Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before me, The long, brown path before me leading to wherever I choose. ~Walt Witman, “Song of the Open Road”
April 14, 2024
Ascent: 764’
Descent: 1093’
Weather: beautiful — low 60’s and sunny
Sightings: lots of zoo animals
High points: crossing the Hudson River
After another amazing breakfast at the Lost & Found Hostel, Peter drove us to the Palisades Parkway. We hiked up West Mountain (1120’) and got a great view of Bear Mtn, which we expected to spend the afternoon ascending and descending.
The view of the Hudson River was impressive!
We climbed down to Seven Lakes Dr., where we bumped into some hikers who told us that all of the trails in Bear Mountain State Park, including the AT, are closed due to damage from a storm in 2023. We sadly checked online and realized that they were correct, so we had to walk another multi-mile road detour.
Apparently Seven Lakes Drive is where all the muscle cars and souped-up motorcycles congregate — I have never seen such an expensive collection of souped-up vehicles in my life! They were all speeding around the twisty curvy road, somehow sharing it with a lot of bicyclists. The number and speed of the cars and motorcycles made for an unnerving walk.
Still on the road detour, we eventually arrived at Bear Mtn Park — which was full of people and cars and parking lots.
Trying to rejoin the actual, Appalachian Trail took a little bit of navigating. We felt rather odd walking with our backpacks when most people were pushing strollers!
At this point, the trail actually goes through the Trailside Zoo! So we strolled past the amphibian house and saw a bobcat and a porcupine and many other animals.
By far the most exciting exhibit was the bears — for two very different reasons. First of all, at 123’ above sea level, the bear exhibit is the lowest point on the entire Appalachian Trail. Secondly, after hiking about 1800 miles of the Appalachian Trail, I have now seen my first bear on the AT (though he was snoozing in his cage)!
I still can’t believe that I walked through a zoo while on the Appalachian Trail!
At the far side of the zoo, we emerged at the west end of the Bear Mountain Bridge! We are spending the night at a hotel in Fort Montgomery, which is on the west side of the Hudson, but we decided to walk across to the other side and back.
The Bear Mountain Bridge is a seriously impressive piece of engineering. It was started in the 1920s and opened in the 1940s.
The view down the Hudson from the middle of the bridge was beautiful.
This adorable building is where I will start my hike tomorrow.
We then walked back across the bridge and down route 9 to the village of Fort Montgomery, where our hotel is. The traffic was horrible, and the sheer noise level of the cars was mind-numbing.
Today I walked 9 miles, almost all of which was on busy roads, to cover about 6 miles of actual Appalachian Trail miles. The incessant road detours in New York are annoying. Hopefully tomorrow I can resume my hike in the woods!
So now, other than that pesky 3.7 miles that I missed in southern New York, I have hiked the entire Appalachian Trail from Spring Mountain to the east side of the Hudson River!
Today was a great day for a walk, even if it wasn’t in the woods!
OMG! I thought the bear was real- lol, I mean in the wild- when I first read your post!
We stayed in a cabin at Bear Mountain Inn and I had the best ever pumpkin beer. Did you get a view of West Point? It’s crazy to be so close to NYC isn’t it? There was a severe water shortage when we did that section but that hasn’t been your problem this time.