Breakneck Ridge to Beacon Fire Tower - Hudson Highlands State Park
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- čas přidán 29. 08. 2024
- On one of the hottest days of the season so far, I decided to do the Breakneck Ridge to Beacon Fire Tower hike.
Anyone looking for breathtaking views from a moderately challenging hike, this may be the one for you. Featuring 9 miles of out and back hiking with just a little over 3,300' of gain, this one will for sure give your legs a workout.
I do recommend not to hike this when it is 88°f with 90% humidity, the heat was brutal on this day.
Thanks for checking the video out, enjoy!
-Joe
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I was born (1936) and raised in Beacon and first hiked and climbed the tower in the 1950's. It was still being manned by forest rangers, one of whom I met while he was on duty. George Ketchum was his name and was the longest serving ranger (1940 to 1971). He was an amiable man who invited me into the tower and explained his duties and let me use his binoculars for extended views of my beloved Hudson Valley. Not only did I hike Mt. Beacon numerous times but also had the occasion to to ride the incline railway which was still operating when I was a teenager. You brought back many happy memories of my "growing up and discovery" days.
That is a fantastic story, and I can see why it would be so memorable for you. I feel humbled I could provide you the avenue to relive that for a little while. I was going to go all the way up and then realized after getting to the third level, my other camera was just sitting at the bottom on a rock in plain view.
Did mount beacon from the trailhead of the casino trail last week and did breakneck yesterday. Looking to squeeze breakneck and the fire tower or breakneck and bull hill into one hike when I'm in better shape
Breakneck to Bull Hill would be an awesome hike, a lot of climbing, but an awesome hike!
Just noticed you put a bunch of hikes up. You must be upgrading your equipment because the footage is amazing. Thank you for all the work you put in to bring the beauty of the Hudson Valley to screen. I went hiking today around Storm King mostly to check out the area of 218 that got damaged. I had tears in my eyes. In the summer I love traveling that route.
Some is upgraded, yes. I don't have my Sony AS-300 anymore, switched to a GoPro Hero 10 in late 2021. I'm still using my Canon for some shots but have been moving away from it lately due to the weight it adds to my pack.
You were there? How bad is it? I saw pictures but haven't gotten a chance to hike over to it. From what I saw, it looked like a 40-50 foot section completely washed away. I was heartbroken when I first learned the road was damaged. Same as you, that is such a beautiful ride and one I love taking when I have the time to jump across the bridge (I'm on the East side of the Hudson).
The rock scramble was closed when I was there in June. Had to take a detour from the Breakneck station via red Breakneck bypass.
I've never hiked up Red to the bypass, I may have to do that one of these days. There is only that one small section at the beginning that they recommend you don't go down so I can probably make it to the flag pole from up there.