Hudson Highlands Jaunt

3.9k · March 29, 2004

I am going to say yes, but with my work I may not be able to and won't know until the day before or so. But i'd love to!

One word Planet. RE/MAX. No more floor time. Sorry. Force of habit.

Hey I'm NORM!

Edited March 29, 2004 by JMBella

March 29, 2004

I'm in - 8:30 is good for me.

6.4k · March 29, 2004

Sounds like fun, but we got da boy this weekend. He's gotta be adopted, cause he's shot after one 1/1. Maybe you guys will get rained out. j/k

3.9k · March 29, 2004

Maybe you guys will get rained out. j/k

Don't say that. The way I'm eating these days I need this hike. I'm a fat bastard right now.

March 29, 2004

Cool! Joe has agreed to come up there for the hike and then head out to Niagara early - as long as we can find a Molly-sitter for the day and I can book a room to stay somewhere. It shouldn't be a problem, so count us in!

Where/When will we meet?

~melissa

March 29, 2004

JandM

Fishkill is a nice little town about 10 miles north up Rt 9 that has an assortment of Hotels available.

If Bed and Breakfast is more your style the town of Cold Spring is right by the area we'll be hiking. I don't know of any in particular but it's a big antiquing town... they've just got to have Bed and Breakfasts there.

Also for anyone that is interested, Planet and I have field tested a small pub called Finnegans also in Fishkill that makes great 'after the hike' Buffalo Chicken Wings and serves a cold Brewski to wash it down.

38.2k · March 29, 2004

Also for anyone that is interested, Planet and I have field tested a small pub called Finnegans also in Fishkill that makes great 'after the hike' Buffalo Chicken Wings and serves a cold Brewski to wash it down.

Finnegans' wings sound great for a post cache meal. Do they serve Guninness on draught? that would make it sound even better.

March 29, 2004

Also for anyone that is interested, Planet and I have field tested a small pub called Finnegans also in Fishkill that makes great 'after the hike' Buffalo Chicken Wings and serves a cold Brewski to wash it down.

Finnegans' wings sound great for a post cache meal. Do they serve Guninness on draught? that would make it sound even better.

Brian I'm not going to swear to it but there's a real good chance in a bar called Finnegans during the month of March

March 29, 2004

oooh, wings. yummy. how can we pass that up? beer and wings are just another selling point for joe. one of our other hobbies is finding the best wings around. currently the title is held by Chuck's in Princeton.

Ttepee - thanks for the lodging tips!

~melissa

3k · March 29, 2004

Well, Joe, I have the Saturday off! I'm working Friday and if anyone else asks, I have to walk land on Saturday. Lots and lots of land, with lots and lots of elevation. I was going to bring up Finnegan's but I see Ttepee already has. They have a long bar, plenty of tables and a dozen or more televisions all around the room in case the basketball finals are still going on, if anyone is worried about missing them. It's kind of a sports bar/slash/pub, and the wings are great and the restrooms are clean! I'm going to ask the mann if he can tear himself away from a day of yard work for this climb. This is exactly the kind of hike he prefers. Bring you FRS radios, if you have them! Channel 2.

March 29, 2004

Not to dampen anyone's spirits but has anyone looked at the extended forcast?

March 29, 2004

Not to dampen anyone's spirits but has anyone looked at the extended forcast?

Why should we check the weather? How does the weather forcast effect our eating wings and drinking beer?

March 29, 2004

I am going to say yes, but with my work I may not be able to and won't know until the day before or so. But i'd love to!

One word Planet. RE/MAX. No more floor time. Sorry. Force of habit.

Hey I'm NORM!

Speaking of Norm.... Fiskill has it's own infamous Norm. He started off like 10 years ago or something like that... he would offer safe rides in his car to anyone that wanted a ride home from the bars. He would make a set route to the local bars in say a 20 mile loop, and continue the loop throughout the night, picking up anyone for free and bringing them where they wanted to go... home, a friends, bar hopping.. yeah he'd even take you bar hopping... all for nothing... but most of us know that a drunk will usually make either a fantastic tipper or a deadbeat. Well as his popularity increased he started being paid by the establishments to run his route. At this point Norm has sold the buisiness but there are a few vans running out there still from what he started. They call it safe ride or something like that now but you can still walk up to any bartender in the Fishkill area and ask him for Norm and they'll know what your looking for.

March 30, 2004

Not to dampen anyone's spirits but has anyone looked at the extended forcast?

Autumn & I will go-rain or shine. My wife is on duty with the First Aid Squad so if it rains I will bring the kids to my moms.

3.9k · March 30, 2004

Saturday's Weather. I have no problem with rain. Plus it's still early that will change before Saturday.

38.2k · March 30, 2004

The one thing I've learned about extended forecasts is that they are almost always wrong. I don't even look at the weather until 2-3 days ahead.

As far as Sat., if the forecast is for "Showers", I'm in. If it calls for "Rain, heavy at times with local flooding", I may reconsider.

March 30, 2004

hope everyone has fun, i cant go b/c the devil is making me work.

March 30, 2004

hope everyone has fun, i cant go b/c the devil is making me work.

what a slavedriver satan is...

March 31, 2004

OK, I know what day, (Saturday 3rd) and I know what time 8:30am

but i dont know where we are meeting and which caches we are planning to do

Channel 2, got it

38.2k · March 31, 2004

OK, I know what day, (Saturday 3rd) and I know what time 8:30am
but i dont know where we are meeting and which caches we are planning to do

Stay tuned

March 31, 2004

we may have to cancel. the slavedrivers are cracking their whips at us. :lol:

~melissa

3.9k · March 31, 2004

we may have to cancel. the slavedrivers are cracking their whips at us.

~melissa

Your life is your own. Stop dancin for the man.

March 31, 2004

Yeah - screw the man!

Oh crap, I am the man now!

38.2k · April 1, 2004

I'm going to plot something out tomorrow. I have a route in mind and a meeting place, but I have to check with one of the locals (Jonboy, Ttepee) to make sure the meeting place has enough parking for everybody.

April 1, 2004

There is plenty of parking at the Taurus Mt trailhead, opposite Little Stony Point. This is down Rt 9D from the center of Cold Spring, just after coming down a long hill, where you see a bridge over the railway tracks. The trailhead for the Brook Trail between Breakneck and Taurus is further north up 9D and is very small, with only room for two cars. It is hard to spot. The trailhead for Breakneck is just after the tunnel on 9D, with room for 4 cars on the left, with most cars parking on the right side of the road. On a busy weekend, it is not unusual to have cars parked two hundred yards down the road.

Those on the east side of the Hudson, coming up from the south, may want to take the Taconic State Parkway as far as Rt 301, then take Rt 301 east ten miles into Cold Spring. As you come down the long hill into town (watch out for speed traps), turn right (north) up route 9D.

Those coming up the west side of the river should take the Palisades Parkway as far as the Bear Mt. Bridge. Once over the bridge turn left (north) up route 9D, passing through Garrison before reaching Cold Spring. Watch your speed through town, they love to give out tickets.

38.2k · April 1, 2004

Jonboy, That's exactly where I was thinking of parking. Then hitting the cache by the quarry, then taking the Undercliff trail to Breakneck Ridge...grabbing the 3-4 caches along the way there, then looping back on the Notch and Washburn trails going over Mt Taurus while knocking off 2-3 caches along that route. Sound reasonable?

Just eyeballing the map, without really measuring, it looks like about 7 miles RT. Sound about right?

Edited April 1, 2004 by briansnat

April 1, 2004

Well it is possible, the distance is only about seven miles, but the elevation gain would be about 3,000 feet. I suspect that there may be those that have only one big climb in them, some will probably be able to go over Taurus and up Breakneck, but how many will come back down Breakneck and climb back up Taurus again? The thing you have to ask yourself is where do you want to go? Realistically, most people can either climb Breakneck or Taurus, not both. Breakneck is more spectacular, but also has more exposure, and only one cache on top "Detritus the Troll", with my "Where's the Trail?" on the flank. Taurus is just as much elevation gain, but won't freak people out as much. By the way, "The Funnel" has dangerous rock fall, I was almost hit and so was Walking Ed, we joked about it but one of those falling pebbles could kill someone, anyone want to carry a hard hat? "Mt Taurus" is just below the top, but "Bull Hill Junction" is 500 feet down the north side. You could come down the blue Three Notch Trail, but it is just a rocky grunt with no views. Okay, so you go up Taurus and bag "Mt Taurus", then head back down to the yellow Undercliff Tail and follow it out to "Gates of the Hudson", then on down the Undercliff to the valley. Here you have a reality check and decide whos going up for "Wheres the Trail" and "Detritus the Troll" with some no doubt happy to sweep up the valley caches on the way back to the cars via the blue Cornish Trail. Those that go up for the two caches on Breakneck should come back down the Undercliff and go out the same way, you certainly do not want to go down Breakneck. In the valley you have "The Old Cornish Farm" and "The Cornish House Mystery" and also Ttepees "JR's Point" back at the parking area, which is not far and a lot of fun. I think anything more than this will turn it into a deathmarch, with no energy left for post hike celebrations.

April 1, 2004

Okay, so you go up Taurus and bag "Mt Taurus", then head back down to the yellow Undercliff Tail and follow it out to "Gates of the Hudson", then on down the Undercliff to the valley. Here you have a reality check and decide whos going up for "Wheres the Trail" and "Detritus the Troll" with some no doubt happy to sweep up the valley caches on the way back to the cars via the blue Cornish Trail.

You trying to scare me? Seriously though. I didn't know this was such an intense hike. Maybe I should try it later in the season. I don't know if I'm in shape for it yet.

3.9k · April 1, 2004

Yikes! Deathmarch?! I'd say I'm one of those with one big climb in them especially this early in the season. I don't know the area so I'll leave it up to you guys as to which route we take, but Jonboy's suggestion sounds good to me.

38.2k · April 1, 2004

Thanks Jonboy. Maybe we'll go over Mt Taurus first. There are more caches there. Then we can decide whether or not to continue on to Breakneck...or whomever is up for it can go there and the others can loop back on the Underhill. That's doing my original plan in reverse. This way people will be know if they have enough gas in the tank to tackle Breakneck.

Edited April 1, 2004 by briansnat

April 1, 2004

Thanks Jonboy. Maybe we'll go over Mt Taurus first.

That sounds good to me.

38.2k · April 1, 2004

OK, I mapped this out on my lunch hour. Here is what I suggest...

Starting at the parking lot (I will provide coordinates tomorrow) on Route 9 by Little Stony Point. We can meet up and bag GC378G, which is a short distance away. Then we hop on the white blazed Washburn Trail and start climbing. We detour to the quarry to bag GCB207, then back to the Undercliff Trail (yellow blazes) where we can get GCA2DF. From there we double back to the Washburn Trail, climb over Mt Taurus (or Bull Hill depending on your map). Here we can snag GC9E6B and GCH1CF. We then turn east on the Notch Trail (Blue blazes) where we can snag GCA505. Here we have to decide whether or not we're going after the cache on Breakneck Ridge (GC747C). If not, then we turn south on Cornish Trail (looks like red and blue blazes) and knock off GCA2E1 and GC9F70.

Looks to be about a 5 mile loop wih a stiff climb in the beginning, but it levels off and the last 2/3 of the hike is downhill, or relatively flat...unless we go for the cache on Breaneck.

April 1, 2004

Sounds good to me.

Thanks,

Batonka

EDIT: took out asking for parking co-ords

Edited April 1, 2004 by Batonka

2.8k · April 1, 2004

I'm in I think (minus the kids - can't do it again to my daughter after last weeks Brian's Hikers Series I dragged her on).

I need to see what, if anything we have planned for Saturday. Sounds like a blast though. Even the hiking before the beer and wings sounds like it could be fun. :bad:

I'll follow the thread!

David

38.2k · April 1, 2004

Parking is very close to GC378F. I won't have the exact cordinates, but I can proably get us close using the Topo software. Also see Jonboy's directions for the Mt Taurus parking in one of the posts above.

3.9k · April 1, 2004

Sounds like a perfect plan Brian. I'm stoked.

April 1, 2004

man, i am so disappointed we are going to miss this. on the other hand, joe may be thankful. seems he's not as into the physical exertion required for a deathmarch, i mean hike like this.

well, there's always next time. hopefully we'll get to bag some caches while in niagara falls this weekend. the Bruce trail is supposed to have some nice hiking and scenic heights along the way.

~melissa

38.2k · April 2, 2004

OK here's the plan, unless someone objects, or tells me its really dumb (and comes up with a better one).

Meeting time - 8:30

Parking coordinates (approximate from Topo!) - N41.25.582, W73.57.955

Hike Length (approximate on trail and not including bushwacking to caches) - 4.37 miles

Number of caches available - 7-10

FRS Channel - 2 (I'll have mine along if I can find it).

For directions to Mt Taurus parking, see Jonboy's post.

Here is a map of the proposed route. The red lines are established trails (I'll have larger copies with me). The first mile is going to be a doozy, but after that it gets better. I ran this through some hiking software and figuring the trail type, length and elevation gain (1,489 ft total), it estimated the hike at 3 hours. I've found that program to be fairly accurate. Of course we have to add a lot more for cache hunting, lunch and checking out the views. And finally, we'll also need directions to get to the wings and brews afterwards. See ya there!

Edited April 2, 2004 by briansnat

April 2, 2004

The plan looks good. Where would you park, and in what order would you propose to do the caches.

Are we going to deadhead cars or do a loop?

38.2k · April 2, 2004

Its a loop beginning and ending at Little Stony Point, Check the arrows for the route...I know they are a little hard to see, but it gives you a good idea of the order we'll hit the caches.

38.2k · April 2, 2004

Just to make it a bit clearer, I outlined the proposed route in yellow. The letters on the trails are the blaze colors.

Edited April 2, 2004 by briansnat

3.9k · April 2, 2004

That looks like a piece of cake. Seriously thanks a bunch for all the leg work on this Brian.

Here are the caches, I think in correct order...

1.JR's Point?

2.The Funnel

3.Gates of the Hudson

4.Mt. Taurus

5.Bull Hill Junction

6.The Old Cornish Farm

7.The Cornish House Mystery

Breakneck caches...

8. Where's the Trail?

9.Detritus the troll @ Breakneck Ridge

Looks like we can grab this one from Fishkill Rd...

10. Split Rock Cache

Edited April 2, 2004 by JMBella

38.2k · April 2, 2004

That looks like a piece of cake. Seriously thanks a bunch for all the leg work on this Brian.

Here are the caches, I think in correct order...

1.JR's Point?

2.The Funnel

3.Gates of the Hudson

4.Mt. Taurus

5.Bull Hill Junction

6.The Old Cornish Farm

7.The Cornish House Mystery

Breakneck caches...

8. Where's the Trail?

9.Detritus the troll @ Breakneck Ridge

That looks like it. Thank Jonboy and Tteepe their input. I just compiled their ideas. The legwork comes Saturday. Shouldn't be too bad after the first mile and a half.

3.9k · April 2, 2004

Thank you Jonboy and Tteepe.

2.8k · April 2, 2004

I'm psyched! Got the word that I have no "kid activities" so I'm all up for this.

If anyone wants to car pool (I'll drive) and you're in the Bergen County area, let me know and maybe I can swing by or meet up with you. You'll have to be willing to put down some suds afterwards so if you need to get home, it probably isn't good to car pool.

For lunch, I bet Brian wouldn't mind carrying a grill and charcoal up to the top. I'll bring burgers and dogs ;-)

Now to figure out how long it takes to get there - don't want to be late and have to jog to catch up.

David

6.4k · April 2, 2004

The latest weather report calls for severe icestorms this weekend. Perhaps you better pospone it until next weekend? (when I might be able to go?)

Edited April 2, 2004 by Mopar

6.4k · April 2, 2004

For lunch, I bet Brian wouldn't mind carrying a grill and charcoal up to the top. I'll bring burgers and dogs ;-)

Well, I've done some decent hiking with both Brian and Planet, so I would expect each of them will be packing about 10lbs of sandwiches, snacks, etc.

The only difference is, Planet will share hers, Brian will bite your hand off if you even look at his backpack with hunger in your eyes!

2.8k · April 2, 2004

In case anyone wants it, I created a GPX file out of GSAK with the 10 caches that were listed in the post above. You should be able to access it by going to http://www.levinecentral.com/video/040403.zip and saving the zip. It contains 1 GPX file with the 10 caches (as of yesterday afternoon).

David

38.2k · April 2, 2004

The only difference is, Planet will share hers, Brian will bite your hand off if you even look at his backpack with hunger in your eyes!

I'll share anything. GPS, tents, hiking poles, rain wear, underwear, toothbrush...but don't go near my food!

3k · April 2, 2004

The loop looks good! I've already nabbed 4 of the 10 caches so I know what I'm in for on this climb. And you guys don't worry, if I can do it you can too. And I've been up more thn once, so if I can do it twice, you can at least do it once! The mann is coming with me too. I think we ought to add a little time for wet trails. We'll have to watch our footing. Don't forget your hiking staff! Good boots, too.

Hudson Highlands Jaunt

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