Storm King Mt hike...

[Jay H]

Well, maybe this is part of the recovery process but I went out on a half day hike on a beautiful sunday to a park in Orange County NY (south of Newburgh, exit 17 on the NYS Thruway) called Storm King Mt. It is on the hudson and opposite Breakneck Ridge and Mt Taurus. I mention recovery process because I lost my oldest sister to advanced stages of breast Cancer (which spread to her bones and liver). She was 43 and leaves behind 2 wonderful nephews. I have had a hard time dealing with it, knowing they will grow up without their mother and such a short life. Knowing that she was in pain for the last year and a half or so is just minor comfort. But sunday, which was a day after the funeral, I was not going to sit at home and sulk all day, nor did I feel like driving X hours to the catskills or further so I thought of going to Storm King mt.. Nice 3.1 mile hike with a lot of nice views, it was a beautiful day, at least on the outside.

Took about an hour to get there, cutting through the land owned by West Point military academy and making the trailhead in the morning, I left on a very leisurely pace. Perhaps the hike was more a way to heal myself than for "views from the summit" but it was a way I guess for me to have some kind of closure. The past 2 years have been tough, not just me, my father and mother have had medical issues for themselves, they are, thankfully recovered and doing fine now, but the frailty of life, just goes to show that we should live our lives every day to the fullest. Bike to work, bike to China, kayak the east coast, learn to fly, hike the PCT, get a PhD, whatever...

The 3.1 mile loop hike I did on the orange and Stillman trail out and then back via the Storm King By Pass took me about 3.5 hours. Like I said, a very leisurely pace, I brought a lunch and ate it on a nice viewpoint of the Hudson river. I brought a compass cause I didn't have a trail map and got a route description from an online website (which was fairly accurate!).

I guess as an afterthought, here are some pictures I took while at the viewpoints:

http://community.webshots.com/album/553152778RgUVCN

A nice hike, I guess perhaps more for me than you, but knowing a lot of you over the years, I thought I'd share.

Jay

 

[Tom Rankin]

Thanks for sharing...

 

[TMax]

My sympathies Jay. It's amazing how "healing" nature can be for us, when we allow it to be. Keep taking care of yourself.

 

[Mark Schaefer]

My sympathy for your loss. Hiking does seem to provide relief. Also seems like a good location as Storm King has also been recovering in recent years.

 

[Tuco]

Jay, my sincere condolences to you and your family. Getting out and hiking sounds like a good way to start the process of coping and dealing with a painful loss.

 

[hikethe115]

Hi Jay, I'm very sorry to hear about your sister. It certainly makes you relish every moment. I totally understand the need for the hike to help in dealing with this kind of situation. Now you have me interested in getting over to Storm King. I was on Taurus Mountain after work yesterday looking over at Storm King wondering if there was a trail up there.

 

[MattC]

Once again my condolences Jay. I'm glad you were able to get out for a little while Sunday.

The Storm King trail system is on one of the NYNJTC Hudson Highlands west maps, along w/ Black Rock Forest. I'll have to get down there one of these days.

Matt

 

[Jay H]

Thanks Dawn... I am keeping busy building my kayak rack for my house (so my kayak isn't sitting in my kitchen as you might have seen when you were over!). Today, after work, I may be going on a bike ride with co-workers or I might go on a solo evening hike. Just trying to keep busy! My kayak carrier is coming out well, it'll be really nice when it's done. Wood is cut, last night I nailed the pieces together. Today I will mount the casters (for me to roll my kayak into it) and then I have to find some plywood so I can enclose it all (weatherproof and sun/UV protection).


As far as Storm King, it is on the NYNJTC 'West Hudson maps' just as Black Rock, Breakneck, Fahnestock is on the "East Hudson maps". However, I don't have the west hudson ones, so I downloaded the following link after a google search:

http://gorp.away.com/gorp/publishers/avalon/nyc-takeahike-3.html

The road directions are accurate, 3.2 miles on Rt 9W north is the second trailhead parking (simply a pull off type parking, NO DEC sign or anything although you may see the grey Storm King By-Pass sign and/or the blue Freedom Road sign). and that is where I started. There is a small dirt parking area before the 3.2 mile one, I think the blue trail starts there but like I said, I don't have a map. The trail description on my link is accurate too, orange blazes to start til you hit the yellow Stillman trail. The only thing I did was miss the blue blaze turnoff to get back to the orange trail as the trail description is a "lollipop" You hike out and then do a loop and then hike back on the same trail. I missed the right turn from the white trail to the blue so I got out my compass and found the white trail going west, right to 9W and to the trailhead. Turns out the white is the Storm King by-pass as it bypasses Butter Hill and avoids the elevation.

FYI: the parking cannot be accessed from 9W south, you'd have to go further and make a u-turn unless you make an illegal one at the little barrier cutouts...(saw somebody do this while I was there).

Jay

 

[Rik]

Jay,
My sympathies to you and your family.
Rik

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Storm King loop from Rt 218

On the subject of Storm King hikes. The NYNJTC website still has a trail map excerpt from the West Hudson Trails map set

from the days when the unexploded West Point ordinance was being removed from the park, which makes it a little hard to read.

My favorite loop in the park is to start from the Stillman Spring parking area on the east side of Route 218 (Storm King Highway), the more southern of the two PAs on the above map. Take the Howell Trail (blue) to the left (south) of the spring which goes up to the Pitching Point (short side trail with great views where logs were once pitched down the slope to the Hudson River). The Howell Trail continues over the north ridge of the Crows Nest then winds down through the clove and up to Storm King Mt. On the top of the ridge turn right (east) on the Stillman Trail (yellow/orange) which is the trail from Route 9W. You will still have the best views on this trail at the eastern end of Storm King overlooking the Hudson, north views then a great south view. From the south view back track a bit to the Bypass Trail (white, turn south) which will be a short cut back to the Howell Trail (blue, turn left, south). Cross over the unmarked Clove Rd and continue to the Stillman Spring Trail (white, turn left, east). This will return you to Route 218 just north of the Stillman Spring. Round trip approximately 5.2 miles, 2000' total elevation gain in two separate climbs. Beautiful woods walks with some great views on both mountains, can be done in a half day - afternoon is best for the views. The cover of the current New York Walk Book features a late afternoon photo taken at the north view on Storm King.

The Walk Book has trail descriptions and maps in the book. The West Hudson Trails map set has more detailed maps but no trail descriptions. The Walk Book also mentions the name origin of the Bluebird Trail (on the north slopes of Storm King). It was originally an acronym BLUBRD: bear left up, bear right down, to assist hikers in following the route. In general trail junctions are not well marked in the park.

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

Jay, I'm very sorry for your loss. I hope your outdoor endeavors bring some amount of peace. I've always liked the views from Storm King and I'm glad you had a nice day out.

 

[MichaelJ]

My sympathies, Jay.

Storm King is a beautiful place to just "be" and I'm glad it was there for you that day.

BTW, the "trial" bridge on the Stillman that's posted as being out (seen in your album) isn't actually out, well, at least it wasn't when we were there in July. However, it's pretty risky and it bad shape, and if it weren't there I do not believe this spot would be safely passable. Technically it's closed but we took the chance having heard of and seen others cross it first.

Bridge

 

[Jay H]

Thanks everybody for the wishes... I am happy to have as good friends as all of you. I live close to where my parents are and have kept them close already but I will make sure I stop by more often and keep in touch.

MichaelJ: Nice pictures, I didn't go by the trail bridge, but figured that even if the bridge was out, there would most likely be a way to cross it or bushwack around it, knowing we're not talking about the hudson river!

Mark: Thanks for the map, I tried for a long time to find an online map using google and saw a trail description at NYNJTC's website but not your map! But with a compass, I figured if the website's trail description was bad, I could always just head west knowing you'd have to run into 9W sooner or later.. heading east will sink you in the hudson so I figure I was set. It seems there are a lot more trails in the park than I thought. My friend says there is a map in the NY walk book, he has done some field checking for the NJ walk book and I think he appears in the credits there.

pudgy_groundhog: Yeah, it's neat as I was able to recognize Bull Mt right away (breakneck ridge was covered til I got to the higher viewpoints). I tried to find the flag pole on Breakneck Ridge but couldn't spot it and didn't look long. Thought I might see some folks hiking up too but didn't see anybody.

Jay

 

[mtnmama]

Jay so sorry for the loss of your sister.
Just remember your memories together will last a lifetime.

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

pudgy_groundhog: Yeah, it's neat as I was able to recognize Bull Mt right away (breakneck ridge was covered til I got to the higher viewpoints). I tried to find the flag pole on Breakneck Ridge but couldn't spot it and didn't look long. Thought I might see some folks hiking up too but didn't see anybody.

I think it's neat to see hikes we do from other vantage points (i.e. seeing Bull Hill and Breakneck from Storm King). Once Steve and I had stopped on 218 (the windy road along Storm King that is visible from Breakneck/Bull Hill) at one of the pullouts to take a look at Breakneck. There were several guys there as well that we were talking to and when we pointed out Breackneck they didn't believe anybody could hike it. From that vantage point it certainly looks a lot harder than it is.

 

[imarchant]

Jay, So sorry to hear of your loss. I'm glad that you were able to find some comfort in nature and the outdoors. My thoughs and prayers are with you and your family.

 

[una_dogger]

Jay,
I am so sorry...sometimes there are no words...and nature can help to fill the void during those times.
{{{{Hugs}}}}
Sabrina

 

[audrey]

Jay, I'm very sorry. I go to the woods during bad times too, even if it's just for a quiet place to cry. When I lost my Mom, after the funeral I went for a quick walk in the local woods while Pat entertained everyone at our house. When I came out I noticed I'd left the FUNERAL sign on the car. No wonder there were no other cars in the parking lot.