Spectacular views from Beacon Mountain

Looking south from Beacon Mountain fire tower

I went to Beacon Mountain yesterday, and the weather was perfect! At 1,611 feet(491 m), Beacon Mountain is the highest peak between New York City and the Catskill mountains. It is the highest point in the Hudson Highlands and so offers spectacular views of the Hudson valley. On a clear day, you can see for 75 miles from its summit. From the fire tower on top of Beacon Mountain, if you look south on a clear day you can even see the Manhattan skyline, which is 50 miles south. Look closely at the horizon toward the middle of the picture below(which is a zoom in of the same view of the picture taken above – not a zoom in of the same picture), and a little toward the left, and you can sort of see the skyscrapers of New York City.

The photo below shows the skyscrapers a little better.

I tried joggling up Beacon Mountain on the main trail leading to the top, but couldn’t get very far because of how steep and rocky it was. I was reduced to running and then reduced to doing running/walking intervals. There really isn’t any actual “climbing” involved, unless you want to climb this thing off the main trails where it is much steeper. It was much easier joggling down the mountain, and managed to do this 60% of the way down. I took many short breaks while up there to take pictures, to juggle and of course to eat and drink. Due to all the hill running I do, my legs aren’t all sore from this steep run/walk. Years ago I probably would have had trouble walking for a week after doing something like this.

Juggling at the top of Beacon Mountain.

It is called Beacon Mountain because it was used during the Revolutionary War for setting signal fires to alert the continental army of British troop movements. In fact, Beacon Mountain and the surrounding Hudson Highlands were so important to the revolutionary cause that if they didn’t exist, or the British had managed to take them, Queen Elizabeth would probably be our Head of State today. Or at least that’s what the historical markers below the mountain want us to believe.

Beacon Mountain is actually made up of 2 main peaks, the North peak, and the South peak. The South peak is the higher one(1,611 ft), and this is where I took most of the photos from and where the fire tower is located. These two peaks are pretty close to each other, so its easy to go up one, then down a little, then follow the trail to go up the other, though the North peak is more easily accessible from the main parking area below.

Inside the fire tower

If anyone knows what species of bird that is in the photo below, please tell me in the comments.

It was a little cold and windy up there, but I can handle the cold better than the heat. I highly recommend running up this mountain to train for the hilly Yonkers Marathon.

Fire tower on top of the South peak in the distance. Look closely.

Near the top of the fire tower on the South peak, the same tower in the previous photo.

Joggling across the Brooklyn Bridge

Last week, I joggled across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn for the first time on a slightly warm, sunny day. I didn’t blog about this earlier because I was hoping some good photos that were taken that day(not by me, but by the many people on the bridge) would surface, but unfortunately this hasn’t happened.

Since the span of the Brooklyn Bridge is a little over 1.1 miles, this is by no means a great athletic achievement, though it felt amazing since this was the first time I joggled from one New York City borough to another. The views and the crowd support were priceless. I’m sure other jogglers have done this before.

I kept thinking I was going to drop the balls due to the crowds, the cyclists, the noise from the cars, the occasional beautiful woman, and the temptation to keep spinning(I did this a few times) around to see the Manhattan skyline, but no, I didn’t drop any of the balls even once. The incline toward the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge isn’t much of a challenge if you’re an experienced runner, though it did tire me a little. The wind was light to moderate.

I mostly ran on the bike path(or the line between the bike path and pedestrian path) of the walkway, since this was mostly clear, while the path for pedestrians was very crowded. I had to maneuver my way around a lot of tourists and occasionally some slow cyclists on the bike path, shocking many people as I zoomed by, but eventually made it to downtown Brooklyn in one piece where I took a break due to all the traffic and because my throat suddenly became very sore. It may have been due to all the traffic on the bridge and because my lungs aren’t used to running in the city(I mostly joggle in the suburbs or wilderness areas). On the bridge I only had to slow down just twice due to the crowds, but did my usual speed almost the entire way across.

I resumed joggling along the Brooklyn waterfront, and almost fell in the water a few times. You can get amazing views of the lower Manhattan skyline from here, especially the new Freedom Tower, which is nearly completed. This is the skyscraper that is on the former World Trade Center site, so it’s nice to see we have made a comeback from that dark, horrific day on september 11, 2001. I mostly enjoyed running around there, in spite of my throat, and memories of that day.

After another short break, in which I just power-walked instead of running or joggling, my throat felt better. I made my way along Atlantic avenue and many side streets to Parkslope and then to Prospect Park, joggling about half way there, dropping the balls a couple of times, coughing occasionally, then taking a few water breaks since I was sweating a lot and to help relieve my scratchy throat.

Prospect Park is basically Brooklyn’s Central Park, and I joggled around the entire main running path which forms a big circle around the entire park, then had lunch in a shady spot. After this, I explored Parkslope for a bit before heading home. Like Central Park, Prospect Park is full of runners and cyclists(and weirdos and muggers), including some barefoot runners, more than I see up in the suburbs. Many people were amazed by the joggling, especially because I was running faster than usual, though it isn’t all that new to Brooklyn or New York City. The kids down there love it, and I loved their Brooklyn accents.

So yes, you can joggle across the Brooklyn Bridge if you’re an experienced joggler, and it is not too crowded. It is likely much easier on a weekday(I did this on a thursday) than during the weekend. And Parkslope looks like a great neighborhood to be a vegan. The sore throat was likely due to pollution, and was gone after a few days. Luckily, it didn’t interfere with my running all that much while I had it.