This morning we rode the current up to Pollepel Island. We could have actually made more distance, since I had the rpms set to turn 7.0 most of the day, and in some places we were making 9.0 kts.
It is hard for me to imagine that just a little ways up the Hudson from New York City, you are in the woods! The 500' cliffs are evident most quickly on the Jersey shore, but the further up the Hudson you go, you realize you are in the middle of rocky, tree forested hills on both sides.
In the transition zone, between metropolitan and rural, across from the upper end of Manhattan, the Palisades Park Greenway Trail runs along the Hudson for miles. We watched walkers and joggers along a park area on the east side of the river as well.
At Peekskill and Jones Point, however, the draw of the Hudson had hooked me! If you don't look at a chart, it would be hard to tell between which steep hills the river passed between. The Bear Mountain bridge is where the Appalachian Trail crosses the river, on its way from Georgia to Maine.
Just before the Bear Mountain Bridge, to the south of the bridge, on the western bank, about a third of the way up, is this copper stag deer head. How cool is that!
We passed the United States Military Academy aka West Point along the, er, western point. I'm going to have to check my history to see how old some of these buildings are, but, they are dramatic! This Army facility looks formidable to any Naval craft headed up the Hudson.
The entire area is gorgeous. Constitution Island, Foundry Cove, Cold Spring, Storm King, and Breakneck Ridge... to name a few. The river is 100' deep through there.
We anchored for the evening in a shallower spot, a inside channel accessible only from the southern entrance (except by small boat), behind Pollepel Island.
On the 6.5 acre island are the ruins of an old Scottish Castle, built by Frank Bannerman VI, and locally known as Bannerman's Castle. The man made his fortune by buying and selling army/navy surplus, and became known as the "Father of the Army/Navy Store." He bought the island in 1900 as he needed a spot to store the volatile black powder and munitions he'd bought at government auction. He spent years building his castle.
Many of the old military relics have gone to the Smithsonian, the island was sold to the State of New York in 1967, who ran tours there for a year before a massive fire nearly destroyed the buildings. Ever since, the island has pretty much been closed, though there is a group now trying to fund its restoration.
I love amazing little places the world seems to have forgotten about.
Our anchorage seems idyllic, except for two things. First, there are commuter trains running along either shore, with double tracks on the east side. The trains sound their horns as they approach the train tunnel. The first two dozen trains seemed novel. Not so much after that. They do slack off during the night.
Secondly, there is so much light pollution that I really miss seeing the starry sky I'm used to in the Keys. Though it seems you are in the woods, there is enough of a glow to the sky that it makes a difference. I understand now why so many of the visitors to the Keys comment on how many stars there are. The number of stars don't change, of course, just our perspective.
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