Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge

Each month I plan to feature one of the Hudson Valley's Hudson River bridges.  This month it's the one I am most familiar with, the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge.

The above photos were taken the last three weeks of October from the Ferncliff Forest Fire Tower.  They capture my favorite time of year.  Though it's been warm at times, the sun's rapid inclination loss and those handful of cool breezy days have led to some pretty colors in the Hudson Valley.

Though originally planned a supension bridge connecting the downtowns of Kingston and Rhinebeck, the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge is an under deck truss.  The bridge itself may have been ascetically more pleasing, but Rhinebeck today would be Hyde Park or Hudson.  Thankfully the plans changed.

It opened at just the right time in February of 1957 since the Hudson froze and the ferry no longer could run allowing people to cross.  Today the bridge carries approximately 17,000 vehicles per day.  Only the Rip Van Winkle Bridge carries less, but despite being located over 50 miles north of the Bear Mountain Bridge it carries roughly the same amount of traffic.  

Cat's Tail Trail Marathon

My training had been quite limited since the Escarpment Trail.  Despite this, the weather would provide the largest obstacles on today's marathon trail run with temps in the high 30s, rain and wind.

This would be the first running of the Cat's Tail.  I found this quite appealing since it incorporates the most technical trail in the Catskills (Slide to Cornell) along with the new section of the Long Path that connects Wittenburgh with Phoenecia.  

The things I will remember most from this run are cold hands, wind, cold rain, cold feet, slippery rocks, a fall, a tweaked back, salted potatoes at one of the aid stations, tired legs and remembering to not forget my rain jacket the next time.  

Somehow I managed to finish the 26.5 miles in just over 7 hours and 30 minutes.  I seriously considered turning around once I reached the summit of Slide.  Instead I found a nice group of runners to persevere with and finish.  

My hands were too cold to take many pictures so here is some video that captures the essence of it all.