PDA

View Full Version : Gates of heaven



dgever
05-27-2007, 16:10
Does anyone know where the gates of heaven went?

Heater
05-27-2007, 16:29
Does anyone know where the gates of heaven went?

They had to hide them until Falwell quits making a nuisence himself with all of his rattling and screams of "let me iiiiiiiiinnnnnnnn." He tried to pick the lock last week. :rolleyes:

Chache
05-27-2007, 18:46
Does anyone know where the gates of heaven went?
Are you dead?

Brrrb Oregon
05-27-2007, 21:55
Are you dead?

Maybe his dog died.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_of_Heaven

Chache
05-27-2007, 22:09
Maybe his dog died.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_of_Heaven
I think he's speaking to us from the here after

Lugnut
05-27-2007, 23:27
Does anyone know where the gates of heaven went?


According to google this is a pet cemetery. The AT used to pass right by it before a relocation ( the trail, not the cemetery).

Brrrb Oregon
05-27-2007, 23:34
According to google this is a pet cemetery. The AT used to pass right by it before a relocation ( the trail, not the cemetery).

A fictional pet cemetery.

Re: the AT. Which state? Where? It must be pretty to get a name like that.

Lilred
05-27-2007, 23:42
I think I remember reading a journal that mentioned heaven's gate. In VA, just before the Shennies, if I remember right.

Marta
05-28-2007, 06:12
I took this picture last year. I think it was in NY.

http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=185087

Marta/Five-Leaf

Kerosene
05-28-2007, 06:34
Yes, it's in New York, just south of the border with Connecticut.

Old Grouse
05-28-2007, 07:23
There's a more famous Gate of Heaven cemtery in Valhalla NY, just south of there (near White Plains NY). Bunch of famous folks there. My wife's great aunt is right next to Arturo Toscanini, as I recall.

The Old Fhart
05-28-2007, 09:20
Marta's photo is of the Gate Of Heaven is of the correct old cemetery that the trail used to pass North of old RT-22(A.T. RR station) and about 1 mile south of Wiley Shelter in NY. The story as I remember it was there was a community that was started in that area in perhaps the 1920s and that was the entrance to the their cemetery. The community failed and everyone left but the cemetery and a few graves remain. When I went by in 1998 I walked through and around the entire cemetery and there wasn't much there. I believe there are 4 to 5 tombstones scattered over the entire cemetery which was overgrown with deep grass. It is an interesting spot but I don't think I'd want to tent there!

emerald
05-28-2007, 09:46
I took this picture last year. I think it was in NY.

http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=185087

Marta/Five-Leaf


Heaven is a weed-filled field?

Wildflowers, Marta, wildflowers.;)

Uncle Silly
05-29-2007, 01:47
Oh yeah, I remember that place. Creeped me out big time ... but maybe that was because I night-hiked through there on a foggy night and managed to lose the trail about halfway through the cemetary. I ended up bushwacking through to somebody's yard, met their (very) friendly St. Bernard, and headed down the road until it brought me back to the trail near Wiley Shelter.

Weeds. Wildflowers. Whatever they were, they were tall and a b***h to get through.

gsingjane
05-29-2007, 07:08
OF, could I ask you to clarify... "used to"? Has there been a relo in that area that I don't know about? If so, when and to where? We were through there in April 2006 and it was still there?

Jane in CT

The Old Fhart
05-29-2007, 07:33
Gsingjane-"OF, could I ask you to clarify... "used to"?"The trail did go by in 1998 when I last went by and Marta (2006) and others have passed it since so I have no reason to believe that the trail has been relo-ed there. I was just saying it was there when I went by, not that the trail had moved. Sorry if that wording was a little confusing.

Old Grouse
05-29-2007, 09:46
According to an article on Harlem Valley Mental Hospital just up the road (Rte 22) in Wingdale NY, this was where they interred deceased mental patients. To quote the relevant section:

"A short walk up, east of building 85 and past the reservoir, lies an unkempt field. An archway was erected there labeled "Gate of Heaven." Past the rusty archway is the cemetery for those patients who died at Harlem Valley. No names mark the graves. We could not bear to look at these mentally ill patients while alive. Indeed they are removed from us normals. Even in death, we dare not even mention their names. We certainly cannot embarrass the families."

The link is http://donbrouillette.com/gallery/hvpc/hvpc.html and it includes a photo of the archway.

Old Phart, this could explain why there are so few grave markers. As to the defunct community, are you perhaps thinking about the abandoned community of Dodgingtown CT (near Cornwall Bridge) through which the AT used to pass? That section is now part of the blue blazed Mohawk Trail.

gsingjane
05-29-2007, 13:28
One thing about that area that could be really great is if they finally get off the dime and figure out what's going on with the re-development, and maybe open up the property so people going to and from the AT could access the Harlem Valley/Wingdale Metro North station. We did hike through there a couple of years ago to get to the station, but it was very forbidding and scary, and we were clearly trespassing big-time. I know you can go around the old mental hospital grounds (there is some kind of access trail) but it would be super-neat if there were another way to get to and from the AT by public transportation in that area.

Jane in CT

Old Grouse
05-29-2007, 13:32
Jane, as I'm sure you know, you can detrain at Pauling anytime and walk north 2 miles to the AT crossing, even when the AT stop isn't on the schedule. That isn't too much different than using the Wingdale station, is it?

OG

Old Grouse
05-29-2007, 13:39
Actually, according to Metro North, Pawling Station is closer than Wingdale to the AT, assuming you want to access the trail where it crosses Rte 22. From Pawling north to the AT stop is 2.2 track miles and almost the same by road, whereas from Wingdale back south to the AT stop is 3.1 miles.

OG

Frolicking Dinosaurs
05-29-2007, 14:26
According to an article on Harlem Valley Mental Hospital just up the road (Rte 22) in Wingdale NY, this was where they interred deceased mental patients. To quote the relevant section:

"A short walk up, east of building 85 and past the reservoir, lies an unkempt field. An archway was erected there labeled "Gate of Heaven." Past the rusty archway is the cemetery for those patients who died at Harlem Valley. No names mark the graves. We could not bear to look at these mentally ill patients while alive. Indeed they are removed from us normals. Even in death, we dare not even mention their names. We certainly cannot embarrass the families."

The link is http://donbrouillette.com/gallery/hvpc/hvpc.html and it includes a photo of the archway.The link goes to a sad history.
:: dino dabs at tears :::

Uncle Silly
05-29-2007, 15:13
Actually, according to Metro North, Pawling Station is closer than Wingdale to the AT, assuming you want to access the trail where it crosses Rte 22. From Pawling north to the AT stop is 2.2 track miles and almost the same by road, whereas from Wingdale back south to the AT stop is 3.1 miles.


I did the roadwalk from Pawling Station in '05 when leaving NYC to get back to the AT. Naturally my timing ensured that they weren't making a stop at the AT platform. It's not a bad roadwalk back, and if you're lucky, friendly-looking, or female, you might be able to get a hitch. My dog and I weren't terribly lucky so we walked the whole way, which is how I ended up nighthiking (er, nightbushwhacking) through the cemetary.

I had friends on the same trip that decided to get off at the Wingdale stop instead of Pawling, and blueblazed up to the AT from Wingdale instead of roadwalking back. I think the route they took got them back to the AT in about 1 mile or so. I'm not sure how they got up there, but if you check the AT trail map for that area you'll probably see a blueblaze trail, side road or atv track that'll get the job done. (Naturally this means skipping a bit, so purists will want to take the roadwalk from Pawling...)

gsingjane
05-29-2007, 21:12
I don't remember it being nearly as far as 3 miles to get from the trail to the Harlem Valley station, however we were walking EXTREMELY quickly to get through the hospital grounds because it was truly a place you didn't want to be, even in the day and even doing lots of whistling. There was a woods road where we left the trail, we passed by sort of a funny-shaped lake, and then quickly walked through the actual old hospital grounds. At the time I must have considered using the Pawling stop but don't remember now why we decided not to... also sometimes there are stops (like Garrison) that look on the map like they'd be great, but in practice are a little bit less so.

As a section hiker whose major issue is finding ways to get from and to the trail without paying a fortune, or unduly imposing on friends and family, I just feel like, the more options there are to access the trail by public transportation, the better! But it sure doesn't look like anything will happen in that area anytime soon, so I guess I'll keep on waiting.

Jane in CT