Halfway up the Hudson

The next segment of our Loop is the 150 mile journey up the Hudson River, tidal all the way to Albany. The rising tide actually overpowers the river current; the Native American name for the Hudson means "the river that flows both ways." Northbound mariners time their cruise to catch the tide rising in order to get a boost. The optimum time for us to leave wouldn't have been until about 2 pm, but we were too anxious to get out of the NY Harbor wakes so we left early. We were bucking a 2 mph current for the first couple of hours and were crawling up the Hudson. Here's a last look at Newport Marina in Jersey City.

The river was busy, but it's wide and there is room for everyone. We had another look at the Manhattan skyline with the Empire State Building rising above it all. We marveled at the sheer numbers of skyscrapers until we reached the northern end of the island.

The double decker George Washington Bridge is near the northern tip of Manhattan. As you can see, the scenery changes dramatically beyond this bridge.

Suspension bridges are very common here and the George Washington is particularly impressive.

The banks of the Hudson are steep, heavily wooded and feature beautiful stone cliffs that go straight down to the water. We anchored for the night in front of Bear Mountain, part of the Interstate Park System that lines the western shore. This cove was so peaceful and natural it was hard to believe that we were only 40 miles from NYC.

We had read about the trail to the top of Bear Mountain, so the next day we packed a lunch and set out in the dinghy for the park dock. The park has been around for a long time and tour boats used to come from NYC to this sturdy dock. Note the bridge in the photo, we'll see this bridge from the top after our climb.

In addition to its many hiking trails, the park also has a zoo, museums and this huge swimming pool nestled into the hill. An old lodge on the grounds, originally built by the WPA is currently being restored.

The mountain is about 1300 feet to the top. The main trail, with many switchbacks, includes 800 stone steps put in by volunteers who hand cut the native rock and set the stones in place without heavy equipment. It's very impressive, this section is especially nicely done.

Even with the steps, it was a long hike up, but the views were worth it. Looking upstream, note how far we are above the bridge in the lower right corner.

The view downstream ...

... and the small white speck near the bottom shore is Shingebiss at anchor.

Near the top, we ate our lunch on this bench.

It was a great hike, but we were outa gas by the time we got down the mountain and back to the boat, so we elected to stay another night in this beautiful setting. We set out early the next day with cooler temps. The mountains continued with homes interspersed along the cliffs. With the Hudson River's long history of commerce, we had expected more industry and more commercial traffic, but instead found a serene and peaceful river. We were finally catching a boost from the "upstream current", the water was like glass and we were loving the Hudson.

West Point is right on the banks of the Hudson and it's mighty impressive. The older parts of the complex look like a fortress and the stone work is beautiful. Before 9/11, cruisers could pull right up to the dock for a tour, but no more, so on we went.

These ruins are Bannerman Castle, built on an island in the early 1900's by Frank Bannerman as a resort. In the 1960's New York State obtained the property and gave tours, but the castle burned and is now badly deteriorated.

The Hudson has some old lighthouses.

This lighthouse stands at the entrance to Rondout Creek. By this time it was raining, and we had put up our "plugger windshield". After the last time we got drenched on the flybridge, we had bought a few yards of heavy clear plastic (Joann Fabric, who knew?) and a bag of heavy duty clips. Visibility is not the best and there's no fancy zippers, but for $20, it keeps us dry.

Of course, we had to take it down before we entered the town of Kingston. Once we got to Hideaway Marina and met the owner, however, we realized he probably would have admired our ingenuity. Inexpensive and very down home, it's not fancy, but works for us. We've been able to ride our bikes for groceries much of the trip, but too far today, so we took a cab, bought a ton, did laundry, and cleaned the boat inside and out. For some reason these routine chores are more satisfying on the boat than they ever were at home. We love the feeling of setting out with fresh provisions, clean boat and clean clothes, an empty holding tank and a full water tank and a new destination on the horizon.

For those of you following the Exploits of the Eschaton, they moved on ahead of us, but are leaving their boat for 9 days for a road trip home to Tennesee. They hope to catch back up with us before Lake Ontario.