This isn't a hike, but I'm writing about the Industry City Fire Tower here as part of my quest to visit fire towers.
It's one of two fire towers in NYC. The other, at Marcus Garvey Park, was actually used in that location as part of a network of urban towers. This one was rebuilt in Brooklyn as a landmark in a gentrifying warehouse-to-mall development. In its past life, it was atop Moosehead Mountain, upstate.
Alas, you can't climb the tower - the first flight of stairs has been removed.
I've been to the Little Red Lighthouse many times, but K had never been. So we took a walk up there last weekend.
I went up to VCP yesterday to finish removing wineberry from my trail section* and also to get in one, let's say two, more trails in.
The Bridle Trail is a trail I've been on many times; a few years ago, we did quite a bit of work at the north end, removing mugwort and other invasives and planting trees. But it's another trail that I rarely walk the length of, particularly the lower section connecting to the Parade Ground.
Like it says on the tin, it's a wide, flat trail, suitable for horses. One of the neater features is this roadcut. However, if you're going to paint over graffiti, use paint that matches the rock. Otherwise, you might as well leave the graffiti.
The 21 in 21 Challenge also requires you to hike at least 1.4 miles of your choice of trail, so I decided to use yesterday's walk on the John Muir and my loop as my "hiker's choice."
* Yes, I realize you can't eradicate it in one season. Also, I'm working near the trail, and therefore possibly missing thickets elsewhere. But let's say that any wineberry visible from the trail has been pulled up, for now.
Last weekend, I headed up to Van Cortlandt to take care of my trail section - finally getting to rooting out wineberry - I also tacked on the John Kieran Trail. At .8 miles, it's not long, and it is in a heavily trafficked section of the park, connecting the Putnam Trail and the Parade Ground. Sadly, the old birdwatching bridge over Tibbetts Brook was removed a few years back, and so the trail has a gap in it.
I had to head up to Van Cortlandt Park for a walk-through of my trail section with folks from the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, so I took the opportunity to cross off two more trails towards the challenge.
I've walked the entire Old Croton Aqueduct, but I almost never walk the portion of it in the southeast corner of the park. In fact, I almost never enter that part of the park at all. It's a little neglected by others, too, as it needs some upkeep. The bright side of that is that it felt like visiting a whole new trail.
The northern sections I am much more familiar with. After the detour occasioned by Robert Moses, the Aqueduct begins to take on its characteristic feel, of a flat, very straight trail.
On my return journey, I detoured to do the Jerome Wetland Walk, a .3-mile interpretive trail.
The Van Cortlandt Park Alliance is offering a "21 in 21" challenge - to hike 21 miles in the park this year. They can't be just any 21 miles, but a specific set of trails.* To do them all as indicated actually requires more than 21 miles total.
I'd done the Putnam Trail (well, many times, but relevant to this challenge) during a rainy spring break day. So on Saturday I decided to combine my monthly trail maintenance with checking off a few more.
Starting from the west end, I first hiked the John Muir trail to its east end. On the way back, I stopped at my trail section to pick up trash and pull up garlic mustard. I headed back to the beginning, dumped the trash, and then did the Cass Gallagher loop.
I've done the entire loop before - in fact, I helped blaze it - but I haven't done parts of it in a very long time. It feels a bit more rugged than some of the other trails, and there are several ascents and descents. There is also a staircase and a brief section of old paving, so the entire trail offers a varied experience.
I have six trails to go (one being a free choice).
*There are substitutions available with the clear intent that they are to be used if the official hikes are too challenging. While no one is checking up, just marching for 21 miles and calling it done would be a violation of the spirit of the rules.
On Sunday I led a hike for my club that was intended to cross every pedestrian-accessible bridge over Spuyten Duyvil and the Harlem River. We ended up skipping two bridges near the end, hiking 16 miles total.
The afternoon was rainy, which I could have done without, but overall we had a good hike.
As I'll be leading a hike at the end of the month that crosses High Bridge, I wanted to stop by to see if much of the park was still blocked off by construction. It turns out the answer is it's not - only the area immediately around the water tower is off-limits.
I opted to take sidewalks alongside Morningside, St. Nicholas, and Jackie Robinson Parks, since they were shoveled and pretty reliably clear from snow earlier in the week. I did the same for Highbridge Park, as I wanted to get a good view of the construction or lack thereof.
At High Bridge, I crossed over and briefly stood in the Bronx before heading back. There I took a well-cleared bike path, but otherwise I retraced my steps home.
January: The last time I went to a state that wasn't New York or New Jersey (although it still began with a "new").
February: Working on the Catskills 3500 winter peaks.
March: Last carefree hike.
April: Masking up.
May: Lots of time in Riverside Park.
June: Protests.
July: My only summer trip, to Fahnestock.
August: Following the Bronx River in the Bronx.
September: Exploring Manhattan.
October: Visiting bridges around the city.
November: The election.
December: Return to the Catskills.
My hiking club does an annual New Year's Day city hike (this year, of course, featuring everyone safely masked). We walked from Riverdale back to lower Harlem, and from there I walked home.
I wanted to check out what looked like the remains of a creek on Google Maps, so this walk was highly exploratory.
It began with a walk to Randalls Island, and under Hell Gate Bridge to the Bronx. This is a longer route than using city streets, but a more scenic one.
From there, I headed north, past St. Mary's Park, to where Westchester Road crosses a narrow channel of what used to be a creekbed. It seems to be the only visible remainder of the now-underground Mill Creek. (You can read more at the Hidden Waters blog.)
I took the more efficient return route, via the Third Avenue Bridge.
As part of my quest to visit all the Manhattan pedestrian bridges, I had to visit Central Park's Ramble for a mop-up. While I spend less time in the Ramble than in the more northerly parts of the park, I was pretty sure I'd been to each bridge. I just didn't have proof.
The first bridge of note is Triplets Bridge, which is actually west of the Ramble. It's over a gully to the side of the Lake, which may dry up at times. From there it was over Oak Bridge and into the Ramble itself.
Unlike the Ravine, it's easy to visit each bridge in the Ramble linearly, with no doubling back. The bridges are as follows:
Gill bridge, a rustic bridge - like two rising suns.
An ignored bridge at the top of a cascade.
A rustic bridge - with Xs.
A tiny rustic bridge.
An ignored, tiny stone slab bridge.
From there, I strolled around the rest of the Lake, enjoying unseasonably warm November weather.
These days, going as far afield as Yonkers is an adventure - when even travel to New Jersey that is "non-essential" is frowned upon. But I had to venture up to Van Cortlandt Park to do my trail maintenance, and I wanted to see the newly paved Putnam Trail. One thing led to another, and I walked around the lake at Tibbetts Brook before heading back into VCP to do the work.
Washington Bridge was another bridge I was pretty sure I'd been to, but I couldn't prove it. (Eventually, I did dig up an Instagram post proving I was there three years ago.) And I knew for sure that the 145th St. Bridge was the final Manhattan-Bronx bridge I hadn't yet visited. So I headed uptown to see them both.
Washington Bridge is more interesting from below than from on it; it needs some TLC. You can get some nice views from it, particularly to the north.
145th St. Bridge is kind of cute.
Despite its location right next to Van Cortlandt Park, I'd never been to Woodlawn Cemetery. It's actually quite a walk from the 1 train, which is how I get up there. But at our most recent Trails Crew day, we were working on the east side of the park, so I took advantage of this to tack on a visit to the cemetery.
I only saw a small part of it. Add up long walks at both ends of the train ride, plus a day of trail work, and I only had so much energy for exploring what is a very large area.
But it's impressive. Do you like tombs? They have tombs. Also gravestones, monuments, and a nice little lake.
