[Journal Entry for September 25, 2012; Alpine Boat Basin, Palisades Interstate Park, NJ] In the early morning, I hiked with my daughter Hannah’s Australian Cattle Dog, Estel, at the Alpine Boat Basin in Palisades Interstate Park. The day was beautiful; sunny with a clear bright blue sky. I parked at the lot at river level, driving down the access road from Exit 2 on the Palisades Parkway. The boat basin is below the Hudson Palisades cliffs, but though they are impressive, they can be seen only from limited vantages, for the tall trees that grow along the base of the cliffs obscure the view of their sheer tops. The view of the Hudson River and of the more distant parts of the cliffs further north is very nice. We first walked north, along the sidewalk by the docks, viewing the many boats that are moored there. This area has several park buildings, constructed with the beautiful stonework characteristic of the New York / New Jersey park system. The largest, which is some sort of pavilion, has an impressive archway. It basin also contains the Kearney House, a white-painted stone building, dating from the 1760’s. We stopped by a little beach at the north end of the basin where I have, in the past, launched my kayak. Estel played for a few minutes, wading into the Hudson River and romping in the sand. We then pushed on a little further to a small picnic area set on a terrace between the Hudson River and some low sandstone bluffs. The shore is not easily passable north of this point, for the water laps right up to the bluffs. (The Shore Trail, the hiking trail that follows the river, takes a route higher up on the slope and avoids this area). We then turned around and retraced our past. I spent a moment viewing a large boulder, weighing many tons, which fell from the cliffs in 1896, narrowly missing the Kearney House. We then walked the park access road uphill, passing a little log cabin, and reaching finally the top of the cliffs. We then switched to the hiking trail that more or less parallels the access road, and followed it back down. We took a little side trip along the way, walking through the Long path tunnel beneath the access road. Back at the basin, we say for a few minutes along the sea wall at its southern end, at a point where we had a nice view of the towering cliffs above. About one hour.