First Breakneck Ridge Run/Hike

I had off today, so I decided to change plans.  Rather than hill repeats, I headed to New York to run at Breakneck Ridge.  It is a little over 2 hours away, along the Hudson River.  It is a very popular hike and super technical.  I really had no idea what I was in store for.

I got there around mid afternoon.  It was in the low 80s or so.  Maybe even the upper 70s there.  Not bad for most people, but still hot for me.  That was especially the case since a lot of the trail was exposed rock.  I was shirtless and sweating a lot.  Luckily, I carried along a small towel to wipe of the sweat.

As I was taking a photo of a sign, three young ladies started to hike right in front of me.  That annoyed me because this part was runnable.  They let me by and I ran.  I ran past a panting dog.  I would soon understand why.

Running didn't last long and I hit some boulders.  Small boulders would not have been bad.  However those didn't last long.  It soon just became solid rock face.  I tried to follow the blazes, but that was tough.  It wasn't even hiking, I was basically rock climbing.  I've never done that and being short, it was hard to reach in a lot of places.

Some times I would think I was taking a better route around the side of a rock and it would turn out to be even worse.  One time, my route seemed to just end.  I had to carefully slide along a rock face.  It was pretty crazy.

All of this and I still had only gone the first quarter mile to the overlook with the flag on top of it.  It provided a great view up and down the Hudson, with the mountains all around.  I was surprised to have this view to myself.  There were a lot of cars in the lots and on the roads, but I actually didn't see too many hikers.  The weekends are supposed to be a zoo, so that is why I was there during the week.

I was hoping that this first rock climbing part would be the worst of it.  I was wrong.  It continued to be more of the same and just as tough.  They actually have signs everywhere that say the easiest way to the bottom is to keep going up.  That is because it leads to connector trails.  I was unsure if I would make it back down if I did attempt the head back the way I came.  Some spots would've required butt sliding or jumping.

What didn't help me was carrying a handheld.  It only allowed me one free hand.  I don't know why I didn't think of not bringing a handheld.  This was good prep for Escarpment though, as I know a handheld won't work there.  I'd imagine this was similar terrain as that.

At one point, I had to put the handheld down, just to climb up.  Another time, I started sliding slightly down the rock.  Luckily, I didn't fall.  I've never been on such tough terrain.  Eventually I got to the Undercliff Trail, but I wanted to keep going up.

There were actually some signs that said "easier ascent."  I'm one to always take the hard way, but it this case, I went with the "easier."  "Easier" being the key word, as it still wasn't easy.

I saw a few hikers on a slightly easier part.  I laughed when I looked at my watch at one point and I was around 1.1 miles and it took me 35 minutes or so.  To say that that was slow was an understatement.

Even when I got to some nicer and flatter sections, it was often exposed and still hot.  I didn't have a lot to drink.  I ran some when I could, but the climb had taken a lot of my energy.  Even in between climbing segments, there were some small up and down parts. 

Some parts of the trail were smooth, but most had rocks.  It was pretty when I got near the top and had some nice running back in the woods.  I finally started to enjoy it a bit.  Even up there, it seemed like there were multiple paths to follow.

I was so happy to see the red blazed trail that said that that was the way to Route 9D (the start).  I wanted some more mileage though, so I went out a little further.  Some hikers were looking for that red trail later and I told them they had passed it.

I ran to the blue blazed Notch Trail.  I took that as it descended.  That would give me more gain on the way back.  It was very rocky and hard to run downhill.  It went quite far down, but I didn't take it all the way.  There was a small lake up there and I heard people swimming or something.  That must've been nice.

I turned around and headed back up the Notch Trail to the Breackneck Ridge Trail.  I then found the red blazed trail to head down and back to the start.  I was around 2.5 to 3 miles now. 

I saw a sign for the red blaze to the left, yet the trail appeared to be to the right.  I went to the right.  It was an unmarked trail that was descending steeply.  I figured that it must go somewhere, so I continued on it, rather than climbing back up.  Sure enough, it eventually came to the red blazed trail.

I ran into the hikers again, right at that point.  I was wondering why I had not passed them yet, as I had been running some.  The red blazed trail was much smoother and I ran a lot more.  It was still semi technical, so I had to hike in spots.  I had fun descending.

I could hear the traffic from Route 9D and I was very happy when I got to the road.  I had to run about a quarter mile back to my car.  I only ended up with less than 4.5 miles.  That was enough though.  It still took me over an hour and a half.

It was a fun run, but I'm not sure I'll go there again.  If I do, I'll probably go on the more runnable trails.  The Breakneck Ridge Trail is just crazy.  I would like to explore the rest of the area.

Tomorrow, I'll probably go out for the hill repeats.  I think I'll head to Wind Gap.  I hope to get in some good gain.  It would be nice if I could run a lot of it.  Weather will likely play a big factor in that.

4.41 miles - 1:39:46 (22:36 pace) 1406 feet of elevation gain