Mt. Taurus & Cold Spring, NY

Sat morning I met up w/a friend who had very nicely agreed to "go climb stuff" with me. We took Metro North to Cold Spring, NY. It's a small, very pretty town on the Hudson only about an hour and a half away from Grand Central. The plan was to do some hiking in the Hudson Highlands. It's a pretty ride with views along the Hudson the entire way. Once we got out at Cold Spring Station, we were a bit lost since the trail info we had mentioned City Hall and Fair Street(neither one was anywhere in site). We walked down Main Street to the river to check out the views of Storm King (right across the river) and Bull Hill/Mt.Taurus (directly across the river from Storm King & the highest peak in Putnam County).Then we stepped into the Hudson House Inn & asked for directions. We got two different sets of directions & decided to opt for the more optimistic version which only involved walking up Main Street to the "Upper Village" where we'd find the City Hall. We first found the sports store where we got great advice & better directions. All we had to do was make a left on Fair Street (near the city hall) and follow Fair St. until it becomes SR 9D and then we'd find the trail heads near Little Stony Point Bridge. It was an easy enough walk along Fair, then SR 9D & there are several pretty old houses with amazing gardens & the Hudson all along the way.We did a brief detour loop across Little Stony Point Bridge over the railroad tracks, through the woods & down to the Hudson. We saw very few people (a family out with their dog, two fishermen, and a young guy who asked us for directions.) After enjoying too brief a time at the water, we walked back across the bridge, found a trailhead across the road and began a long walk through overgrown forest. We took the Washburn Trail "White Blaze" uphill through a forest of dogwoods, oaks, and shagbark hickory trees. The sun was HOT and the humidity would definitely take its toll on us by the end of the day.After a long climb, we reached an abandoned quarry.Though half the mountain was stripped, the base of the quarry is starting to recover - grass is knee-high and trees - sumac, cottonwoods, oaks, cedar - grow scattered across the base of the quarry - some even growing up on the steep walls. I could definitely see the comparisons our hiking guide made with African savannah. Soon another hiker showed up and we were off & back up the steep slope of the quarry to find the summit of Mt. Taurus [1400 feet up!]. We got a bit sidetracked & had trouble finding the right trail - no markers were up and there were three paths on offer. I suggested the fattest looking path going off the right, and then we compromised on a skinny path hugging the edge of the cliff since it promised to be more scenic...so scenic in fact, that it lead straight off the top of the cliff. Retracing our steps, we went for the fattest path and followed along until more confusion at another unmarked fork...My friend spotted a yearling white tail and we stood quietly watching the deer as it stood quietly watching us. Finally, we made our move to walk up the path and the deer remained - in the middle of the path, staring at us. Since bow hunting is allowed in this area, we worried that perhaps it was an orphan. It showed little fear of us until we came VERY near and then BAM...off it leapt into the forest. It followed us for some time through the forest & we wondered if it was going to follow us all the way home. That would be a tough one to explain to the landlord. Shortly after the deer incident, we stopped for a breather on a large flat rock & while I was waving out my bandana, startled a VERY large black snake. Never fails - as my hiking buddy says, the snakes love me. ick. Yes, I am very much a girl sometimes. Then it was back to the trail and yet more climbing. It's nearly all a steady climb - doable even for someone with short legs like mine & only one trekking pole. After much more hard work, we reached a very large flat rock with a big white arrow. This apparently was the summit - though not indicated in our trail guide (who writes these things anyway?!) and the summit is probably actually at the 2nd point where we stopped. We stood for a time in the hot sun on a massive piece of granite and took in the view which includes a large chunk of the Hudson Valley, the town of Cold Spring and farther off mountains and a brownish orange haze which other hikers indicated was Manhattan. There was a group of older "professional" hikers - you know the kind, worn boots, all the right gear but not in a "hey, I just spent $1000 at EMS and REI" way...One of the was an older Australian guy and later on the trail he informed us that there was sign of coyote & the fact that is black indicated "a fresh kill". I always just figured that black stool meant that it had been out drying in the sun for a while. What do I know...He was very excited by our "wildlife" sightings and said he wanted to stick w/us for a while. Not much further along this very pretty, tree-shaded stretch of path my hiking buddy (he of the eagle-eyes) spotted a big snakeskin. Once I had my "girl moment", I insisted that we take it with us. I took the "non gross part" and he took the rest. Yum. On around another bend and we were hit by yet another beautiful vista - this being the disputed "real summit" - apparently, this point is 200 ft higher than the top of the antenna on the Empire State Bldg. so there. From this point we could see a vast stretch of the Hudson Valley all the way to the Catskills & the 'gunks. We did a timecheck and cut our viewing short, following the path down from the summit. It was a long haul over rocky paths & a less than sturdy log bridge over a small brook...but eventually, we came to some carriage roads (much rockier than what you find in the 'gunks) and here we ran into more hikers - two groups though none loud or obnoxious. We followed the carriage roads down & down until we spotted the old Dairy Road & the ruins of the old Cornish Dairy. In descriptions in various guides, I'd imagined this spot to be in a mountain meadow with old stone buildings falling into disuse. Um. no. Mostly cement, many of the outbuildings are less than attractive but one larger building is really very photogenic. About 20 minutes more walking and we reached another split in the path. We followed the blue blazed "Notch Trail" downhill and finally saw the old cistern for the estate - the size of a swimming pool, it was full of black & green brackish water & snags of old trees - really creepy. Following a stone wall further down the road, we found the impressive ruins of the old Cornish house and outbuildings. The house, though gutted, is still an impressive stone ruin laden with vines & the massive chimney still stands - two stories high. The place is quiet and makes one wonder about what happened here - the guidebooks only say "the last of the family died in the thirties"...onward...we climbed over the low stone wall and headed back down what had become a very civilized packed road & then a paved road. Our sore feet were very happy to hit pavement and we trudge down to the old gate to the Dairy - the stone pillars & rusted metal looking very much like you would imagine. My friend, in his estimable wisdom, ignore my whining (I was very tired & in dire need of a real bathroom at this point)...took us along a small path through the woods that followed SR 9D for about fifteen-twenty minutes more of ups & downs until we reached Little Sandy Point & the way back to Cold Spring. We trudge along through town & finally ended up at the Hudson Inn where, despite the fine white linens, we were ushered to a corner table and given water and food and beer. I've never been happier to see an air-conditioned bathroom with a flush toilet & a limitless supply of water. For dinner I had: arugula/mixed greens salad, Becks, a huge baked potato and some great steamed asaparagus. It was perhaps one of the best meals I've ever had. After that, we limped out to a bench by the Hudson to drink in the view. Occasionally, I'd point up at Mt. Taurus & say, "we climbed that?"...and then it was off to catch the train back to NYC & then subway home.