Go climb a mountain !

It was about 87 degrees on Sunday afternoon and pretty humid. So what did we do? We hiked one of the steepest trails around (well, steepest to me anyway). We headed north to Beacon, New York a
nd hiked up Beacon Mountain to the ruins of an old hotel/casino about 1200 feet above sea level!

The hike started at the base of Mount Beacon when a pretty steep set of metal stairs leading up the mountain. What was deceiving about this,

that while steep, it was easy going up the stairs and after about 5 minutes, we came to realize that this hike was going to be tough. The trails were fairly rocky which helped with footing but it was the heat that was a killer !

Along the way up the mountain we could see the old footings from the Incline Railway that existed here from about 1903 to 1978. Our goal was to reach the summit and the remains of the powerhouse that pulled the railway up the mountain. The foundation of the old casino and hotel were still there, but very little remained.

Once we finished our lunch at the base of the casino, we continue up the the mountain to the Mount Beacon mountain fire tower! I still can't believe I made it to the top - I hate heights! But after hiking all that way, I wasn't about to reach the top and NOT climb it !

All in all, it was a great day !!! Thank goodness the deli at the base of the mountain was open!!