Philipstown connects trails; Nelsonville opens Village Green

by James Shearwood

Joining together at the "Vine Cutting" ceremony officially opening the Nelsonville Trail are (l-r) Jane Daniels of the NYNJ Trail Conference, Emma Garschagen, Walter Garschagen from the Nelsonville Greenway Committee, County Executive Bob Bondi, County Legislator Vinny Tamagna and Barbara Kendall, Director of the Green Conservancy for the Hudson River Valley.

If this is Day 5, it must be Garrison and Cold Spring; if it is Day 6, it must be Nelsonville.

The Hudson Greenway Trail Tour came through Philipstown this week, starting in the rain at Manitoga on Monday morning at 8, and leaving from the officially opened Nelsonville Trail and Nature Preserve on a cool and beautiful Tuesday morning at 9.

In between, a group of core hikers and local volunteers walked new trails, heard history re-enacted, and visited a trailhead made possible largely by Greenway Conservancy grants.

The Trail Tour is a ten-day event, taking participants from Battery Park in New York City to Battery Park in the Capital District outside of Albany.

One of the purposes of the Trail Tour, said Barbara Kendall, Executive Director of the Conservancy, "is to encourage communities to link local trails into a regional trail system along both shores of the Hudson River."

That is already the goal of the recently formed Philipstown Greenway Committee. It would like to develop a ridge trail and a river trail, said Committee Member Jackie Grant.

In fact, one of the highlights of Monday’s hikes was a preview of a new trail through Glenclyffe, the property recently acquired by the Open Space Institute from the Capuchin Friars. When this trail is opened in October, pointed out Kevin McLoughlin, a thru hiker from the Conservancy, it will be possible to hike on protected lands from the Manitou Train Station to the Garrison Train Station.

And even as the hike was proceeding, Howard Kaplowitz and other members of the Philipstown Greenway Committee were speculating that it might be possible to continue the trail north to Cold Spring.

Although it was a hardy group of eight hikers that Americorp member Avery Long lead in the rain from the Manitoga Nature Preserve to the Appalachian Trail, as the sun came out the group was joined by the Garrison Pony Club and others as they made their way north.

At the South Redoubt a lunch catered by the East Side Kitchen, transported by Hudson Valley Outfitters and organized by Philipstown Greenway Committeeman Michael Gibbons was awaiting the hikers.

South Redoubt, in the process of being restored, is within the Garrison School Forest. Given to the District in 1956, the 188-acre forest is administered as "a big school yard," said Board Member Anita Prentice as she welcomed the hikers to the site.

It was here that Greenway Committeeman Robert Hutchinson in the role of Private Martin in George Washington’s army spoke of the importance of the Redoubt – fortifications to protect guns – in the defense of West Point.

History Professor Colonel James Johnson from Marist College took that one step further, saying the fortifications were to protect the chain across the river from West Point to Constitution Island. It was effective, he said, as the British never got further north on the Hudson River, and from 1778 to this day West Point is the longest continuously occupied army base in the United States.

At a well attended barbecue at the Depot Restaurant in Cold Spring on Monday evening, County Executive Robert Bondi listed initiatives the County was making to preserve open space; Philipstown Supervisor Bill Mazzuca said, "Welcome to Philipstown;" and Greenway Committeeman Gibbons said, "I hope you enjoyed hiking our trails today."

Karl Beard, NYS Director of the National Park Service Rivers and Trails Conservation Program, who has been receiving gifts for a Trail Tour Trunk was presented with a copy of the New York Walk Book and a miniature parrot cannon. The Trail Trunk is expected to become part of a traveling exhibit. Earlier in the day Director Beard was presented with a piece of cut rock from Manitoga and a brick from the Foundry Museum.

As one of the first to sign on to the concepts of the Hudson Greenway, Nelsonville has benefited greatly, said Walter Garschagen, Chairman of the Nelsonville Greenway Committee.

"For a town of our size to receive up to fifty thousand dollars in grants is phenomenal," he said.

The 110-acre Trail and Nature Preserve was given to the town by the Open Space Institute and the trailhead at the end of Pearl Street, behind the Town Hall, was developed largely with Greenway Grants.

There is an additional trailhead at the end of Wood Avenue and Gate House Road.

On Tuesday morning, living up to its title as Gateway to the Hudson Highlands, the Nelsonville Village Green was the point from which the Trail Tour Hikers took off for Mt. Taurus, Breakneck Ridge and beyond.

After a breakfast catered by The Hudson Valley Outfitters, the Village Green, across from the Nelsonville Village Hall on Main Street, was officially opened.

"It was time to thank everyone," said Garschagen.

Garschagen was joined at the opening ceremony and ribbon (vine) cutting event on Tuesday by County Executive Bondi, County Legislator Tamagna, Philipstown Supervisor Mazzuca, Nelsonville Board Member Gary Watkins and representatives from the Greenway and the NYNJ Trail Conference.

The list of those being thanked was only slightly smaller than the population of Nelsonville.