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 as training for extreme sports

Base jumping. Source: Wikipedia

There aren’t very many jogglers out there. In the U.S, the number of jogglers appears to be in the hundreds. Most train just to be better jogglers or because they simply love joggling. There are also a few “swogglers”(juggling while swimming) out there, but they are even rarer.

A few jogglers, like Perry Romanowski, are ultra-jogglers, which is basically juggling while ultra-running. Perry has not only set many world joggling records, he also runs by far the best, most informative website about joggling at: Justyouraveragejoggler.com. Whether you are just a casual joggler or you want to train for marathons or ultra-marathons, his site has a lot of useful advice. I’ve learned a lot from him, and wish him well in his ultra-ultra marathon joggling and scientific exploits.

While joggling for joggling’s sake is why most of us do it(and I am not sure if ultra-marathon joggling counts as an “extreme sport”), can joggling also be used as training for extreme sports? Obviously, the best way to train for various extreme sports is to train at these sports, but a little cross-training can be valuable, especially with how joggling improves your hand/eye coordination. After all, why run, when you can joggle?

While there is no universally agreed upon definition of an “extreme sport”, certain sports like BASE jumping obviously qualify. A looser definition could easily include downhill skiing(especially extreme skiing), and rock-climbing. Hang gliding would also probably qualify. The main thing these all have in common are that they are inherently dangerous, especially BASE jumping.

Another thing they have in common is that they all require a very high level of coordination, coordination that can make the difference between life and death. Just think of the coordination a rock climber needs, and the split second decision making they need to make if something goes wrong, and how having excellent coordination can prevent them from falling to their death.

So can joggling help better prepare people who want to BASE jump, or rock climb, or be an extreme skiier? I honestly do not know, but I see little reason to believe it would hurt. I have no experience in any extreme sports except for a little climbing, so my opinion concerning this isn’t particularly well-informed.

One reason joggling may be a good cross-training activity for extreme sportsmen and sportswomen, is that it is much easier to find the time and place to joggle on a regular basis. But who can BASE jump every day? Or ski down an extreme mountain slope, or hang glide every day? Unless you are very lucky to live at a place that affords you the opportunity to do this, and you also have a lifestyle that allows you to do this every day, it can be difficult to practice these activities with regularity.

So if you are into extreme sports or want to get into them, why not give joggling a try first? Maybe you will be a lot better at your chosen extreme sport if you joggle every day, or maybe not. It’s difficult to know how much of your joggling ability can transfer to other activities requiring extreme coordination, but I am reasonably certain it is greater than nothing.