[Journal entry for June 21, 2012; Englewood Boat Basin] It's another hot and sunny day. Like yesterday, I park at the Englewood Boat Basin in Palisades Interstate Park (PIP) and hike a loop - today to the north. I begin with the Shore Trail, which follows the bottom of the Hudson Palisades cliffs, on the west shore of the Hudson River. The view from the Boat Basin is spectacular. I can see the majestic cliffs, and to the south, the tall buildings of Manhattan and the George Washington Bridge. The northern end of the Boat Basin has a sandy beach. A sign explains that it was a very popular public beach, back in the early 1900's. I visit the ruins of a large bathhose, set in the trees near the cliff. It has only walls now, but they have very impressive stone archways built of the stone from the cliffs, a diabase which weathers dark brown. This beautiful stonework is characteristic of most PIP buildings. I pass a tiny shed, still in use, with walls built to really last! Workers are readying boats for launching. One is in a wheeled cradle, ready to be rolled down a ramp into the Hudson.

I walk north along the Shore Trail (blazed in white). This section is more eroded than the one I hike yesterday, with many low spots that look to be below water level when the tide is high. Several spur trails offer detours around the worst spots. The bedrock is exposed in places. It is a grey sandstone, full of clay casts and fluvial features, and much different in character than the brown volcanic rock that outcrops higher on the cliff. I pass several small beaches, with sand that clearly must have been hauled in from somewhere. I come to a large grassy meadow with a second large ruin, another bathhouse. It too is just walls, with beautiful archways and other stonework. One ground-level window has been filled in with concrete. Someone has painted the face of a gorilla, looking out. The PIP staff must still tend this area, for the grass surrounding the ruins has been mowed recently. In about three miles - about an hour of hiking - I come to Greenbrook Falls. A thin ribbon of water falls about thirty feet; not much today, but I have seen it roar after a rainstorm. A little past the falls, I connect with the Huyler's Landing trail (blazed in red), an old woods road that climbs up the cliff. It lacks the impressive stone work of the Carpenter's and Dykman Hill Trails, to the south, being a fairly gentle ramp with a few switchbacks. In about ten minutes I connect with the Long Path, and follow the cliff edge sourthward.

I enter the Greenbrook Sanctuary, a nature preserve contiguous with the PIP that is run by the Palisades Nature Association, a local non-profit of which I'm a member. I visit the North Brook, a small strean overgrown with skunk cabbage that plunges over the cliff edge. It has very little water today. I continue alon the trail to an overlook where I can see the upper part of Greenbrook Falls. A thin ribbon of water is falling down a vertical rock face that is about 50 feet high. The upper falls seem to me more impressive than the lower, being somewhat enclosed in a small canyon. I then followed the Greenbrook to its source, a small stone and earth dam that impounds Greenbrook Pond. This is a a surprisingly large pond nestled in a valley just a few hundred yards from the cliff edge. Frogs jump as they hear me walk along the shoreline trail.

After leaving the Sanctuary, I continued south along the Long Path. This section is close to the cliff edge and affords many great views. I stop at several overlooks to view the Hudson River and the hills of Westchester County. The temperature has risen steadily during my hike, and is now in the mid-nineties Fahrenheit. I am getting awfully hot, sweaty and tired. I reach Rockefeller Lookout, a turn out off the Palisades Interstate Parkway. It has several nice overlooks, one which affords an outstanding view to the south. I do not dally today. I am just wanting to be done. I continue southward on the Long Path for another mile and then connect with the Dykman Hill trail (blazed in yellow). It, the access road for the Englewood Boat Basin, and a little stream are all intertwined. Stonework ramps, bridges and tunnels allows the trail to cross the road and stream. After a few minues I am back at the boat basin, eyes fized on the refreshment stand. Two sodas later, I am on my way home. This was a longish hike, about 8 miles total, and took me about four hours.