Breakneck Ridge Trip Report

“As usual, this tale of the trail begins at the crack of dawn with a zombie-stumble to the coffee….ah, that’s better…

This past Sunday, Warrennyc, Corporal Nasty, and I headed out of the city and up to Breakneck Ridge, NY for a bit of light hiking (ha!). After posing for the obligatory trailhead photograph and cursing the bloody loud Hudson line train, we began the steep, rocky, muddy ascent. Warrennyc had the honor of leading the way and I believe he took great joy in leading us off the trail and straight up the rock faces! What else could the Corp’ and I do but follow him up?!?

I’m not going to lie to you folks, there were many times when I was sure that I was going to go sliding straight down on my face, taking out the Corp’ who was climbing behind me, and ending my BP’ing dreams in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the mountain! But the guys were cool, very encouraging and patient, and no one ended up hanging off of trees….hehehe…perhaps a few rocks…but no trees!

The views of Storm King and the Hudson Valley were breathtaking. We even got to watch a small rainstorm roll our way from the Catskills.

My favorite sights? The sheer drop-offs, the mountain top marsh covered in a thin layer of ice, the gurgling waterfall/creek, woods spotted with patches of snow, and…..drum roll please…..my new Whisperlite Internationale finally getting fired up, first attempt, on a trail!! Hot chocolate spiked with scotch whiskey and turkey sandwiches – yum, yum, yum.

It was a great hike with plenty of thrills and off-trail explorations. We wrapped up the day with a rather fancy dinner and drinks.

Thanks guys, I had a blast and can’t wait for the next trip!

Here’s a link to Corp’s pictures of the day: http://community.webshots.com/user/cplnasty”

“http://My Pics
Cool report there!
That coffee kicked butt, thanks again for that Twinks, you're a life saver- The hike was a lot of fun, plenty of cool rocks to scramble up- Warrennyc is a fargin' mountain goat, it was a lot of fun trying to follow him up there. We did lose the trail towards the end a little, ended up doing some bushwhacking to get back to the car just before it got pitch black, which was really cool too. The dinner afterwards, steaks all around, as well as the beers, put smiles on all our faces- The day couldn't have been any better.”

“More of that Shawangunk/Tuscarora sandstone/quartzite (talk about an identity crisis?).

Sounds like y'all had fun. One of these days, when my leg feels all better, I might need a guide to that passle of real estate.”

“Good pictures!

8)”

“Nice trip report and pictures. Thanks.... It looked like it was fun!
Chocolate milk and whiskey... Hmmmm, did the whiskey curdle the milk? :)
Thank you all for sharing your trip.”

“The whiskey curdled the milk not at all.....

Yeah, it was great little walk/scramble. Thanks to TT for organizing, and CP for driving. I usually get crap for my off trail tendencies, it's nice to be appreciated.”

“Nice day!”

“nice pics guys.....that hike is one of my favourites...I always loved climbing Breakneak...makes you feel like a billy goat and the views of Storm King are awesome...pictures never do it justice....hey TT...what a sweet way to break in that new stove!!”

“Great pics, guys! Glad you had fun. Especially love the pic of the good Corporal hugging the rock!!!”

“Thanks Stratus...which reminds me..

yeah, i was very happy to finally get the stove fired up since the first trip out with it was the frozen toes incident....never did manage to get it going that night

i have to say - its a wonderful stove - complete with "personality" as Warrennyc put it - the only drawback is it can get very messy with the soot!”

“Great trip report Twinkle Toes and I'm happy you guys had a blast. It looks like a trail I'll want to visit myself one of these days.

Super pics Corp! Love your hanging on to dear life pic. You're the king of the candids. LOL!”