Inwood Park, Old Posts

Inwood Park Walk (pt. 2) & the Columbia “C” Explained

A view of the water from the shore.
10
Dec


Here’s the rest of Monday’s walk through Inwood Park, Manhattan’s last vestige of primeval forest.  Not a lot of history discussed in this post, just pictures.

A quick recap…this is the side of the park I entered through (on the west side of the Amtrak rails, and the West Side Highway)…A view of the water from the shore.  
In the summers lots of soccer, little league, and barbeques.  The Manhattan side tower of the George Washington Bridge in the distance….
A park with trees and grass in the foreground.
To get into the main park, the pedestrian bridge takes you over the Amtrak rails….
A tree is in the foreground and a fence near some trees.
Then this tunnel takes you under the southbound Henry Hudson Parkway (past The Tuft’s of Flowers mosaic from the last post)….
IMG_0816
A little farther along up a hill, there’s another tunnel that takes you under the northbound Henry Hudson Parkway, and you come out here…. See the cars? They’re doing about 75 mph.  The lamp posts are from the 1930s, installed during WPA (New Deal) projects…
A trail in the woods with leaves on it.
A repeat picture from the last post, just because it’s so Planet of the Apes-like to see lamp posts like this…can you see both of them?
A pole in the middle of a forest with trees.
Most of the paths are narrower than this, and not as well defined.  I went the other way, and climbed more hill…
A stone wall in the middle of a forest.
From the hilltop, this is the clearest view you can get of the Cloister tower…
A clock tower in the distance behind bare trees.
And after a short walk farther along the hilltop, this…
A tree in the middle of a forest with leaves on it.
There are no really old trees surrounding this overlook, it must have once provided an unobstructed view. By the trampled leaves, it looks like people still find it though.
A fence that is in the middle of some leaves.
It seems they expected quite a number of people back then…Look to the far left, I thought that was another entrance to the overlook.
IMG_0832 
  …
A tree that is laying down in the woods
…obviously windstorm damage…
A forest with fallen trees and debris on the ground.
If you’ve spent any time in a car in the metropolitan area, the radio always reported traffic conditions “under the apartments.† Those are them…  A tree with yellow leaves in the background
…and a less obstructed view of the Cloister tower…
A view of the tower from behind trees.
Leaving the overlook and continuing down the other side, just a few feet away…this really is Manhattan….
A wooded area with many trees and leaves.
And then a real mystery….
A group of rocks and sticks in the leaves. 
And this….
IMG_0840
Continuing over the crest…
A trail in the woods with leaves on it.
…and along the path…
A trail in the woods with trees and leaves.
The clearest view I could get looking east from this altitude…. The Broadway Bridge leading to Riverdale (the Bronx) is the bluish metal structure to the left of the tree.  The Tracey Towers, the tallest buildings in the Bronx (I think still), are the twin buildings in the distance.  The white dome through the thicket are tennis courts across the Harlem River in Riverdale.
A view of trees and buildings from the ground.
And one lone jogger passed by….
A person in red jacket near tree and cat.
And the Columbia “C†from high above.  Painted by Columbia students in the 50s. Today I learned why it’s there!
A tree with bushes and trees in the background
But that’s in a bit.  First there’s this…I have no idea. 
A trail in the woods with rocks and trees.

Assuming they were never moved, what could this have been a foundation for?  On a less cold day I will go back and do some forensics. That’s a serious foundation slab…if you know, please speak up…..
A stone wall with trees and bushes in the background.
I took the steep way down…some of these are looking back on my descent…
 A fence is shown in the middle of a forest.

A stone wall with leaves on it and trees in the background.
The path must have once been more manageable, since it leads to these most accommodating stone steps…
A ladder going up the side of a hill

At the bottom is this monument…It announces this spot as where Peter Minuit “bought†Mannahatta for sharp edged metal tools (and of course, some beads). There’s another monument at the Battery commemorating the same thing.  It very well might have happened in both places, since he dealt with the wrong people the first time. 

The tulip tree is pretty incredible, 1658-1938.  The Wall Street wall was 4 years old when the tulip tree sprouted.  That’s how old my father was when it died.
A plaque that is on the side of a building.
From the bottom, looking along the last segment of the Harlem River where it meets the Hudson just beyond the Henry Hudson Expressway.
IMG_0864
Panning to the right a bit, a lagoon. Those are seagulls, and they’re walking…
A body of water with trees in the background
A white bird standing in shallow water with its legs crossed.
Farther to the right, this is mud under a sheen of water…ecosystems don’t get much richer than this…Manhattan’s last salt water marsh.
A body of water with grass and trees in the foreground.
This how 21st century urbanites enjoy the park…they stay mostly down below…
A lamp post in the middle of a park
…and have this view, looking across a lagoon at fjords from Manhattan.  That’s the Spuyten Duyvil train station across the way under the Henry Hudson Bridge.
A bridge over the water with people in boats on it.
Just another minute’s walk farther along is Columbia’s Wien stadium.  I thought this was the closest I would be able to get…. (The Broadway Bridge is in the back.)
A baseball field with many empty bleachers.
But the gate was open…(see blog title)
A statue of a lion on top of a pedestal.
It’s important to pay respect…mutton chops, gilded age…the first wooden stadium and this monument were both erected in 1928…read the bottom: “‘C’ Clubâ€â€¦.
A plaque with a face on it in front of a building.
From the uppermost seats in Wien Stadium. Now you know why the “C†is where it is….
A football field with a view of the bridge.
Five hundred feet later I’m back in the city…The Broadway Bridge, the downtown 1 train passing, buses and cars at all the wrong angles (this is why it’s so easy to skate in the Manhattan, vehicles don’t move.) 
A red car is parked in front of some buses
But if I’m going to leave you with that image, I might as well show you a few miles away, a few hours later….A busy city street with cars and lights at night.

4 thoughts on “Inwood Park Walk (pt. 2) & the Columbia “C” Explained”

Comments are closed.