Saturday, November 5, 2016

Old Erie Path and Piermont Pier, NY


ABOUT THE PARK:
Old Erie Path - Traillink.com
Piermont Pier and Marsh - Rockland Audubon
From Piermont Parks and Recreation:
The Piermont Pier – The Piermont Pier stretches about a mile into the Hudson River. The pier, built in the 19th century to accommodate river traffic and used during World War II as an embarkation point for troops heading to Europe, is visible from the Tappan Zee Bridge.

DIRECTIONS:
GSP Coordinates 41.04008, -73.91372
Municipal parking lot D on Gair Street.

TRAIL MAP:

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HIKE DISTANCE:  9.8 miles

THE HIKE:
Parking lot birds.
Exit the parking lot on Gair Street and turn left.
In town cross Piermont Avenue and then right on Tate Street.
Aqua blazes of the Long Path on Tate Street - veer left up the steps...
... continuing up ...
... and up ...
... to the top, cross Ash Street directly on to the Old Erie Path.
25 miles to Jersey City.
Views of the Hudson River and Tappan Zee bridges (both new and old at this time).
NOT happy about 2 dogs passing by on her trail.
Piermont Pier where we would be heading later.
Old Erie Path
Some ornate steps up to homes on the left.
This is a very busy trail.
A bench ...
... with views for a break.
New and old Tappan Zee.
Road crossing where the Old Erie Path becomes ...
... the Raymond Esposito Trail.
Steep steps down to the dog park.
These two will just take a peak at the dog park from up here.  Sebastian wouldn't play nice and Shawnee can't play.
Crossing over...
... the New York State Thruway.
Flower over the Thruway.
After crossing the Thruway the trail becomes very urban so we turned around and headed back.  That would have been at just over 3 miles.
Back at the bench for another chicken jerky break.
Quick glimpse of a downy woodpecker.
Our next destination after a quick stop in town.
Stopping at the Bunbury's Coffee Shop right around the corner to grab coffee and lunch to go.
Then back to the parking lot to throw some stuff in the car and on to the pier.  We exited the lot through a barrier at the eastern end, turned left then right following the sign to the pier.
Another dog park.
Time for lunch, obviously for all.
Cormorants
Sleeping and/or watching?
Cormorants everywhere.
At the end of the pier about 1 mile out.
Heading back.
Now that must be some interesting pee-mail.
Instead of returning the way we came, we veered right on to the ...
... North Shore Walkway for which Shawnee, as a wheelchair bound individual, qualified.
Real dogs are better than fake dogs any day.
At the end veer left to exit ...
... the right on Gair Street back to the parking lot on the left.