Hiking through Manhattan (High Line)

Three weeks ago, Carrie, my brother (Steven), and I headed to Manhattan's west side to climb the High Line, an elevated rail line above 10th Avenue (mostly). The current High Line is a remnant of a much larger elevated freight rail system, and it has been out of use since 1980. The trackbed provides a glimpse of what New York would look like if it were abandoned and turned over to nature.

The High Line starts at 33d Street and 12th Avenue near the MTA's Hudson Yards and runs to Gansevoort Street and Washington Avenue in the Meatpacking District. I have wanted to walk the line for years and it was exactly as much fun as I thought it would be. I've posted our photos of the trip on Flickr. (This was my first trip to Flickr as well.)

threeThe easiest access to the High Line is by a truck trailer parking lot on 33d Street between 11th and 12th avenues. I didn't take a picture of the lot, but Bluejake did, so if you see this place walk in and head to the back. The track comes down to grade behind those trailers.

There is more commetary with the picture captions, but I want to put this warning here:

Walking the High Line is illegal. The track is the private property of CSX and climbing aboard is trespassing. The buildings along the High Line are also private property. There are multiple obstructions to get around and through - some objectively dangerous (including razor wire and precarious balance). It is a fun trip, but be careful.

How long was your hike, did you see other people along the way?

Great stuff. Check out a site called Abandoned Places for pics of more...abandoned places.

There's a whole subculture of people who like to go into closed subways, buildings, etc, and explore. I think David Morrell's next novel is about these folks.

3 posted on 08/04/2005 6:22:53 PM PDT by Darkwolf377 ("The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they'll be when you kill them."-Wm. Clayton)

Hey Willie - This is what all passenger rail lines are going to look like in the future.

4 posted on 08/04/2005 6:23:34 PM PDT by narby (There are Bloggers, and then there are Freepers.)

This isn't mine, though I'd love to do it. I found it on boingboing.net there was a good article about this and I followed the link.

5 posted on 08/05/2005 6:00:54 AM PDT by jb6 ( Free Haghai Sophia! Crusade!)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.