Local Beauty and Bizarre

Pollepel Island
41 27.54 N 073 59.20 W

Ever heard of Bannerman Castle?  If you ride the Amtrak train from Albany to New York it's a familiar sight.  If not, read the bizarre story here.  Anyhow, that's where we're anchored tonight.

I hope we're OK.  There is a massive cold front with storms and tornadoes around Kingston Ontario right now heading east.   It looks like it will pass well north of us.  That's good.  We are in a stretch of the river where right here is the only anchorage around and it's not a good place to sit out a severe storm.

Bannerman Castle on Pollepel Island

The Nearest Mountain

Looking South, West Point in the distance

West Point

Anyhow, the real story here is the beauty of the area.  From the Indian Point Nuclear Plant north to right here is a breathtaking section of the river flanked by steep mountains.   Storm King Mountain is the best known of these, but not the most beautiful.  Smack in the middle of this section is West Point and the US Army Military Academy.   Fantastic sights.

The next stretch of the river is also beautiful because of views of the Catskill Mountains to our west.  Unfortunately, it is very hot and hazy this week so visibility is poor -- only 5 miles.   

I was just thinking yesterday how much we love the sounds of railroads at night.  I've blogged about that in the past.  Tonight will be a real test.  We are only 150 feet from the Amtrak tracks.  Trains going 60 mph and honking their horns pass here every 20 minutes or so.