April 5, 2010
Top of the Mountain 1
Date: Autumn, 1997
Location: Sloatsburg, NY
Description: In addition to our frequenting of the Cheesequake Rest Stop, our friends had a few other destinations we would often visit. One of these, tucked away in the Bear Mountain system is Harriman State Park, where we would spend many a weekend afternoon hiking up to the famed Perpendicular Point. While it wasn’t a particularly grueling hike – it took about 30 minutes to get to the top, and that was if you took your time – the view was pretty spectacular without having to give up an entire day to see it. Particularly appealing was the view in the autumn, when leaves were exploding in a borderline unnatural magnificence. Quite often, we wouldn’t even bother to go further on the hike, which was another hour or so to a fabled ‘Indian Rock’ (complete bollocks, by the way); we would be content to hike, enjoy some food, and head back. Sometimes we’d stay to watch a sunset. But it seemed that we would have some sort of triumphant pose atop the mountain, and methinks this won’t be the last picture that is put up here of Perpendicular Point, especially since it’s numbered 1.