Hiking Anthony's Nose

 

This morning Victoria and I decided to take a short drive north of the city to hike a small trail in the Hudson Valley called Anthony's Nose.

 One of the side projects that accompany our new diet (currently drinking a beer as I type this)  is that we’d like to get out more and be active on the weekends... So this morning we woke up early, ate our breakfast, packed our backpacks and hit the road. The drive up to New York was quick, only about an hour from Hoboken and finding the trailhead was simple too, it’s right off of the main road. The hike itself was shorter than we expected and it was only difficult for the first twenty minutes or so, the initial climb was a bit steep and the 85 degree heat didn’t help either. The summit had some amazing views of the surrounding mountains and the Hudson River below, we sat and ate a small lunch at the top as well. All in all it was a great little hike and we both agreed on the way back that we had much more fun eating our “Sunday brunch” at the top of a mountain as opposed to riding the bus into the city or eating at one of the local spots in Hoboken... Now on to some photos and maybe another beer, it is Sunday after all.

Here’s some interesting history on the mountain itself, the chains referenced at the bottom are the ones the Continental Army strung across the Hudson during the Revolutionary War (I think that’s cool because I love that time period in history!)

“The peak has been known as Anthony's Nose since at least 1697, when the name appears on a grant patent.[3]The eponymous Anthony may be St Anthony, as a rock formation called "Saint Anthony's Face" existed on Breakneck Ridge nearby before its destruction by quarrying.[3]

Pierre Van Cortlandt, who owned this mountain, said it was named for a pre-Revolutionary War sea captain, Anthony Hogan. This captain was reputed to have a Cyrano de Bergerac type nose. One of his mates, looking at this mount, as they sailed by it, compared it to that of the captain's nose. He said that they looked similar in size. This good-natured joke soon spread, and the name Anthony's Nose stuck to this peak.[3] Washington Irving'sHistory of New York, a satire, attributes the name to one Antony Van Corlear, who was the trumpeter on Henry Hudson's ship.

Other traditions name Anthony de Hooges (1620–1655), a deacon of the Dutch Reformed Church and early settler of Rensselaerswyck, as the source of "Anthony's Nose" – supposedly after de Hooges' own prominent nose.

One of the Hudson River Chains was stretched from Fort Montgomery to the foot of the mountain. The Bear Mountain Bridge was later constructed along approximately that alignment. An airway beacon was once located on the summit.”

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony%27s_Nose_(Westchester)