Eastern Railroad Discussion > Fall color peak at Bear Mountain, NY....

It appears that colors are as good as they will get around Bear Mountain, NY.....Two recent wind and rainstorms have stripped some trees of leaves while other trees are anything from green to colored to turning brown....Some pics from this afternoon....A Southbound Q164 rolls across the Iona Causeway this afternoon....Dave Williams

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A Southbound Q118 rolls across Iona Island this afternoon....I timed the third shot perhaps just a whisker too late...as tree leaves give the illusion of tickling the nose of the lead GE....Dave W.

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A C712 local is super short today...as it rolls South with one Geep and one car in tow today...Dave W.

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dwi189 Wrote:
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> It appears that colors are as good as they will
> get around Bear Mountain, NY.....Two recent wind
> and rainstorms have stripped some trees of leaves
> while other trees are anything from green to
> colored to turning brown....Some pics from this
> afternoon....A Southbound Q164 rolls across the
> Iona Causeway this afternoon....Dave Williams


Great shots

A few more pics of the Q164....Dave W.

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csxt6000 Wrote:
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> dwi189 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It appears that colors are as good as they will
> > get around Bear Mountain, NY.....Two recent
> wind
> > and rainstorms have stripped some trees of
> leaves
> > while other trees are anything from green to
> > colored to turning brown....Some pics from this
> > afternoon....A Southbound Q164 rolls across the
> > Iona Causeway this afternoon....Dave Williams
>
>
> Great shots

Thanks...Dave W.

A Father and Son railfanning duo were standing alongside me at the time of the shots shown thus far...The pair were in from Michigan for a few days of railfanning in the Hudson Valley...The son appeared to be about 20 or so....We introduced ourselves and the son recognized me from Trainorders...They had hit some spots after seeing them here on previous posts...I gave them directions to some other good spots...including to the overlook atop Bear Mountain....They pulled up to the overlook shortly after I did and were impressed with the view....We caught this Northbound Q410 as it approached and crossed Iona Island...Dave W.

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A P32 shoves a Metro-North consist South on the Hudson Line....and an Amtrak consist heads North....Dave W.

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And finally....Norfolk Southern GE power leads an interesting consist on a Southbound CSX Q433.....Dave Williams

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I was at Bear Mountain with a buddy of mine on Sunday....it was very, very nice!

First we hiked from the Hessian Lake to the mountain top (using the direct, practically-vertical trail), and then came back down for the Octoberfest Knockwurst, Beer, and Waffles. :)

Got some beautiful pictures of the rail lines on both sides of the Hudson, but no trains.

Dave, as I'm going up there again this Sunday, can you please tell me where exactly did you take that first picture from?

ChS7-321 Wrote:
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> I was at Bear Mountain with a buddy of mine on
> Sunday....it was very, very nice!
>
> First we hiked from the Hessian Lake to the
> mountain top (using the direct,
> practically-vertical trail), and then came back
> down for the Octoberfest Knockwurst, Beer, and
> Waffles. :)
>
> Got some beautiful pictures of the rail lines on
> both sides of the Hudson, but no trains.
>
> Dave, as I'm going up there again this Sunday, can
> you please tell me where exactly did you take that
> first picture from?

If you mean the pic at the top of the thread, it taken from the South ledges....accessable by hiking in from a trailhead from 9W marked Bike trail #9....the parking area is on left as you drive South. on 9W..where 9W curves left to head uphill toward Tomkins Cove you will see a small pulloff on left with a gate....A 15 minute hike South on the trail followed by a 5 minute hike through the woods leads to the bluffs...Other railfans often hike down the right of way from Iona Island, which I do not do and don't endorse...but that is up to CSX's discretion on people being on the right of way...I simply choose routes to avoid the right of way....Dave Williams

Dave,

I'm guessing that this is the trailhead that you're talking about?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=bear+mountain,+ny&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=51.800074,111.445313&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=41.296163,-73.984938&spn=0.001866,0.003433&z=18

And you hiked along the trail to somewhere around here?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=bear+mountain,+ny&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=51.800074,111.445313&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=41.294938,-73.972353&spn=0.003732,0.006866&z=17&iwloc=addr

I'm probably thinking about parking near the Bear Mtn Inn, and biking the one mile along Rt 9W before cutting over to the trail.

Sorry for not replying sooner, just arrived at John Shuniak's motel at Cassandra Pa a few minutes ago after a 5 hour drive in from NY....Your map is correct...you would be hiking on old 9W.....The landmark to turn off the trail into the woods will be two stone markers on either side of the trail marking a creekbed that the trail crosses over.....a yellow telephone pole guide wire is also at that location which serves as the landmark....At this location, turn left into the woods and hike downgrade with the creek on your left...you will soon reach a huge boulder...At the boulder, bear right and climb a bluff...you will work your way on a more or less 45 degree angle from the boulder toward the south ledges, climbing up and over a few bluffs and will come out at the South ledges after 5 to 10 minutes after departing the trail.....It took me a couple of times to work out my route after searching around a bit when I first did this hike several years ago...You do not need to park at the Inn to access the trail, unless you are looking for a nice bike ride....There is ample space to park at the trail entrance, and there are also a couple of other spots where hikers park close to the entrance to the Iona Island access road...Dave Williams

I would advise not taking the bike, unless you will be planning to secure it somewhere along the trail before heading down into the woods along the creekbed....the portion between the trail and the ledges requires some scrambling on uneven ground up and over some bluffs, along with stepping over some small fallen trees and rotten trunks and branches, a bike might be a bit cumbersome to drag along through that portion......The trail is also a bit rough in places with ruts and washouts from runoff from 'new 9W' above.....Dave Williams

Thanks,

These pics are just plain pretty! Now I remember why I miss the mountains so much.......