Storm King Mountain (New York)

Coordinates: 41°25′58″N 73°59′41″W / 41.4328716°N 73.9945843°W / 41.4328716; -73.9945843
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the geographical site located in New York State. For the outdoors sculpture park located nearby, see Storm King Art Center. For other mountains sharing the same name, see Storm King Mountain (disambiguation).
Storm King Mountain
Storm King and New York State Route 218 as seen from atop Breakneck Ridge
Highest point
Elevation
  • 1340+ feet (408+ m)[1]
Prominence100 ft (30 m)[1]
Coordinates41°25′58″N 73°59′41″W / 41.4328716°N 73.9945843°W / 41.4328716; -73.9945843[2]
Geography
Storm King Mountain is located in New York
Storm King Mountain
Storm King Mountain
Storm King Mountain is located in the United States
Storm King Mountain
Storm King Mountain
Storm King Mountain (the United States)
Parent rangeHudson Highlands
Topo mapUSGS West Point
Climbing
Easiest routeTrail hike

Storm King Mountain is a mountain on the west bank of the

Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. It can also be seen by southbound travelers on nearby sections of the New York State Thruway. This view was a popular subject for early artists of the Hudson River School
.

While thought of as the highest point in the area, its summit reaching approximately 1,340 feet (410 m) above sea level, the eastern summit known officially as Butter Hill is actually higher, with an elevation of 1,380 feet (420 m).

Name

Storm King, by Homer Dodge Martin (1836 ..1897), in the style of the Hudson River School.

During his initial voyage up the river, Henry Hudson and his crew named the mountain Klinkesberg, due to its wrinkled rock cliffs near the river.

Later, the early

colonists of the region referred to the mountain simply as "Boterberg" (Butter Hill, since the mountain looked like a lump of butter; the English translation was later the common name for the mountain). During the middle of the 19th century, writer Nathaniel Parker Willis
, who had become a resident in the region, proposed the name Storm King:

The tallest mountain is ... looked upon as the most sure foreteller of a storm. When the white cloud-beard descends upon his breast in the morning ... there is sure to be a rain-storm before night. Standing aloft before other mountains in the chain, this sign is peculiar to him. He seems the monarch, and this seems his stately ordering of a change in the weather. Should not STORM-KING, then, be his proper title?

The section of New York State Route 218 that winds around the eastern slope of the mountain overlooking the River Hudson was originally named the Storm King Highway. That name is often used presently for the four-lane section of U.S. Route 9W to the west, with Route 218 referred to as the Old Storm King Highway.

History

Rte 293 adjacent the West Point
golf course.

During 1962 the mountain became the topic of an

executive branch decisions in federal court. During 1979 Con Edison finally abandoned even a greatly reduced version of the project, and settled another lawsuit against their Indian Point facility by agreeing to regulate the operation of their Hudson River power plants so as to minimize the number of fish they killed and endow the Hudson River Foundation with $12 million.[3]

After

forest fires on the mountain during the dry summer of 1999, unexploded ordnance remaining from 19th century artillery tests and training at the nearby United States Military Academy
was discovered in some areas close to the trails. As a result, hiking on the mountain was prohibited until October 2002, when authorities could be sure it had been removed safely.

On February 20, 2011, a

rappelling,[4] when a New York State Police
chopper proved unable to complete the task.

Hiking

The mountain is a major part of

hikers. The orange-blazed unnamed connector trail, leading to the yellow-blazed Stillman Trail, most often accessed at a parking area on U.S. Route 9W
, offers an immediate and steep climb up Butter Hill followed by a longer and more relaxing hike to the summit of Storm King.

Although attempted infrequently and not permitted by the park authorities, there are documented technical rock climbing routes above the river, as well as ice climbing, when conditions are favorable.

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Storm King Mountain, New York". Peakbagger.com. 2004-11-01. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  2. ^ "Storm King Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  3. JSTOR j.ctt7zw8tw
    .
  4. ^ Rosenberg, Noah; Goldstein, Joseph (22 Feb 2011). "Night Helicopter Rescue Lifts 2 West Point Cadets Off Ledge - nytimes.com". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 Feb 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Storm King Mountain.
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