Storm King Mountain

In preparation for some hikes that I will be doing very soon, I signed up with Outdoorbound early this month for a day hike in upstate New York. It was a glorious October weekend with clear sunny skies so we took advantage of it. Outdoors in the fall is just gorgeous - not too hot, not too cold. Some 15 of us strangers met up in Manhattan early in the morning and was driven by Max, our guide, for about an hour into Storm King State Park, close to the US Military Academy in Westpoint. Rising above the Hudson river, Storm King Mountain stands at a decent 1,348 feet, perfect for my much needed warm up.

Unfortunately, on our way to our planned traihead, the road was blocked due to fallen rocks. Not a good sign it is but our spirits were still up. Max brought out Plan B - we took a detour and into a different route via the Esty & Hellie Stowell Trailhead which has 11.2 miles of trails. After each one of us quickly introduced ourselves (a diverse group of New Yorkers originally coming from different countries: Italy, Morocco, Yemen, Great Britain, the Philippines), we started hiking upwards. The State Park has different trails with great viewpoints that connect and turn into a loop. Max planned for us to hike a complete loop with a sidetrip to some abandoned ruins - easily a 5-hour trek.

Storm King Mountain as seen from the Esty & Hellie Stowell trailhead

kayaking on the Hudson river last year with Storm King Mountain in the background

checking the route on our new trail

painted blazes mark the trail

crossing a stream

up an incline

on huge slabs of rocks

summit view of the Hudson river, the Adirondacks and beyond

ruins of Bannerman's castle on Pollepel island

U.S. Route 9W as seen from one of the viewpoints

hawk flying high above the Hudson

ruins from the past

Happy legs

On the way up, I deliberately hiked slowly in order to take photos. I got so absorbed doing this and caught up with Susan, one fellow hiker who was also busy taking photos. Little did we know, the group has already hiked further up. Herman, another hiker in our group, was also looking for the others so the three of us followed one trail only to realize it didn't look right  - not the color of blaze that we were told to expect. We backtracked and saw a fork in the trail and decided to wait. Some stranger emerged walking opposite our direction so we asked him if  he met a group of hikers - sure enough, he did! We now followed the correct path and soon reunited with everyone.

We finally hiked into the summit and had lunch while enjoying panoramic views of the river, the Hudson Valley (which provides a lot of local produce for New Yorkers), the Catskills and the Adirondacks. After refueling and resting, we began our hike down. Off the trail lay some abandoned ruins, nothing but stone foundations of early Dutch settlements we're told. This got our guide excited, this being his first time in this very spot - now he has something to add to Outdoorbound's future hiking itinerary. As for me, I'm thrilled enough hiking some 7 miles (11 kms) and doing this not so far away from home - in a wild area that's unbelievably close to the big city.