George Steffanos on Spoutible

1/8

August 8, 1983: I had hiked the preceding four miles without stopping, in one-and-a-half hours.
#backpacking #hiking #outdoors #landscapephotography #NewYork #nature #forest #mountains #adventure #trails #appalachiantrail

From a gray rock outcrop hundreds of feet above the river, we are looking out over the treetops down at the wide gray green river far below. Many of the leaves on the treetops just below us are prematurely turning bright yellow from the drought. A long single-span suspension bridge spans the river below. Just to our right from the bridge is the outlet of a broad stream emptying into the Hudson. A railroad that runs along the opposite bank crosses that outlet on a low iron bridge. The edge of a long single span arch bridge where a road crosses that inlet farther away from the river is just visible on our right. The bridge connects to a parkway on the other side of the river. The parkway then curves gracefully to our left and disappears into the valley between two wooded mountainsides, the bottom several hundred feet of which are visible in this photo.

08:54 AM - Feb 04, 2024

George Steffanos

@GSteffanos

2/8

I now possessed a half-hour cushion for my attempt to reach the monastery. I stumbled to the top of the ridge, where the Appalachian Trail came out onto an old dirt road. Now, I faced a dilemma: the views from a cliff called Anthony’s Nose were reputed to be spectacular,

08:54 AM - Feb 04, 2024

George Steffanos

@GSteffanos

3/8

but they were a one-mile round trip off the Appalachian Trail. If I went for it, I would blow the entire cushion I had just worked so hard to acquire. Did I really want to push myself to the limit just as I was finally starting to find my good hiking pace again?

08:54 AM - Feb 04, 2024

George Steffanos

@GSteffanos

4/8

I dropped my pack, grabbed my camera, and headed down the road towards Anthony’s Nose. I am glad I did not miss those vistas. It was one of the best panoramas since Shenandoah. Below me was the impressive Bear Mountain Bridge I had just crossed.

08:54 AM - Feb 04, 2024

George Steffanos

@GSteffanos

5/8

The Hudson River below was less than a hundred feet above sea level and the bluffs I was on soared to around nine hundred, overlooking a broad sweep of the Hudson River Valley's Hudson Highlands region. Across the river,

From a rock outcrop hundreds of feet above the river, we are looking out over the treetops down at the wide gray green river far below. A railroad runs along the opposite bank, except for a small section where some buildings with a grassy lawn and a small pier own the waterfront. Beyond, the wooded slopes of the Hudson Highlands rise above the river. In the lower slopes near the river a small village is visible, with some houses, lawns and roads peaking through the trees.

08:54 AM - Feb 04, 2024

George Steffanos

@GSteffanos

6/8

Bear Mountain hulked over the western bank of the Hudson, rising another four hundred feet above me. The mountain was flanked by two large, quiet coves, the drowned outlets of a pair of large brooks that swept around the north and south flanks of the mountain and emptied into the Hudson.

From a rock outcrop hundreds of feet above the river, we are looking out over the treetops down at the wide gray green river far below. A long single-span suspension bridge spans the river below. Just to our right from the bridge is the outlet of a broad stream emptying into the Hudson. A railroad that runs along the opposite bank crosses that outlet on a low iron bridge. A long single span arch bridge carrying a parkway crosses that inlet just a bit farther inland from the river.

08:54 AM - Feb 04, 2024

George Steffanos

@GSteffanos

7/8

Between those coves on the lower slopes of Bear Mountain was anything but quiet on this fine summer afternoon. Those slopes accommodated the Bear Mountain Inn plus Hessian Lake, the zoo, the pool and all those masses of humanity through which I had just walked,