Last Friday, I met up with one of my sorority sisters, Chelsea. It was the first time I had seen her since May, and would be the last time I'd see her until my thesis defense this fall. She lives somewhat nearby, so we took this opportunity to go for a hike.
Normally, I prefer to hike on my own. I don't like to match my pace with someone else's, or take unnecessary breaks.
Fortunately for me, though, Chelsea came prepared to hike - we took turns leading the way, and we both took breaks when we needed them. Nobody was complaining, and I didn't have to slow down or speed up to stay with Chelsea - she makes a great hiking partner!
When she contacted me asking when we should meet up to hike, I immediately thought of Storm King. My friend from around here had recommended both Schunemunk and Storm King. I had hiked up Schunemunk on my own, but thought that Storm King would be kind of fun to hike with Chelsea.
Last Friday, we met up, headed to my house for a quick stop - I needed to top off my water bottle and change clothes - and then we were off!
The parking lot is off 9W, but I drove past it twice, so I had to loop around several times before we were finally parked. There were a few cars and a couple of motorcycles in the lot, but we only saw two people.
We headed off on the Orange Trail (marked with red-orange blazes). We were immediately face to face with rock scrambles as we climbed up Butter Hill. There were several scenic spots, but each view was better than the last!
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| One of the early views! |
At one point, we had to tightrope walk across a knife's edge to make it to a safe place to rest, before climbing pretty much straight up a rock face.
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| I see Bambi the Chevy! |
The Orange Trail dead-ended into Stillman Trail. Chelsea and I had a few minutes where we had to figure out whether we took a left or a right. I consulted Hike The Hudson Valley, which advised the path to the right.
After a few minutes, we submitted Butter Hill and found several US Geo Survey markers at the summit. Of course, I was very excited! This was the highest spot of the hike, at 1,375 feet.
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| USGS marker at the summit. |
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| Panoramic view from the top of Storm King |
We meandered along Stillman Trail, taking a right when the Bluebird Trail intersected with the trail from the left, then a left when the Howell Trail intersected from the right.
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| All smiles at the summit! |
Hike the Hudson Valley advises staying on this trail, because then you get the "money spots." Chelsea and I came out at one spot and thought,
this is it! We stopped to take several pictures before moving on.
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| The money spot we took pictures at. |
And then we found the actual money spot. The trail opened up at a rocky outcropping with wide views of Newburgh Bay, Bannerman's Castle, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, the Catskills, and the eastern Hudson Highlands. We hung out here for a little bit before heading on. The Stillman trail took a sharp left-hand U turn back around the mountain, but Chelsea and I headed straight to the White Trail. We meandered downhill nearly the entire way, before coming face to face with one final steep uphill climb. Once we reached the top, we high-fived. Bambi the car was right there!
Chelsea's Jawbone says that we hiked four miles in about two and a half hours - a bit slower than I thought, but that was probably due to the pictures we took, and some of our rest breaks that turned into chat breaks.
Storm King was so much fun to hike, and it's one that I definitely wouldn't mind doing again!
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