Breakneck Ridge - Hudson Highlands Day Hike Series
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- Опубликовано: 23 авг 2024
- Breakneck Ridge - Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve
Cold Spring, NY
October 14th, 2019
TRIP STATS
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Total Mileage: 4.1mi (3.7 trail miles + the road walk)
Total Elevation Gain: Approximately 1,500'
Total Time: 4hr 21m
For my 25th summit of Breakneck Ridge I figured it was a good time to shoot the video again with the new cameras I've been using over the past 3 years. It's amazing to think I haven't been here to climb the ridge since 2016 and the last video I shot was in 2015 (when I was still using my Hero3).
I started out at 05:40 on Columbus Day to only one other car parked on the road so my plan of beating everyone to a prime parking spot worked great. This trailhead can get extremely busy on the weekends and the holidays so when you start is the deciding factor on what type of experience you will have while climbing the ridge. Metro-North also runs 12 trains on the weekends and holidays from Grand Central Station to the stop just up the road from the trailhead.
Taking the WHITE-blazed Breakneck Ridge trail you'll quickly start gaining elevation as the trail passes over the tunnel that Route 9D runs through. From here you will gain 530' of elevation in about 0.4 miles, arriving at the flag pole lookout with a fantastic view of the river and Storm King Mountain directly across from you.
The trail continues climbing from here, passing over 3 more distinct "humps", each with its own level of difficulty in ascending them. As you approach the last one, you will meet up with the RED-blazed Breakneck Ridge Bypass trail. Taking a left here will start you on the path back towards Route 9D. For this hike I chose to document only the basic loop hike so I went left.
After turning left you will quickly approach the high point of the hike at 1,240'. This also marks the final hump you have to go over so it is all downhill from here. Follow the RED blazes until you reach the junction with the YELLOW-blazed Wilkinson Memorial Trail. Going left brings you back to Route 9D.
Follow the YELLOW blazes until you eventually end up back on Route 9D. The train station is directly across the road from you when you exit the trail so if you came via train you are done. If you drove then note this is a different trailhead from where you started so go left and follow the road back up to where you parked. It is around 0.4 miles back to where you started.
While just about anyone can climb the route there are definitely sections where people afraid of heights will have some issues. As an additional note, climbing the route is not recommended to do at night. I've been hiking here for years and there are still times I find myself asking why I'm climbing in the dark. Good shoes are a must and bring plenty of water. Less conditioned hikers can easily go through 2 liters of water on this hike.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to be 100% certain of every hand and foot hold you make while enjoying this challenging trail. Numerous people have been injured attempting it and a few have paid with their lives.
Safe travels my friends, thanks for watching!
-Caps (Joe)
Equipment
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Backpack: Kelty Redwing 32
Black Diamond Spot Headlamp
Shoes: Vasque Grand Traverse Hiking Shoes / Darn Tough socks
Pants: Columbia Silver Ridge Convertible
Shirts: Mountain Hardwear T-shirt / Merino Wool long-sleeved shirt
Jacket: REI Synthetic 35°
My famous green cap: SB Outdoors Trek2 Wool Cap (custom, can't buy them)
Main camera: CANON EOS Rebel SL2 200D / 18-55mm
Hiking camera: SONY HDR AS-300 w/AKA-MCP1 Lens Protector
Vanguard Tripod with a Pergear TH3 Fluid Head
Enough batteries to make Elon Musk jealous!
Small army of memory cards
Music Credits
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Ohayo by Smith The Mister smiththemister...
Smith The Mister / @smiththemister
Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_ohayo
Music promoted by Audio Library • Ohayo - Smith The Mist...
Second Nature by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
Artist: audionautix.com/
Music promoted by Audio Library • Second Nature - Audion...
Title: Pressure by Riot
Genre and Mood: Country & Folk + Inspirational
License: You're free to use this song and monetize your videos.
ambient by strange day / strange-day
Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported- CC BY 3.0
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Music found on Music for Creators • ambient - strange
Music provided by Strange Day (song purchased)
Support the artist: strange-day.bandcamp.com/releases
This is probably one of the last videos of Breakneck before it was destroyed by a huge brush fire
I was thinking that same thing and a few friends have mentioned it as well. I still haven't been back up to the area to see how bad it was and now with what is going on I probably eon't be back there for quite some time. Be safe!
Nice sunrise. I never got out there before the fires.
Caps Outdoors, another great video as always.
Breakneck is pretty much my backyard hike. I was 13 when I first hiked in 1993. I introduced my cousin to that trail in 1999. We were quite young 18 and 16. That day he decides to scale down that cliff side to see how far he could get down. Screw that, I panzied out. I told him "well have fun." I continued down the trail to see if I could get a glimpse of him from below but the next thing I hear are his screams and yells literally echoing throughout the valley. He was stuck on a vertical ledge and couldn't climb up or down. This was 1999 when dam cell phones didn't exist and hikers on that trail were few far in between. I couldn't see where the hell he was. Now I'm staring at the ground thinking "ahhh fuck I'm gonna have to descend down this mountain and get to a police station to get help and he's gonna be stuck up here for hours." Luckily he stopped panicking, regained composer and climbed himself back up and about 30 minutes later I met up with him. To this day I've never seen somebody as white as he was, LMFAO, Nowadays we laugh about it but I'll tell you, screwing around like that is no laughing matter. Thankfully everything turned out fine for us but man its just not worth it to fuck around like that. Lesson is stay on the trails They are literally designed for safety and yet offer great views.
A great lesson to follow for sure, especially there. Over the years I've seen so many people get in trouble on that hike because they went off-trail. The warning signs down on 9D are there for a reason. Very glad to hear your friend made it back up without any incidents (well besides the one that put him there to begin with, LOL).
I plan on doing a video on the hike for Anthony's Nose as well in the near future. I've been kind of laying low as I've had a few personal setbacks in the past 2 months that have kept me off the trail but things are looking much better now so I'll be back at it very soon.
Thanks my friend, as always!
@@capsoutdoors Did you ever get to check out the view at the top of Bull Hill of the lower Hudson Valley and NYC? I think its probably the coolest view in the Hudson Valley. Great view of West Point and you can see the Bear Mountain Bridge, Tappan Zee Bridge, GWB, NYC, White Plains and Newark all in one single view.
@@meslem99 The weekend before I did this hike I was exploring the trails near Bull Hill but I didn't summit. When I got to the Undercliff trail junction I turned right and eventually ended up in Nelsonville. I had lunch there and then backtracked over to 9D.
Impressive trail!
It certainly is, a must-do hike if you're ever in the Hudson Valley.
Really sweet view from up there!
One of the best around here.
Epic views ! What a neat area. Thanks for sharing man ! Cheers
This place never gets old no matter how many times I hike it. It's hard to find view that can beat it! The amount of graffiti is a little off-putting but it is also part of the charm of the area.
Thanks for stopping by brother, always good to hear from you!
Stumbled across your video planning our summer hiking trips 😁 haven’t hiked the east side mountains as of yet. Hudson Highlands look great amazing! Great video and channel👍🏼!
I've been hiking the Hudson Highlands for 20 years and it is hands down one of my top 3 places to hike in my immediate area (I live about 40 minutes from Breakneck Ridge). I've been wanting to get up into your neck of the woods for a few years now but just never got it to work out, definitely not giving up though. Thanks for checking out the video and all the kind words, always nice to hear people are enjoying my videos. Hope you are staying safe!
Caps Outdoors if you get up to MN try to come in the summer when it’s actually habitable 😉😁
Found your channel from the Facebook groups. Awesome stuff. Subscribed ✌️
Awesome, thanks for the sub!
Very nice video. Do Camp Smith trail, it has nice views.
Kind of late to this reply but I just shot a video you may be interested in. I went and hiked the full Bull Hill loop yesterday and then went to check out the old Cornish Estate. I have one video to edit before that one but it'll be coming soon.
@@capsoutdoors Will check it out. Happy Hiking Season
Looks nice. I guess it’s best to get there early to avoid the crowds.
It definitely is, I've only been up there a handful of times during peak hours and it is a madhouse.
Great video,bro!Are there any water sources on Breackneck ridge?
Thanks for stopping by and for the SUB!! Breakneck is one of my favorite places to go when I need a good challenge. If you were thinking about doing it I'd recommend at least a liter of water for the hike I did as there are no water sources along it. A backpack and sturdy shoes are highly recommended as well.
Was the parking locations near the trailhead and train stop ? Thankyou
Yup, the spot where I parked was close to the trailhead and where I came out is close to the train stop. The distance between the two is only 0.3 miles so they are close to each other. Thanks for checking the video out!
Looks a little cold caps! Is this the last trip os the season?
Nope, not the last one. I think I'm finally going to start doing some Winter stuff. There is just too much downtime when I take those 4-5 months off.
Caps Outdoors I hear you. I have resisted real winter hiking and camping for the most part. But in the last couple of years have gotten a bit interested ! Cheers
Niceeeeee