[Bill Menke’s Journal for August 14, 2010; Clausland Mountain]. In the early morning, I drove up Tweed Blvd in Piermont NY to the old Nike missile base atop Clausland Mountain, now called Nike Park. The sun was just rising, lighting up the rock scarp along the road beautifully. I stopped at an overlook and admired the view eastward, to the Hudson River and the hills of Westchester County, beyond. The sky was glowing pink and a bit of a haze gave the landscape a pastel tone. I could see the Piermont Pier, below me and a bit to the south. I parked at the Nike Park gate, which was still locked up for the night. I walked around the grassy fields of the park and also along two short loop trails through the woods. The park was very quiet, except for the occasional caw of crows. The morning shadows were long and initially only the treetops were in sun. I saw little evidence of the former missile base, except for a couple of water tanks and several concrete pads or foundations, now crumbling and overgrown with grass and bushes (though possibly a park building, which I saw only from a distance, dates from that era). About an hour.

Later in the morning, I visited Rockland Cemetery, which is on the southeast flank of Clausland Mountain. I drove up to the top, spotting a flock of turkeys on the way. The summit area is marked by a prominent obelisk, the grave of Henry Honychurch Gorringe, the naval engineer who moved Cleopatra’s from Egypt to New York City. I spent a few minutes searching for the grave of Maurice Ewing, the geophysicist who founded the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where Dallas and I work. I remembered being shown it by Dallas a rather long time ago, but the dusty memory served to find it. The grave marker is a large slab of marble, with the image of the Research Vessel Vema carved in bas-relief. The stone is visibly worn, though it has only been 35 years since Maurice’s death – acid rain, I guess. About half an hour.

August 19, 2010. In the late afternoon I park at Tackamack Park, on Clausland Mountain Road in Blauvelt, NY and walk the Long Path south to Rockland Cemetary. The trail winds along the western flank of Clausland Mountain, through woods with unusually tall trees. It crosses several small streams, with rather deep gullies but relatively little water, for not withstanding Monday’s rain, the summer has been rather dry. Indeed, when viewed from Orangeburg, to the west, some sections of the Clausland Mountain woods can be seen turning yellow from lack of water, though this is not apparent from the trail. I found a couple of spots where I was able to get glimpses of the countryside to the southwest, but I could find no panoramic overlooks. After reaching the cemetery, I walked to its southeastern corner, where I could get a bit of a view of the Hudson River. I then retraced my journey along the Long Path as far as a junction with a trail blazed in orange, which headed uphill and east. It eventually took me to Nike Park. I walked the park access road to Tweed Blvd and took it north. This road follows the eastern boundary of the park, and has houses on its east side. One spot along it (at least) has a very nice view of the Tappan Zee Bridge. A little further north, I came across a gated woods road that headed west and downhill. It’s rather overgrown with weeds and bushes. I followed a quarter mile or so, until it petered out. I continued westward, bushwhacking and using the sun as my guide. Eventually I came across a trail blazed in white. It led me straight west, back to the Long Path just south of Tackamack Park. About two hours.

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