Catskill, NY

Tuesday was another gray rainy day. We left Haverstraw around 0700 to meet up with Looper friends Linda and Robert on Errante- we first met them back in 2014. They were headed south and we are headed north so we connected (literally) just downriver from West Point. We tied up alongside their 42' Nordic tug and floated together while we caught up on each others' adventures. It was fun to see them again!

West Point from the river.

"Beat Air Force" on this side of the roof, "Beat Navy" on the other.

We saw several small tows pushing a barge or two and a few pleasure boats, but not much traffic on the Hudson.

Esopus Meadows Lighthouse

Bannerman's Castle ruins on Pollepel Island

Saugerties Lighthouse

We had planned to stop at Kingston for the night, but it was just noon when we approached, and the weather was not appealing, so we decided to keep going to the next day's destination, Catskill. The Catskill Mountains are beautiful! "Kill" is part of many geographic names in New York. It is a Dutch word that means stream.

Catskill is a small, historic town along the river. This area has river towns, valley towns, and mountaintop towns. We will spend about a week here exploring all of these and waiting for other Loopers to catch up. We have rented a car to make the most of our time here. Today (Wednesday) was bright and sunny, so we drove up in the mountains to Kaaterskill Falls.

Kaaterskill Falls is a 2-tier waterfall that drops an impressive 260 feet. Niagara Falls, in comparison, is 187 feet high. 

The upper tier plummets 180 feet. I was nauseous just standing on the viewing platform built out from the side of the cliff.

The young woman sitting at the foot of the falls gives an idea of its size.

This is Rip Van Winkle Country and home to the Hudson River School, a mid-19th century American art movement- romantic landscape painting- typified by Frederic Church and Thomas Cole- their homes are on the tourist circuit here. More about that later...

Kaaterskill Clove, a deep gorge near Palenville.

United States Military Academy at West Point

There is an unusual bright light in the sky today- if I remember correctly, it is called the Sun. It has been awhile since we've seen it in all its glory. We felt almost giddy to have those clear azure skies all day long!

We are enjoying our time at Haverstraw Marina.

Today we joined fellow Loopers Carolyn and Robert on a tour of nearby West Point. Duty, Honor, Country..... West Point is awe inspiring. It is the oldest active military base in the U.S. Tomorrow, May 22, marks the start of graduation festivities here.

The setting overlooking the Hudson is breathtaking.

Amphitheater for band performances

Some of the captured canons displayed at Trophy Point.

During the American Revolution General George Washington had several forts built along the Hudson in this area, including Fort Clinton and Fort Putnam. The river narrows and twists here, making in an ideal spot for fortifications.

In 1778 Washington had the Great Chain constructed and installed across  the Hudson from West Point to Constitution  Island to prevent the British from sailing up the river. Each link is two feet long and weighs 114 pounds. The entire chain weighed 75 tons and was over 600 yards long. The British Royal Navy chose not to test these fortifications. These 13 links, representing the 13 colonies, are all that remain of the original chain.

Civil War Monument. The column is the largest single piece of polished pinkgranite in the western hemisphere. Canons are buried barrels down in a circle around the monument in the hope Americans will never again fire on each other.

The bronze angel atop the monument.

The base of the Civil War Monument. The names of officers killed in battle victories are inscribed on the base.The torches are upside down to signify extinguishing civil conflict.

The names of enlisted men who were killed in these battles are inscribed on the belts circling the globes.

The cannon mouths are each inscribed with the name of a battle.

We ate lunch at the historic Thayer Hotel.

It was a great day, topped off with stops at West Marine and Stop and Shop- then back to the boat to relax.