I had mentioned wanting to spend at least a little time exploring some local hiking trails while we visited New York.

While I’m usually drawn to activities where I can sneak in some camera time, I also wanted to fit in a little bit of exercise to our holiday.

Luckily, the immediate area had a lot to offer and we chose an intermediate level trail on Mt Taurus, aka Bull Hill.

new york mount taurus bull hill washburn trail hike hiking hudson valley
Hiking Bull Hill, just outside of Cold Spring, New York

As mentioned in my previous post, the colors of Autumn were still in full effect during our time in New York.

new york mount taurus bull hill washburn trail hike hiking hudson valley
Arriving at the Quarry

In retrospect, the abandoned quarry at Bull Hill gave a real sense of scale to our little adventure.

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A quick portrait in the abandoned quarry

I may have stopped often during our hike, obviously under the guise of a spectacular photo opportunity but mostly to catch my breath.

Turns out it was a really good idea that we stopped on the way to Bull Hill for some hard roll breakfast sandwiches.

new york mount taurus bull hill washburn trail hike hiking hudson valley
About mid-way through the hike

As we made our way higher up, there were less leaves on the trees and more on the ground.

Hiking tip: leaves are slippery (wet or dry!)

new york mount taurus bull hill washburn trail hike hiking hudson valley
Our hiking guides/lovely ladies, making sure we stay on schedule

We had a few other activities that day so we had to cut our hike a little short.

new york mount taurus bull hill washburn trail hike hiking hudson valley cairn cairns
A cairn, or rock stack, along the trail

And of course we added a rock or three to the cairn we encountered for posterity/zen/whatever you fancy it to be about nowadays.

cold spring new york mount taurus bull hill washburn trail hike hiking hudson valley
Cold Spring, from a lookout point on the trail

Did I mention New York is beautiful in autumn?

new york mount taurus bull hill washburn trail hike hiking hudson valley
Me, by Ashley

All told, we did between 4 or 5 miles of hiking.

new york mount taurus bull hill washburn trail hike hiking hudson valley
The Hudson, from a lookout point on the trail

One of our mid-hike realizations was about the timing of our trip, if we had visited in the summer, many of the sweeping views of the area we were able to enjoy would have largely been obstructed by foliage.

cold spring new york hudson valley
The riverfront around Cold Spring

After our hike we visited Cold Spring for lunch and dessert.

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Post dinner ice cream in Cold Spring

The ice cream was a real treat, local and fresh.

cold spring new york hudson valley
Made fresh from local sources

After some rest, we decided to visit one of Ashley’s old high school hang outs, The Eveready Diner!

hyde park new york hudson valley diner eveready
The Eveready Diner

I’m not sure why Texas doesn’t really “do” diners, maybe we should. Maybe diner is just a fancy word for restaurant. Or maybe Tex-Mex just isn’t conducive to diners.

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A New York Diner

All in all, it was another great day exploring New York.

There’s a few more photos to share, so stay tuned!

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