Hiking in Breakneck Ridge

This past Saturday, I was invited to go hiking with a few friends of mine. Having done some hiking before, I agreed to go thinking that it would be a lot of fun. Well, the hike turned out to be as much fun as I thought I would have and then some.

We left Brooklyn around 8am to head north towards Breakneck Ridge in the Hudson Highlands Park, which is located in Putnam, NY. The drive took approximately an hour and forty mins and we arrived in the area around 9:40am.

We were expecting 4 cars. Most people in the cars had Google Latitude so we tracked the closest car and they were at least 15 mins behind us so we decided to stop at the closest food mart to pick up some lunch and use the bathroom before we head into the trail. Eventually 3 of the 4 cars arrived at the food mart and after a quick bathroom break, we all headed up to trail entrance.

The trail begins right next to the Intrastate 9D, which was pretty dangerous since the cars were zipping by and we had to park on the side of the road and cross the road to make our way to the trail. Right before we locked up our cars, two girls approached us and asked if we could answer a few questions for them about our trip. They were trying to get some kind of idea about what hikers would like and what they currently dislike about the trails.


Once we got onto the trail, we quickly made our way along the trail until we got to the climbing part. I had never climbed like this before and as I made my way up over rocks and around boulders, I loved every bit of it. We slowly made our way to our first scenic lookout which was marked by a U.S. flag and the park's flag. We spent sometime there taking scenic photos of the view and allowing for everyone to regroup.

After this, we headed up towards higher ground. This is where the climbing got even tougher. We had to scale rocks and maneuver over way onto boulders of all shapes and sizes. There was one part of the climb where we came across two paths, the regular one going around the hill while another that was more of a crevice between two large hills. A few of us contemplated for about 5 mins on how feasible this rock-scaling expedition would be and then I decided to give it a try. However, due to my vertical disadvantage, I was convinced I could not do it. Another hiker from a different group, much taller, quickly got past the initial hurdle that I had faced of not being able to get my legs in the right place. Next, one of the more experienced hikers from our group gave it a shot and after some smart maneuvering, he was able to scale the crevice and get to the top. With two success stories right in front of me, I decided to go for it once again and another friend, also experienced in hiking, gave me some pointers as I tried the climb for the second time. I was much more successful this time around and I was able to scale the rocks up to the top.

After getting up to the top of this hill, we sat down and enjoyed an even better view. We were at the highest point of our hike and we could see far across the horizon. I sat at the edge of this hill and took in the view. It was a relaxing feeling to just sit there and breathe some fresh air.

Eventually everyone made it to the top point and we regrouped to head a little further. Eventually we found a spot which was somewhat flat ground and we decided to stop here for a lunch and prayer break. Lunch ranged from PB&J sandwiches to chicken curry with naan. After praying and eating our lunches, we gathered up our stuff and made our way towards the descent part of the hike.

Thinking that descent would be easier than the climb, I rushed into going down hill. I realized in a very short period that the descent was extremely taxing on the knees. I eventually had to resort to a walking stick to take some pressure off the knees. Slowly but surely, many of the people in the group picked out walking sticks for the descent. It took us approximately an hour and half to make our way down on the other side of the trail. When we got to the end, there were about a hundred walking sticks that had been dumped at the end of the trail. Seems like everyone needed some assistance for this part of the hike.

I had an amazing time during this hike and felt like I got an amazing workout from it as well. I cannot wait to go again with the same group and enjoy their company as well as great views on our next hike. Until then, these pictures from this hike will have to keep me occupied.