I have the coolest supervisor ever.
Seriously.
I casually texted him, "Do you think there's any Mile-a-Minute on Breakneck Ridge?"
He responded, "Possibly. Why?"
I said, "No such reason. Just needed a good excuse to go. I'm done with monitoring for this month. I thought it would be a great place to scout."
He followed up with,
Oh. Yeah. Coolest supervisor ever.
So, that Friday, I prepared my pack, filled up two bottles of water, and made sure I was ready. Then I headed out.
Hike the Hudson Valley gives Breakneck Ridge a difficulty rating of 10/10. I had already conquered Storm King, Schunemunk, and Dunderberg, among others. Storm King was 6/10, and Schunemunk was 9/10. The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference features Dunderberg in their trail guides, although there is no hiking guide for the trail that I take for monitoring.
Driving up to the ridge, I was mildly intimidated. It was huge. It was craggy. It was rocky. Nevertheless, I made sure my boots were double knotted and secured my pack. Then I hit the trail.
It's mildly disconcerting when, as you head out on the trail, you see this sign.
Yeah. Definitely not a walk in the park. Still, I was excited!
Heading out, I took the White Trail and followed it, climbing over the tunnel that runs over Route 9D. I kept climbing. And climbing. And climbing. It seemed like the climb would never end. At several points, I was using my hands to pull myself up, since so many of the scrambles had handholds above my head.
At one point, I had to climb straight up with my feet firmly balancing me on the sides of a narrow gully. I stopped several times to allow hikers to pass, since I was actually genuinely scouting for Mile-a-Minute and was going slowly.
There were two hikers who had brought their dog with them (looks like he was a German Shorthaired Pointer if anyone's curious). I knew dogs were allowed on the trail, but was somewhat surprised that someone would take their dog along, especially since some of the climbs were nearly vertical and several times the trail required some creative maneuvering to get past some of the obstacles. I let these hikers go, and prepared myself to catch the dog a few times (which I had to). There were some decently nice views.
And then I reached the first overlook. W.O.W.
Directly across the river was Storm King Mountain. To my right, I could see Pollepel Island and the Bannerman's Castle was visible. Beyond that was the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. I spent some time here, relaxing and decompressing from the climb.
Then I turned around. Oh. There was even more of a climb ahead of me. Huge rocks, scraggly boulders, and a barely-marked trail. I tightened my waist straps and tackled this section. I was planning on taking the tougher side, but when I kept sliding back to the bottom because my boots couldn't grip the rocks, I headed toward the easier option. I kept climbing further and further up, until I reached the second overlook.
Somewhere between the first and the second overlook, I stopped and snapped this photo. People with a fear of heights, turn back now.
Of course, because I'm fearless, I got as close to the edge as I could to look over, multiple times. I know people who are afraid of heights who would despise hiking with me (sorry, guys). I hung out at the second overlook for a few minutes, grabbed a gulp or two of water, and headed on.
I kept climbing up bluffs, continuously. And then. There was no more. I had passed the third overlook, stopped for a quick lunch between the third and fourth overlooks, and finally reached the top.
I pushed forward. I stayed on the White Trail as it dropped off into the woods. It was a nice, fun little meander, before I took a left onto the Red Trail. This trail headed straight downhill the entire way down the ridge. It dead-ends into the Wilkinson Memorial Trail, where I took a left as it led me back to the highway. I carefully navigated back to my car. The entire hike had taken 3 hours 45 minutes, 15 minutes shy of the 4 hours average stated by the writer of Hike The Hudson Valley.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from this hike!
Seriously.
I casually texted him, "Do you think there's any Mile-a-Minute on Breakneck Ridge?"
He responded, "Possibly. Why?"
I said, "No such reason. Just needed a good excuse to go. I'm done with monitoring for this month. I thought it would be a great place to scout."
He followed up with,
Oh. Yeah. Coolest supervisor ever.
So, that Friday, I prepared my pack, filled up two bottles of water, and made sure I was ready. Then I headed out.
Hike the Hudson Valley gives Breakneck Ridge a difficulty rating of 10/10. I had already conquered Storm King, Schunemunk, and Dunderberg, among others. Storm King was 6/10, and Schunemunk was 9/10. The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference features Dunderberg in their trail guides, although there is no hiking guide for the trail that I take for monitoring.
Driving up to the ridge, I was mildly intimidated. It was huge. It was craggy. It was rocky. Nevertheless, I made sure my boots were double knotted and secured my pack. Then I hit the trail.
It's mildly disconcerting when, as you head out on the trail, you see this sign.
Yeah. Definitely not a walk in the park. Still, I was excited!
Heading out, I took the White Trail and followed it, climbing over the tunnel that runs over Route 9D. I kept climbing. And climbing. And climbing. It seemed like the climb would never end. At several points, I was using my hands to pull myself up, since so many of the scrambles had handholds above my head.
At one point, I had to climb straight up with my feet firmly balancing me on the sides of a narrow gully. I stopped several times to allow hikers to pass, since I was actually genuinely scouting for Mile-a-Minute and was going slowly.
There were two hikers who had brought their dog with them (looks like he was a German Shorthaired Pointer if anyone's curious). I knew dogs were allowed on the trail, but was somewhat surprised that someone would take their dog along, especially since some of the climbs were nearly vertical and several times the trail required some creative maneuvering to get past some of the obstacles. I let these hikers go, and prepared myself to catch the dog a few times (which I had to). There were some decently nice views.
And then I reached the first overlook. W.O.W.
Then I turned around. Oh. There was even more of a climb ahead of me. Huge rocks, scraggly boulders, and a barely-marked trail. I tightened my waist straps and tackled this section. I was planning on taking the tougher side, but when I kept sliding back to the bottom because my boots couldn't grip the rocks, I headed toward the easier option. I kept climbing further and further up, until I reached the second overlook.
Somewhere between the first and the second overlook, I stopped and snapped this photo. People with a fear of heights, turn back now.
Of course, because I'm fearless, I got as close to the edge as I could to look over, multiple times. I know people who are afraid of heights who would despise hiking with me (sorry, guys). I hung out at the second overlook for a few minutes, grabbed a gulp or two of water, and headed on.
I kept climbing up bluffs, continuously. And then. There was no more. I had passed the third overlook, stopped for a quick lunch between the third and fourth overlooks, and finally reached the top.
I pushed forward. I stayed on the White Trail as it dropped off into the woods. It was a nice, fun little meander, before I took a left onto the Red Trail. This trail headed straight downhill the entire way down the ridge. It dead-ends into the Wilkinson Memorial Trail, where I took a left as it led me back to the highway. I carefully navigated back to my car. The entire hike had taken 3 hours 45 minutes, 15 minutes shy of the 4 hours average stated by the writer of Hike The Hudson Valley.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from this hike!
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