A hike in the Hudson Highlands: Pt. 1

(Nature and some nice views)

Today I completed a fairly short, 5 mile hike on the east side of the Hudson River, about 50 miles north of New York City. For those of you who do not know the area, the Hudson River is a large river that surrounds Manhattan island, and can be traced up into New York State. Most of New York State is Rural, with the bulk of the balance suburban. Only a small percentage is urban, though many New Yorkers do live in cities by number (perhaps upwards of 75% according to census 1990). In any event, much of New York state has been set aside as parkland. Granted one would prefer that more acres could be protected, but these parks are great nevertheless. The Hudson Highlands park is a bit over 5,000 acres complete with two reservoirs, several mountains, many hills and streams, a fire tower, and obviously thousands of mature trees.

During this hike nearly 100 pictures were taken. They have been sorted into three general categories, and will form the foundation of the next four posts, of which this is part 1. The next three parts will document ruins found in the woods. This, however, is about the nature.

The weather was quite warm: about 50 degrees with some limited wind.  The clouds were mostly constant, but the sun did come out from time to time early on.  By the end, however, it was cloudy at all times.

Some snake skin!  Do snakes often shed during the winter?  Would a few warm days motivate snakes to molt?

One stretch of the trail loops over a closed quarry.  Here the ledge gets right up to a 100+ foot drop.  Pretty intense.  Note the small trees, obviously the quarry has been out of use for a while.  Some basic research shows that this was operated by the Hudson River Stone Corporation.  Work started in 1931, and terminated in 1967.  

Lots of trees were blown down this year, probably from one or several severe storms.

Please stay tuned for two sets of ruins that were explored.  Research continues, to find the source and nature of these ruins, but it is now known that posts 3 and 4 will discuss the remains of the estate of Edward G. Cornish, once chairman of the National Lead Company.