A Little About me and Breakneck Ridge

So I was out in the middle of the Hudson Valley Highlands... 

 this weekend and thought,  "I should write about this..."

First, a little about me, my name is Cat, and I'm a fairly recent (June 2012) transplant to Brooklyn, NY. When I first moved to the city, I was constantly out and about exploring/wandering aimlessly. After a few months at my apparently typical New York job where I work 10 hours a day (and am often on call when I'm not physically there), I began to over appreciate my time on the couch in front of the television. Over the past few months I've slowly been putting my adventure shoes back on.

So these will be my ramblings. IN AN EFFORT TO BE MORE EXCITING I will document my many exciting (and not so exciting) adventures in and around the city. So here we go:

First Up: Breakneck Ridge & Mt Taurus Hike

Cost: $26 round trip Metro North Ticket to Breakneck Ridge

This trail/loop is outstanding for many reasons, the first and most important for city dwellers without vehicles is the convenience to public transportation. A quick 1-hour train ride on the Metro North Hudson line train will literally drop you off at the trail head. From there you have a 1.5-mile "hike" literally straight up the mountain. I use parenthesis around hike for one reason... it's really more of a climb. "Rock scrambling" is how it is described in the hike books but that's an understatement. There were parts where I was wishing I had my climbing harness and a top rope attached. Now if you're someone like me who loves a good challenge, this hike is PERFECT! You get a serious workout, some serious views, and I guarantee you'll be headed to your local climbing gym afterwards.

Another perk about starting off with this climb is that once you summit you'll have tons of additional (and more bearable) trail options. So far I've completed two loops. The first is a 3-miler up Breakneck Ridge and looping North on the Breakneck Bypass and back around to the Breakneck Ridge train station. The second was a 7-miler, looping south onto the Notch trail (through the Cornish estate ruins), then the Washburn trail over the summit of Mt Taurus and back down into Cold Spring.

Overall, an absolutely fantastic day hike and a great way to get out of the city and into some fresh air.

"Scrambling"

The view of West Point from the top of Mt. Taurus