Time: 6:20 a.m.
Place: Near Nyack, N.J.
I just clicked on Mile 22, I'm in Huck Mounain State Park, right on the western shore of the Hudson River.Believe it or not, I'm on a finely packed dirt trail that I'm going to follow for about 2 miles. I'm about 3 miles north of the village of Nyack in Rockland County.
This is a really fascinating stretch of the Hudson. Pretty much to my left are these severe, vertical Palisades Mountains. Kind of a sheer face wall right to my left.
When I worked for the Journal-News here, I covered the death of a kid who fell off one of these walls. It's very dramatic to see the cliffs immediately to the left and the Hudson River on the right.
The weather is absolutely stunning, probably mid-60s at this point. The river is extremely calm. Very little wind.
You might be hearing a little crunching, which is actually my tires going through the dirt path here. The dirt is so packed I'm able to negotiate it with my thin road tires. There's a number of bicycles coming opposite to me biking through here.
In the village of Haverstraw, I might see a friend of mine, Carrie, at around 7:15, so that will be the first official visit along the way.
Editor's note: A little Hudson Valley trivia for you -- Henry Hudson, an Englishman employed by the Dutch, reached New York Bay and sailed up the river now bearing his name in 1609, the same year that northern New York was explored and claimed for France by Samuel de Champlain.
Posted by Jeff at June 21, 2005 06:20 AM | TrackBack