A Weekend of 'Plan B's'

For all of you that have been reading cigars and other 'yarny' blogs, you've likely got a belly full of the sheep & wool weekend by now. But alas, there was even more that went on that weekend. How can that be, you may ask? Well, the boys got a bit bored with sheep & wool so we went off and did some fun stuff on our own.

Saturday afternoon, Paul & I wandered our way back from Rhinebeck and hit a few of my favorite places (beer store, the Newburgh waterfront, and a beer bar)! We bought a few choice selections at Half-Time and had fun kicking back with a few pints with Brian and the gang over at the Rail. In between was spent taking some photos of the Hudson River and surrounding mountains. The first shot of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge is below (more on that in a bit).

Plan B #1 came when trying to find dinner on Saturday. We both wanted barbecue, but the only place in Newburgh had a 30-minute wait. This wasn't going to work, so we ended up getting a pizza and going back to the house to watch Game 6 of the ALCS, which the Red Sox won 12-2. All was well...

Sunday, we decided to hang back locally and do some hiking and picture-taking. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we both wanted to do something a bit more active than the eating & drinking routine we had basically perfectly the rest of the weekend. We tried to hike at Mohonk, but were denied at the gate by an ornery parking attendant and a sign that unceremoniously said "No Day Hiking Today." It would've been nice if they posted this on their website, but NOOOOOOO...please drive 30 minutes out of your way before we totally ruin your plans for the day. bastards... However, not all was lost as 'Plan B' #2 was hatched.

I have been wanting to hike up Breakneck Ridge again for a long time and today served as a perfect opportunity to do it. I remembered that it was a tough hike, but Paul was game so we decided to give it a whirl. Here's Paul at the trailhead.

Breakneck is a rocky scramble up about 1200' of vertical terrain in about a half-mile. It did not disappoint. I found a pretty good summary of it written by someone else here. We tagged along with a few groups who helped us navigate the various trails without getting lost. It was an excellent way to spend 3.5 hours on a beautiful fall day.

This is the view from the first lookout point. Storm King Mountain is in the background. They've recently added the US and POW flags. I don't remember them from the last time I was up here, circa 2000 or so.

That's the same Newburgh-Beacon Bridge in the distance. The only detriment to the whole day was that it was a bit hazy, but otherwise a perfect day. The boys part of the weekend ended by grilling up a chicken & shrimp feast for the knitta's that turned out to be a perfect way to wrap up the weekend.