Crow's Nest Mountain

[beanbag]

I got out for a hike in the near record breaking warmth yesterday with Son of Beanbag, my buddy Crafter and of course the always faithful Skippy. We hiked Crow's Nest Mountain, which is located on the west side of the Hudson River just south of Storm King Mt., and just north of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

We did this one as an upside down hike, parking near the top elevation, walking down to the river, then back up again.

Here are some trail pics.

On the way down:

Son of Beanbag

Making our way back up:

The first of many great views:

Mt. Taurus on the right, Breakneck Ridge on the left and Beacon Mt. between them in the back

Breakneck

Quarry on right of Mt. Taurus

Looking north with Storm King on the west side and Breakneck on the east

More uphill:

And more open views:

Taurus

Breakneck

Town of Cold Spring

We took a lunch break and saw a freight train and some cargo vessels:

In this pic you can see the ruins of Bannerman's Castle

In this pic you can see the Newburgh-Beacon bridge in the background

Up and over the top, then we came upon a recovering forest fire area:

The low winter sun cast quite a long shadow:

Skippy taking in the views

That's all folks (not really, there's a ton more including some knife and skills content, but I'm guessing you've seen enough), thanks for looking.

BEANBAG

BTW-

If your interested in putting this whole lower Hudson Valley area into perspective, here are links to my other trip reports including hikes up most of the mountains you're looking at in this post:

Breakneck Ridge:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/785131-Breakneck-Ridge

Mt. Taurus:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/888908-A-Hike-w-Skippy-up-Mt-Taurus

Storm King:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/764716-Signs-signs-everywhere-there-s-signs

 

[fmajor007]

Gotta love the MSR Pocket Rocket for keeping it light!!! Looks like a *great* day w/ Son of Bean - yer a good Dad for taking him out.

 

[WILLIAM.M]

Great Photos

Thanks for posting

 

[TheGame]

Always nice to see the young ones enjoying the outdoors. There are a lot of people my age that haven't seen the outdoors at all, either. Really a shame.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[beanbag]

Gotta love the MSR Pocket Rocket for keeping it light!!! Looks like a *great* day w/ Son of Bean - yer a good Dad for taking him out.

Yup, the Pocket Rocket is great. Personally I go for sandwiches on a day hike but my son loves his beef Stroganoff!

Great Photos

Thanks for posting

Thanks, and your welcome. I wish they weren't so washed out looking. I've got to work on that because those pics don't do justice to the views.

Always nice to see the young ones enjoying the outdoors. There are a lot of people my age that haven't seen the outdoors at all, either. Really a shame.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

I'm lucky to have a son who really likes getting out. :thumbup:

 

[scruffuk]

Great snaps, I can almost smell how crisp and clean that air is!

Love the long shadow picture. Nicely done.

Thank you.

 

[mqqn]

Hi beanbag -

Great pictures and hike!

I like to chase trains - that was a really nice spot to view from.

Looks like you guys had a great time! thanks for the post.

best

mqqn

 

[bladefixation2]

Thanks for sharing the photos.

I think some of them have the washed out look that you refer to because of the haze in the atmosphere and the quality of the light which isn't really your fault!

You could try setting your camera to 'vivid' to enhance the colours, which may help a little. If you are using a camera that can take external filters such as an SLR you could try a UV filter to reduce the haze a little and a polarising filter can bring out the colours more.

Hope that helps.

 

[grunt soldier]

very nice pictures. thanks for sharing

 

[beanbag]

Great snaps, I can almost smell how crisp and clean that air is!
Love the long shadow picture. Nicely done.
Thank you.

It was a super clear day for sure, but man, it was unseasonably warm and we were sweating our arses off. If you were anywhere in the vicinity of our group, the air was not too crisp and clean, but rather stinky.

Hi beanbag -
Great pictures and hike!
I like to chase trains - that was a really nice spot to view from.
Looks like you guys had a great time! thanks for the post.
best
mqqn

Train spotting is cool, and this area is great for it. Also, the sound of them rumbling and the whistle blasts sound really cool echoing through the valley. You can hear them from way off in the distance. Here are some other train shots from past hikes in the area:

From Breakneck, a freight train rumbling past the base of Storm King.

Metro North Hudson line just north of Cold Spring

About seven miles south of Crow's Nest at Bear Mountain Bridge

Looking south from Bear Mt.

Thanks for sharing the photos.
I think some of them have the washed out look that you refer to because of the haze in the atmosphere and the quality of the light which isn't really your fault!
You could try setting your camera to 'vivid' to enhance the colours, which may help a little. If you are using a camera that can take external filters such as an SLR you could try a UV filter to reduce the haze a little and a polarising filter can bring out the colours more.
Hope that helps.

Thanks for the help, I'll try and figure that out.

very nice pictures. thanks for sharing

You're very welcome.

 

[mqqn]

Hi beanbag -

Awesome!

Your initial shot made me remember this summer day when I captured a similar shot from an overlook above Kamloops BC while I was on a motorcycle tour to Portland (the long way lol).

I have a lot of train pictures, but I will refrain from hijacking your thread further - thanks for the additional shots!

best

mqqn

 

[Joezilla]

wow, seeing all that engineering from high up would be neat. Cool pictures.

 

[JV3]

gotta love harriman - a lot of steep parts. when i'm not mtb'ng i consider hiking there count as training too.

 

[beanbag]

gotta love harriman -

Yup, gotta love it, but this ain't Harriman. Crow's Nest is in Storm King State Park- about 7 miles north of Harriman on the north side of West Point. It's even steeper up there.

 

[JV3]

Yup, gotta love it, but this ain't Harriman. Crow's Nest is in Storm King State Park- about 7 miles north of Harriman on the north side of West Point. It's even steeper up there.

ah. isn't there an outdoor sculpture museum thingy near storm king? or that's where they film those car commercials with windy roads (a few of my motorcycle friends ride up somewhere there)...one of them is right, my memory is cloudy

 

[wintermute]

Cool pics! I've been exploring that area in recent years. My next hike around there will (hopefully) be up Popolopen Torne. Ever been there? And one day...Breakneck.

 

[beanbag]

ah. isn't there an outdoor sculpture museum thingy near storm king? or that's where they film those car commercials with windy roads (a few of my motorcycle friends ride up somewhere there)...one of them is right, my memory is cloudy

You're right on both counts- There is an extensive outdoor sculpture museum thingy that you can drive to somewhere near Storm King, but the road you're thinking of is the Bear Mountain Bridge Rd. on the east side of the river. Here are two pics from inside my car. I've biked it a few times too.

 

[beanbag]

Cool pics! I've been exploring that area in recent years. My next hike around there will (hopefully) be up Popolopen Torne. Ever been there? And one day...Breakneck.

No, I'm surprised I've never heard of it, but I just looked it up and it's next on the hit parade.

Thanks mucho Wintermute!!

 

[wintermute]

Da Nada