Bull Hill | Thom Forbes

Constitution Marsh

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:44:22 -0400

My daughter, Carrick, and I played hooky one balmy September day about a dozen years ago and took a day-long kayaking lesson in this part of the Hudson. That's Constitution Marsh in the middle of picture, a magical place to paddle through. A battery factory that operated in nearby Foundry Cove made this the most polluted stretch of the river by the 1970s, I remember our instructor telling us, but $100 million worth of Superfund money restored it to the point that he had no compunction about having us practice tipping and rescuing each other in the middle of the river.

Hudson and Mountains

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:44:22 -0400

Looking northwest toward the Hudson with the Catkills in the distance.

Ruins

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:44:22 -0400

Bruce pointed out numerous ruins in the woods among what used to be the meadows and lawns of a family named Cornell.

Tug and Barge

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:44:22 -0400

I must have been a tugboat captain in a previous life because I can never resist taking this picture, down river or up. You can't digitize what barges carry. Yet.

West Point

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:44:22 -0400

West Point is on the peninsula to the right across from Constitution March. We cod actually see some of the New York city skyline in the distance, but the camera didn't capture it.

Tree and Steps

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:44:22 -0400

Bruce pointed out that this huge tree is smack dab in the middle of the ruins of some stairs leading to the ruins in the previous picture.

Abandoned Quarry

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:44:22 -0400

On the way out, we passed an old quarry and imagined all the activity that once took place here.

My Guide

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:44:20 -0400

Bruce pointing to the Shawangunk Mountains.