Day 28: Evading the Wolverines

After being so bad with the exercise this week, despite my promises to myself, I knew I had to do a good hike this week. However, mindful of my knees which were still a bit stiff, I wasn't sure I wanted all the ups that I had last week so I decided to do one in Palisades Interstate Park. This Park runs along the Hudson River, from just south of the George Washington Bridge all the way up through the New York State Line. In the New Jersey Section, there are two main trails. The Long Path which runs along the top of the Palisades and the Shore Path which runs along the Hudson River. Both paths are relatively level with some minor ups and downs and a few tricky stream negotiations and rock scrambles. Then there are about 4 or 5 trails that connect the two trails and these can be moderate with lots of switchbacks or more steep and strenuous. But even the moderate trails are a bitch because you are making an elevation gain of 400-500 feet in a half mile or less.

There's lots of great views over the Hudson River and several interesting ruins of old mansions which used to occupy the area, until the early 20th century.

The 6 mile loop I chose, utilized one strenuous and steep down and then a moderate up at the end. The description of the hike can be found here.

I usually start every hiking season with the loop that runs south of the Park headquarters. It is slightly easier than the one I did today, about a mile shorter too. It's a good gauge of what my body is prepared for. And I usually do it at the end of the hiking season as well to see how far I've come physically.

But today I went north. As I said, the Long Path is a relatively level path, with few challenges so I was able to keep up a pretty good pace. Nonetheless I was passed several times by DHP's. I had a pretty high DHP count for the day: 12. And that's counting the three that passed me twice only one time each. I also had a relatively high count for other hikers: 15. And only one couple that was woefully under-prepared. She was wearing flip flops. D'Oh!

Shortly after I started the hike, I was met with a side path that leads to an old bridge to a rock outcropping on the cliff. The bridge was built by John Ringling (of the Ringling Bros Circus fame), who used to own a mansion up on these cliffs. The bridge is narrow and crosses and deep ravine and has no side rails so I stared straight ahead and walked quickly across.

The views from the rocks on the other side were lovely. It was a bit hazy out though and I knew I was in for better views further up the trail, so I crossed quickly and carefully back over the old bridge and headed off up the trail.

I finally found the perfect picture to demonstrate a f*ck-it path. There was this huge tree down over the trail and a small rockfall in front of it. The original trail actual heads off to the right in the picture, and (at this point) several enterprising souls have blazed a new path around the obstacle as you can see to the left in the picture. This was actually taken from the back side.

A little further on down the trail, I hit Ruckman's Point. This is a gorgeous lookout over the Hudson and lots of very old graffiti. The oldest one I could make out was 117 years old!













Before you get to the really evil climb down the cliffs portion of this hike, the trail runs by this Rapunzel looking tower thing. This is actually a monument to the the Women's Federation. The Federation was comprised of several women's groups who fought to keep the Palisades safe from quarrying eventually convincing New York Governor Teddy Roosevelt and New Jersey Governor Foster Vorhees to establish the Palisades Interstate Park Commission and designate this area protected land. I find it kind funny that a monument to women looks a bit like a prison.


There were several hikers and DHPs taking a break in the little garden that surrounded the is monument so I took a break as well to replenish my small bottle of water and munch on a granola bar.

Then I headed off to face the pain. The strenuous down portion of the hike. The trail descends first on a series of steep stone steps built in the early twentieth century, so they are not in the best repair and then it continues down on short. steep, rocky switchbacks, more fit for a billy goat than and middle aged woman with bad knees. . The steps were so steep I was starting to get a little vertigo, I stayed well back from the edge and sidled down the steps more than I walked down them. It's only three tenths of a mile, but it feels a lot longer when your taking your time to make sure you have your footing.

It's a relief when you finally hit the Shore Path down below. This part of the hike offers a nice respite. And even better, when there is a big boulder fall off to the right of the path, the breeze that comes off the river gets cooled and bounced back at you. It's like a natural air conditioning. And believe me I needed it. I was sweating like Dick Cheney at confessional. I was pretty much soaked through at this point, the only dry area of my tank top was the bottom hem. While I enjoyed the less strenuous stroll, not having to concentrate on where I was putting my feet, made me pay attention to the fact that my feet were getting really tired and soar. But knowing I was more than half way done, kept me moving forward. I took an alternative path a little way along, that gave me a little up and went through more of a wooded area. But I knew that the pain was coming.

Soon I reached the Closter Dock Trail. This is was my up point, back to the top of the cliffs. This trail is an old cobblestone road, once used by the British Troops during the revolution, when they tried to intercept Washington on his way to Trenton. Do you know what happens to cobblestone roads after a couple hundred years? The cobblestones shift and move and upend. It's kind of a pain to walk over them. And dangerous to your ankles. This trail ascends on a a series of long switchbacks. It really takes it out of you. I find it works best to keep my head down, walk slowly and count my steps. If see how much farther it is too the top, it can get discouraging. And at this point it's only six tenths of a mile back to the parking lot. I was ready to finish.

I finally trudged my way back to the car in a little under 3 hours. My trusty pedometer read:

5.96 miles
13988 steps
626 calories burned (at least!)

Oh, and I have to mention, that while I was sore, my right knee was much happier after this hike since I gave it the same kind of support I give to my left knee. Hooray!

The next two weekends I won't be able to hike. Next weekend, I'll be walking around St. John, New Brunswick, Canada while on my Victory Cruise. And the weekend after that, my best friend, My Brian, is coming into to town from Indiana to visit. I can't wait to see him!

Cheerios!