This was a hike I've been meaning to take for a while, from Breakneck train station to Beacon train station. My friend Kat joined me (yay!) and we chose a route that turned out to be about 9 miles total and took us about 5 hours.
We started up Wilkinson Memorial Trail, and quickly switched over to the Breakneck Bypass, on the theory that a "bypass" is probably the easier way. It was tough going.
We stopped for lunch at a platform overlook, which was nice. I shared my hand sanitizer, Kat shared her extra peach. I think I got the better end of that deal.
After lunch, we started missing the blazes more often. I think we were getting tired. We usually were able to realize pretty quickly that we didn't see the next blaze, so we would just backtrack 10-20 feet and find our way.
However, we also missed some trail crossings, which was a little more disconcerting. We missed the turnoff for the white-blazed trail. On the one hand, that was fine because that's the steeper way and I wanted to stay on the yellow trail (which is what we did). But because we missed that turnoff, and also the turnoff for the red-blazed Casino trail, I was surprised when we suddenly found ourselves at a scenic overlook. It almost seemed like we had to be a lot further along than I'd thought we were - and sure enough, a British gentleman hiking in the opposite direction confirmed where we were on the map. He suggested we could keep going and see another 3 great vistas along the ridge, but commented that after the final vista - the one overlooking a reservoir - there would be a lot of ups and downs and another 2 hours of hiking if we wanted to continue on. So we decided to see the ridge views over the next quarter-mile and then turn around and come back on the Casino trail as we'd originally planned.
As we followed the yellow blazes, the views popped like fireworks BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! one right after the other. Just before the final one, there was a little sign on a rock, with yellow arrow, saying "VIEW". I thought that was pretty awesome.
Here is the final genuine accept-no-substitutes Official View:
You have to look at it from this specific point, helpfully marked with a big yellow X:
Hikers go a little crazy for a good view, it just can't be helped:
Yes, it's a good view 360 degrees:
We backtracked to the Casino trail, which was embarrassingly well marked. And we found ruins of what I assume is a former cog railway to take wealthy patrons up to the casino. Or at least presumably they were wealthy on the way up the mountain.
The Casino trail descends steeply with a lot of loose stones on the path. This made the footing a bit tricky in places, but we saw a guy and girl doing some trail running (it seemed like he was teaching her; who knows if the relationship survived that particular adventure). Then it gets more typically woodsy and goes into a long series of switchbacks before terminating in an unexpectedly modern metal staircase with several flights of stairs and a viewing platform that has all the modern conveniences except for a view. At the very bottom, we see the terminus of the railway:
The walk through Beacon to the train station was longer than I'd thought. I checked on google maps afterward, and it is apparently 1.6 miles.
Some political signs on the square (they were all gone the following weekend, but signs on private property remained):
We stopped for French onion soup and a glass of wine at the River Terrace Cafe. This bar/restaurant was pretty much the only dining option en route (if you don't count Bob's Sandwich Shop / Convenience Store and a pizza place and chinese take-out in a strip mall). But the French onion soup was delicious, the server was friendly, and it's hard to beat the view.
We timed it just right to rest and relax before our train home.
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