At the summit of the incline passengers for
the Laurel House, Haines Corners, Ontiora, Sunset, Twilight, Santa
Cruz, Elka Park, and Tannersville, take the trains of the _Kaaterskill
Railroad_, which connect with the _Otis Elevating Railway_."
* * *
The din of toil comes faintly swelling up
From green fields far below, and all around
The forest sea sends up its ceaseless roar
Like the ocean's everlasting chime.
_Bayard Taylor._
* * *
Two miles from the summit landing are the Kaaterskill Falls. The upper
fall 175 feet, lower fall 85 feet. The amphitheatre behind the cascade
is the scene of one of Bryant's finest poems:
"From greens and shades where the Kaaterskill leaps
From cliffs where the wood flowers cling;"
and we recall the lines which express so beautifully the well-nigh
fatal dream
"Of that dreaming one
By the base of that icy steep,
When over his stiffening limbs begun
The deadly slumber of frost to creep."
About half-way up the old mountain carriage road, is the place said to
be the dreamland of Rip Van Winkle--the greatest character of American
mythology, more real than the heroes of Homer or the massive gods
of Olympus.
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