High above the Hudson

May 30, 2023

Cuddebackville to Poughkeepsie

Last night before I hit the tent, a neighboring camper gave a mini-concert. He played guitar and sang, sometimes accompanied by a woman singing high harmonies. They were east Asian but I’m not sure which country they were from. The singing sounded very much like English or Spanish and the music was definitely western folk style.

I slept pretty well considering the lumpy ground at my tent site. Temperatures dropped below 50 but my new sleeping bag kept me warm. I broke camp around 6:30 and headed 2 miles back to the route.

At the Valero gas station, I took advantage of the deli inside and had eggs, sausage, home fries, and coffee for breakfast. It was pretty mediocre. Despite that, I bought a roast beef sandwich for the road and headed east up over a ridge line.

The climb was probably 500 feet but the road was forgiving, never steeper than I could handle. And the road surface was smooth.

I dropped down into Otisville which is about as exciting as it sounds. I headed north through a valley with small farms. It was nice riding. I knew from the terrain that I’d be doing one more climb before descending into the Hudson River valley.

I turned east and there it was: an absolutely absurdly steep climb. No way! I rode to the base of the monster, dismounted and walked. As I neared the top the road became much steeper. I couldn’t ride up this hill on an empty bike.

Walking toward me on the shoulder was a tall, thin young man, dressed in black, unmistakably an Hasidic Jew. I said hello but he ignored me. A man on a riding mower seemed to deliberately spray him with cuttings as the man walked by. This area of New York has a considerable Hasidic population. I saw many more. None would return my hello. Must be a thing.

I rode past a house where three pre-school aged girls dressed in formal looking clothes sat in the grass in a line. I didn’t say hello but as I passed I heard one girl yell a big hello to me.

The pavement on the road was superb. I re-mounted The Mule, took one look at the ridiculously steep descent ahead and let ‘er rip. I broke 35 mph within a few seconds. The Mule held steady and we cruised for a mile or so.

We made the turn to the east toward Walkill where I sat in a park and ate my sandwich. It was huge! The sandwich, that is. And very tasty.

My daughter in Connecticut texted me advising me that there have been a large number of bear sightings. She advised against tent camping as I had planned to do tomorrow night.

After using the facilities at the town hall (as instructed by a sign at the library) I headed north.

I picked up the Walkill Valley Rail Trail. Judging from the clippings the trail had only recently been cleared of high grass. The trail itself was dirt and more often than not single track. The best I could do was 8 mph.

The trail cut through some woods. I ran over some scat. All I could think of was “I hope that wasn’t from a bear.” I stopped later on and, using my phone, confirmed it was from a white tailed deer.

After 1 1/2 miles I bailed out onto a paved side road. In the town of Gardner I rejoined the trail, now a proper, paved trail.

I was sad to leave it because I had to turn east at New Paltz, a city with narrow streets and way too many massive pickups pulling even massiver camper trailers.

I stopped at a Walgreens for supplies: scissors to cut loose threads off my riding pants and my sleeping bag, generic Flonase to tame my sinuses that continue to wear out my bushman’s hanky, gorilla glue to re-attach a stay that holds the inside of my tent away from me, and a can of iced tea.

While drinking my tea I reserved a room at the Grand Hotel in Poughkeepsie. It was more expensive than other hotels but was closer to my route, thereby keeping me out of any more crazy traffic. (The only problem was the fact that all the restaurants near it are closed.)

Back on the road, after crossing over the Thruway , I picked up a side road and got out of the crazy traffic.

Five miles later I found the entrance to the Hudson Valley Rail Trail in Anthony Williams Park. The surface was in great condition, packed dirt with crushed limestone on top just like the GAP Trail in western Pennsylvania.

My speed immediately popped to 16 mph. It took very little effort. After a few miles the trail reached the Walkway over the Hudson, a linear park with a concrete deck. It’s much higher than the rinky dink MidHudson Bridge way down there to the immediate south.

The views from the walkway are amazing. For a Tuesday afternoon there seemed to be quite a few people enjoying the span. What a great idea.

Once across the bridge I used the Google to guide me to the hotel. It’s big but it’s far from grand. Still my room was quite spacious.

I made myself busy making arrangements for tomorrow night. I called the campground I planned on using and asked about bears and bear boxes. They sounded clueless so I called a couple of B&Bs and booked a room just off the route a mile or two from the campground.

After washing up, I rinsed out my riding clothes. They’ll dry overnight.

Then I used the scissors to deal with the loose threads. Next I used the glue to fix the tent (I hope), discovering in the process that another attachment point was coming loose.

These pix are from the Walkway. Upper left is the view to the north. Upper right is the view to the south. Bottom left is the bridge deck. Bottom right is the rail trail approach from the west.

View to the north from the Walkway over the Hudson

Tomorrow I enter Connecticut which is sure to feature some imposing hills.

Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 456 miles (734 km)

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