2017-12-16 - Beacon to Breakneck Ridge Bypass
The sun rose to meet my two friends and I on our drive to Beacon. After parking our car and waiting for Vivekan to put on all his new untested gear, we started heading uphill in perfect daylight. It was a bit cold and there were plenty of snow. I regretted my decision of my shoe choice and thought it was wise that my friends brought microspikes. Regardless, we made our way up the steel stairs and snowy slopes up to the fire tower at the highest point of our hike.
The wind was brutal up here and we had some trouble finding the actual trail on all the virgin snow with no tracks to follow. The trail markings were white and any marks on the ground were invisible behind the snow. I took the lead and brought us around the tower and soon down some dangerous cliffs. As my friends looked around for the trail above the cliff, not believing that I was on it, I slowly disappeared from their view. I, too, was not sure this was the trail. It was awfully steep and rugged but it was the right location based on GPS and it was the best choice from what I could see. We were more surprised than relieved when we found an actual trail marker.
After the steep descent, it was a lot more fun and what we expected. Nothing can prepare you for the joy of crunching through fresh snow untouched by any man or animal. Vivekan even took off on a short run to test out his gear. Based on the time, we decided to head up to the Breakneck Bypass trail intersection and turn around from there. To our surprise, we did eventually meet several hikers heading the opposite direction. Their tracks aided us as ours did theirs.
After the steep descent, it was a lot more fun and what we expected. Nothing can prepare you for the joy of crunching through fresh snow untouched by any man or animal. Vivekan even took off on a short run to test out his gear. Based on the time, we decided to head up to the Breakneck Bypass trail intersection and turn around from there. To our surprise, we did eventually meet several hikers heading the opposite direction. Their tracks aided us as ours did theirs.
We reached a peak a quarter mile from the intersection and decided to turn back from there with plenty of time to get back to the car before dark. It had great views of another portion of the Hudson River from where we started and formed a good turnaround point.
We took a easier way back, avoiding that dangerous scramble up the cliffside and not going as high as the fire tower. From there, we even ran some of the way back down. That's how I accidentally got into ultrarunning. First you go on long hikes. Then you run the downhills. Soon you run some of the flats too and sign up for a race you plan to hike but end up running on and boom, you're an ultrarunner!
We ended up with about 11 miles total which was less than planned but a great day due to the conditions we found.