay, that a crossing of the Opulescent River was required. This was one of those rivers that needed bears catching fish in order for the setting to be complete. I cannot begin to tell you how cold my feet were while crossing. On top of that the rocks were sharp, making an uncompfortable walk. There was a little island where I wanted to take in a photo of the sun rising over the mountains. Unfortunately, I somehow broke my camera before I started to cross. This was a shame. There were beautiful views all day long. Fortunately, I had a video camera and I hope to have some footage one day.

The herd path was fairly easy to follow. In spots it got quite muddy and in fact I took a spill because my foot got stuck. But along the path, there were a couple wonderful looking waterfalls. Eventually, the herd path went up one of the slides on Allen. This made the going slow, but views were constantly popping up. First, Redfield was in view. Then the Santanonis. Even the Sewards could be seen. The fire tower on Mt Adams was in view. By the time I reached the top, I was able to point out almost all the other 46ers. Allen's central location makes it a great spot to view most of the other 46ers.

While on the summit, I met a group from the Outdoor club of Clarkson University. We shared our stories of hiking in the Adirondacks. One of them mentioned he had climbed the dyke on Colden in the winter. That is something I absolutely would like to do some day. For most of the way down I hiked with them. It was nice to see they were not having an easy go either. The slide was quite slippery. One slip could lead to quite a tumble. Fortunately, I made it down without incident and was glad to be out in the Adirondacks for 9-11 once again.

Black Dome

I stopped in Greenville to visit my Dad before heading over to hike up Black Dome for the sunset. I took a photo from the parking lot of the grocery store. When I would shop there on a beautiful day, I would always enjoy taking in the views of the Tri-peaks (Blackhead, Black Dome, Thomas Cole) and Windham.

It was only a 2.5 mile hike to the summit with 2,000 feet elevation gain. Originally I planned on doing Blackhead, but the 5:30 start put a squash on that.

The trek up Black Dome is one of the better hikes in the Catskills. It follows a stream for the first half mile. It then starts to climb. For a portion of this climb, it follows a brook where there was a nice spring that I took advantage of. It then climbed more dramatically to the col of Blackhead and Black Dome. The climb up from here is very typical of the Catskills. It gets very steep and rocky and your hands are necessary.

There is a great view near the summit of Blackhead and the lesser peaks along the escarpment trail. The summit is atypical of the Catskills. From here, the hiker is awarded the best view of the Devil's Path. Hunter and Kaaterskill High Peak are also in view.

Mt. Beacon

A local Meetup group does sunset hikes every Thursday. I finally took the opportunity. Originally, there was a hike set to take place in the Palisades. Now, though, Mt. Beacon would have to do.

This is a worthy spot for a sunset hike. It's a pretty decent ascent, over 1,000 feet over 2 miles. On this hot day, you felt it. The group hiked at a moderate pace, which was nice. Once we hit the first view point, where the old railroad came up, there was a nice breeze. There were a group of ladies who drove their jeep up and were drinking beers. A great idea.

From here it was an easy walk to the tower. The tower is unnecessary to enjoy the views from on top. But, I did not go up. This is the 3rd time I've summitted and I have yet to climb the tower. And I love to climb fire towers.

Despite the haze, the sunset was beautiful and the cool breeze was a refreshing change from the heavy, sticky air on the ascent.