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Where in the Hudson Valley…?

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Watch your footing, readers — they don’t call it Breakneck Ridge for nothing. The mountain, which straddles the Dutchess and Putnam county line on Route 9D, is famous for its challenging hiking trails, craggy cliffs, and breathtaking views. Together with Storm King Mountain across the river, it introduces the pictorial gateway to the Hudson Highlands. Fishkill resident Vincent Kane nabbed this month’s high-rise prize; for another quiz that will take you to great heights — like, say, a famous “boat” atop a roof — go to our new Chatter section.

It is indeed a steep hike, though not very long. One word of warning: If you bring your dog, be careful he or she does not go ahead and dislodge a rock that rolls down onto you clambering up below — which has happened to me. A human hiker would yell “Rock!” but the dog was not so considerate.
Patty Lee Parmalee
Wallkill

If you’ve ever driven from Beacon to Cold Spring on a beautiful day, you’ll realize how popular the trail is as you try to avoid all of the cars parked up and down 9D. It is not an easy climb, but the views once you reach the top are amazing.
Erin Cercena
Via hvmag.com

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I never hiked it, but must have passed it a thousand times over the past 50 years. I just recently saw an old movie on TV of Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town — the ridge was in one of the scenes as the old locomotive traveled south towards New York City. It hasn’t changed since the movie was made in 1950. I have quite a few pictures of it myself — it’s a beauty!
P.J. Pisanelli
Beacon

This is a magnificent and peaceful area of the Hudson, very undeveloped. I pass this area on the way from Westchester to see my friends in Beacon; no matter how many times they tell me I can save time taking the Taconic Parkway, I cannot bear to miss the beauty of the Hudson River.
Denise Sommer
Via hvmag.com
 

Far-out Flashback

We asked readers to share their stories of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival in celebration of its 40th anniversary this month:

My 22-year-old daughter still wears the hand-crafted leather belt I swapped for two cans of Rheingold one summer Sunday morning a long time ago.

I remember the ride in atop Sly’s equipment truck on Friday, spending a wet night huddled under my scout poncho in a churchyard, and staking out a poncho-sized area on the hillside early Saturday morning. As the morning progressed, folks began to crowd around, then sit on the edges, until by the middle of the afternoon, we were all shoulder-to-shoulder.

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The music began at noon with Quill, a Boston-based band (I think) and didn’t stop until early Sunday morning when the Airplane took the stage. What a show! What a story and what a memory.
Bill Langham
Via hvmag.com

Where were you during the famed “Aquarian Expo?” Tour our photo gallery (courtesy of New Jersey resident James Shelley), and add your own groovy memories to our “By the Time We Got to Woodstock” feature.

Corrections:

In our Woodstock article last month, we confused the originally intended location of the 1969 festival. It was to be held in the Town of Wallkill in Orange County, not — as we wrote — in the village of Wallkill, which is in Ulster County. (Of course, neither ended up hosting the event; that honor went to the Town of Bethel in Sullivan County.)

In last month’s “On the Town,” we misidentified the Hon. John McGuirk and his wife, Joan Cusack-McGuirk, who is the vice-president and chief nursing officer of St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital; the two attended the Yellow Bird Gallery’s “Sunset Celebration” event in June.

 

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