An Ode to Bonticuo Crag

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rgold

Trad climber

Poughkeepsie, NY

Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 18, 2014 - 09:52pm PT

I've a little trail run I do up and down the crag, so I've been up there a once or twice a week this summer and fall. Rather than the contempt that is supposed to come with familiarity, I find the crag and the fields of Spring Farm beneath it more and more inspiring the more I'm up there. Here are a few iPhone shots, some of which have appeared in other threads, but together they begin to transmit a feeling of the place.

One of the things I've come to appreciate about trail-running is that even though I'm there for a workout, the surroundings are beautiful and it is "ok" to just stop and take a picture---screw the stopwatch, the pace (which in my case is barely perceptible anyway), and all those other measures of progress and achievement.

The young woman in shot #6 is my daughter.

MH2

climber

Oct 18, 2014 - 10:00pm PT

Good.

perswig

climber

Oct 19, 2014 - 03:33am PT

^^Agree!

First thought was "pastoral".

Viel' dank' und mehr, bitte.
Dale

DanaB

climber

Oct 19, 2014 - 06:33am PT

it's a nice place to take non-climbing friends for a sample of the 'Gunks. There is a fun 2nd/3rd class way to the top, great view and it can seem a bit exciting for them.

mouse from merced

Trad climber

The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.

Oct 19, 2014 - 07:21am PT

How's the noggin now, you trail-running young fool?

Of course you REMEMBER that accident, right?

Nice little excursion, BTW, and thanks.

rgold

Trad climber

Poughkeepsie, NY

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 19, 2014 - 08:48am PT

Ha! I decided to leave the blood smear shot out, Mouse. Didn't seem in keeping with the "pastoral" theme noted by Perswig. The wound was small but kinda deep and took a while to heal, but all is well, which is to say I'm no more addled than I was previously.

I'm already not running fast, but did slow down a bit on the level and downhill sections in the hope of not overlooking a toe-hooker again. Now that the leaves are down it is even harder to see roots and rocks, and the dappled light doesn't help...

rgold

Trad climber

Poughkeepsie, NY

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 20, 2014 - 05:29am PT

I'll bump it once, just to give it a little weekday exposure. It isn't very consequential and isn't even about climbing, just a few nice pictures really, so its fate is surely a rapid descent through the pages to an obscurity somewhat like the crag itself, and perhaps that's a good thing...

wilbeer

Mountain climber

Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,

Oct 20, 2014 - 05:58am PT

Very Nice.Looks as if all is very well.

TradEddie

Trad climber

Philadelphia, PA

Oct 20, 2014 - 07:30am PT

Great pictures, they remind me that I haven't been there in a while and need to go back soon.

On my first trip up there I was completely confused by the guide description that said to turn left off the carriage road and go downhill. With 0.1 miles left before the summit, that seemed extremely improbable...

TE

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber

Livermore, CA

Oct 20, 2014 - 08:48am PT

at the Oakdale Climbers Festival Elaine Matthews, Cherry Schacher and Rosie Andrews all had stories about their time in the 'Gunks, sort of made me "home sick" for the place...

and certainly a huge part of that is being there in the Autumn, for reasons you can see yourself in rgold's Ode,

and rgold himself showed up in a number of presentations scattered throughout the weekend.

Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber

Out Of Bed

Oct 20, 2014 - 09:25am PT

No climbing There.
I defer to the
G.O.D.'s of rock....
Pourquoi????

Seth

Trad climber

New York, NY

Oct 20, 2014 - 10:02am PT

Nice post Rich! I love Bonticou, have never sampled the rock climbing but I've done the scramble twice with my kids. It is a beautiful white cliff, and even more so around Memorial Day when the flowering bushes are in bloom.

Here is a photo of my son on Bonticou on a hazy day.

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Oct 20, 2014 - 10:55am PT

hey there say, rgold... wow, SO GLAD you DID bump this up... i had not seen it...

so busy, these days, as, "my aspirational vision from the ol' eyes of the things that i see 'artwise'"--ARE:

LARGER than my time frame, of days and evenings, :)

i really enjoy the pastoral affect that you mentioned here and seeing your daughter, too, and hearing the bits of 'write up' ... hope your doing well, after the head-hit situation, for sure... oh my...

very sweet soft, lovely share, here...
thank you so much...

and say, ed, as to this quote:

Oct 20, 2014 - 08:48am PT
at the Oakdale Climbers Festival Elaine Matthews, Cherry Schacher and Rosie Andrews all had stories about their time in the 'Gunks, sort of made me "home sick" for the place...

and certainly a huge part of that is being there in the Autumn, for reasons you can see yourself in rgold's Ode,

and rgold himself showed up in a number of presentations scattered throughout the weekend.

very nice share... i enjoyed this, too :)

richross

Trad climber

Oct 20, 2014 - 06:25pm PT

From todays hike.

wilbeer

Mountain climber

Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,

Oct 20, 2014 - 06:38pm PT

Great look at it ,Richross. Thanks.

The Lisa

Trad climber

Da Bronx, NY

Oct 20, 2014 - 06:46pm PT

I was running all over the Preserve on Sunday although I did not get out to Bonticou. It is beautiful and I never tire of the scenery.

richross

Trad climber

Oct 20, 2014 - 07:04pm PT

Some from 10/11.

phylp

Trad climber

Millbrae, CA

Oct 20, 2014 - 10:43pm PT

Wow, those are all just beautiful - except maybe the one that looks like it could be poison oak.
Thanks for the self-bump. It's so easy to miss the quality content amidst the dreck clutter that sometimes overtakes page one..
Phyl