July 25, 2020 Saturday Bear Mountain State Park

In the morning we took a bike ride to explore the Croton Point State Park but first we had to find the bike trail. At first, we thought Google Maps was wrong and while we searched and searched the condominium complex that was part of the Half Moon Bay Marina, every path and gate to the bike trail was blocked off. We eventually doubled back and found that Google was right all along and we were on our way.

The bike trail and park were well done which you would expect in Westchester County and soon we approached the gate to pay to get into the park. The sign listed an entrance fee $10 per car but nothing about a bike. The gentleman at the gate told us twenty dollars, each, but he was kidding and let us in for free. The facility had a large beach and parking lot with lots of park land along the river where people fished and because it was Saturday, the park was filling fast. The hill I had seen from the water looked very man made and eventually we found the information sign that told us it was a former sanitary landfill that was capped with a meadow and that forty species of birds visit the hill.

Back on Monarch we cooled off before turning off the air conditioner and leaving the dock. The wind had picked up a little and when getting out of the slip I couldn't manage to get the bow to turn into the wind so I backed out of the marina. Not the manliest way to leave a marina on a weekend but a safe way. The bow loves to turn down wind on our boat but with the three-blade prop on she will go and steer easily in reverse. It reminded me of the scene from the movie Some Like it Hot.

There were lots of power boats and sailboats out enjoying the river that afternoon and we had a pleasant two hour trip north past Peekskill and into a narrow section of the river where the water had cut its way through the Appalachian Mountains and the only development is busy train tracks on each side of the river and Bear Mountain Bridge that spans the river. The bridge was built in 1924 and was the longest suspension bridge at the time in the world and it still is going strong with a large volume of traffic using it and the narrow road cut in the side of a mountain toward Peekskill.

We anchored in a cove at the foot of Bear Mountain just below the ferry dock that services the park and the Inn that sits up in the woods out of sight. Surrounding the anchorage were steep mountains of rock with lots of stone outcrops and mixed hardwoods. In the cove there is an island that is a bird statuary. Several power boats were enjoying the day anchored in the cove and numerous families were fishing from the ferry dock and the shore. The passing river traffic stayed on the far side of the river so the wakes were manageable.

The temperature was still in the high eighties but the humidity had dropped enough that the weather service had discontinued the heat advisory. We spent the afternoon relaxing, swatting the odd fly, and trying to stay cool.

Being in the mountains the sun disappeared early and we had a slight cooling breeze as our boat floated back and forth with the changing tides. With the sun went the power boats and jet skis, and fisherman and we had the place to ourselves. (along with the frequent trains passing by) We both felt more relaxed than we had in a while. We also had recently received word that the Erie Canal was now completely open, earlier than promised and we were now able to proceed without delay.

Even though it felt like we were in a remote location there was still plenty of light pollution but the haze had eased up and after dinner we were able to spot a comet in the north-west sky using our binoculars.