A bridge can be both an engineering feat and a symbol of connection, linking people and places while marking a moment between where someone has been and where they are going. That idea prompted one writer to walk across bridges spanning the Hudson River while recovering from an illness and looking for a reason to get outdoors.
Seventeen bridges cross the Hudson between Manhattan’s Battery and the Federal Dam at Troy, just north of Albany. The George Washington Bridge is the southernmost; the Collar City Bridge in Troy is the northernmost. As the river narrows toward its source at Lake Tear of the Clouds in the Adirondacks, the bridges become shorter.
The walks began in spring, after a winter spent getting exercise in shopping malls. The writer, however, considers autumn the best season for exploring the bridges, citing the cool air, the scent of wood smoke and the changing leaves.
The writer’s field notes focus on four favorite bridges, presented from north to south.
Sources: The New York Times Travel.