nature-you.org Blog

Kids Hike at Silvermine Lake 
July 22, 2007

I was the only one who had to pick up 4 people (Angela, Chiong Wen, Karen and Nancy) in Flushing when there were 13 other vehicles went Silvermine Lake directly from home. Amazingly, it was basically a family activity. There were 59 hikers from age 3 to 60 (27 kids) joining the first Kids Hike of Nature-You Club.

The weather was supportive and all kids were exciting while waiting for the take off after getting the game sheet and pencil. If they were still there without being interrupted in last few days, the kids had to find the colors of the 10 ribbons which I had tied on the trail on Tuesday. We started at 10:15am and moved slowly along the Yellow trail. They had to be careful otherwise they would miss the ribbon. Parents safeguarded the young hikers because the trail was stony. I had to go to the front to ensure the ribbon was there or announced cancellation of that point. When I looked back, I saw how parents took care of their children. What a picture of sweet families! Usually, the mom took care of the really young ones and dad ran around to take pictures. The teens would like to walk faster and acted like more independent. Since so many families signed up, it was also a good chance for the kids to meet new friends of same age. I didn’t want to interfere their quality times so just cancelled the plan of teaching the kids on hiking techniques.

We reached the destination which was the William Brien Memorial Shelter at the trail end of Yellow trail in 1.25 miles. 2 ribbons were found lost. Almost all kids got all 8 corrected so everyone got a prize. Some of them played the small beach ball right away with parents. It was then time for me to play with them. I asked hiking related questions to give out the second gift to everyone. After a short break, we went back to the parking lot along the same trail so I could get back the ribbons. It was time for lunch. All these families were well prepared for the lunch. I saw Japanese shushi, western, Chinese dim sum, ham and bread, homemade lunch and any styles, you named them. It could be an outdoor International buffet restaurant if we lined them all up on the picnic tables. I served a cold/icy water melon at the end.

There were 5 suggested afternoon activities listed on the program sheet. No families either prepared BBQ or brought boating equipment. Eventually, about 20 people followed me for the completion of Yellow trail by going to the other direction to reach the Stockbridge Mountain shelter in 1.5 miles. We came back in 1.5 hours to cover the 3 miles journey. A few families went to the Silvermine Lake and touched the water at the small bay. Little Jackie’s family went up the skiing slope to reach the top of the lift. A few families enjoyed the time of feeding the wild geese. A few families stayed closed to the vehicles and played ball games under the shade. Quite a lot of families went to Woodbury Outlet because it was just 30 minutes farther down.

It was a good sign that the young ones enjoyed going to the wild. It should be more desirable compared with their regular activities, liked: on the computer, on the phone or on the television. It was also a good balance for those who spent a lot of time on dancing shoes, on drawing or on the piano.

Oohh, I am soo tired!!!
July 15, 2007

This trip could be better if I had done these: remembered the terrain of the trail, checked the weather and started 1 hour earlier.

I had a group of 13 signed up for this so-called 10 miles Level C hiking event. The same group finished 8 miles pretty good last month so I under estimated the difficulty. I forgot the terrain was so rough so I accepted Yuen even though it was his first hiking in last 5 years. It turned out, I heard he murmured “Oohh! I am soo tired” twenty times in the whole trip. I didn’t check and know it was such a humid day that everyone sweated seriously so we needed more water to prevent us from dehydration. I forgot we started earlier last time so we could save time of sunlight and no need to rush to the end. Lucky enough, we all came back no hurt except me because I carried too heavy and I didn’t drink enough water.
 
We came by 4 cars, met at Visitor’s Center at 9:30am and started climbing Ramapo Torne by Seven Hills Trail and a newly marked Red trail. Moon, Kelly, Xinli, Yim, Miu, George and Jack hiked so fast liked a walking machine. Yuen had to pick a branch as hiking pole after 30 minutes. To carry the heavy melon up to the Torne was silly so my energy level was going down gradually. I stayed to the back most of the time to go with Jessica, Sandy, Joe, Aliena and Yuen. The terrific view over the Torne paid for the sweat. We took a few great pictures at the Torne during the long break. We went on the rough Orange trail and took early lunch at the Russian Bear viewpoint. We only finished 3 miles before lunch, but I knew I must cut the melon to release the weight of my backpack.

We hiked fast but the weather was so humid that we needed water to keep us alive. We transferred to Black trail and then White Kakiat trail to visit Grandma and Grandpa Rocks. George and Yim were out of water so I had to cut my reserved to share. Girls started questioning about how many more hills in the front. I told them there would be one more on Yellow trail that I could see someone’s face turned pale. We pushed our hiking potential to the fullest extent to finish this mile without break and so happy to see the White Conklins Crossing Trail. We had a long break at Pine Meadow Lake as we knew the end point was only 2.5 miles downhill slope away. Still, these 2.5 miles was not easy for those who had already used up every drops of their energy. Yuen said he was not able to drive without immediately taking a big hamburger. I wondered how many of us would call sick for tomorrow. Being hiking on so many up and down slopes, here I announced we had finished a Level D hiking trip.

We came back to the parking lot around 5pm. If we had started 1 hour earlier, we wouldn’t hit and get wet by the 15 minutes heavy rain at that moment. The rain was so long and heavy that Joe, Sandy, Aliena and Yuen had no more energy to wait. They left us right away even without getting the stamp. Those who stayed could enjoy a cold water melon. That was really a big treat especially after such a tough journey.

I hope to see everyone again in the 12 miles trip in August. It would be better prepared.

Who had picked the best blueberry?
July 14, 2007

One more time, I brought a huge group of 57 people to Kanawauke Picnic Area to hike on the same trail of last month. I intended to do this not because I was running out of new trails but here we could provide a good chance for all family members to enjoy the treat from nature, nature grown organic blueberries.

Once again, I had about 12 families with more than 20 minors, a few seniors and some singles. I really enjoyed seeing the family units in the mountain which would provide chances of interaction and communication between generations. Once again, I prepared a simple matching game to keep the minors busy so they all forgot how far they were going to hike.

The free picking of blueberry was the highlight of today. Everyone (from age 4 to age 65) were behaving liked bees to visit different blueberry trees to eat and pick. Someone asked if there would be any harm to the nature? I said it would help indeed because wild animals would go further off the trail and enjoyed those they might forget for last few years. I didn’t think any single animals would die of shortage of blueberries. A kid collected a full plastic bag that was turned into blueberry juice at the end. Alina, Joe and Sandy were smart to put the fruits into a plastic bottle. Jessica Wong used her large hat. Angela finally started the picking game after lunch while Mr. Ng remained calm in front of vast blueberry garden. Sean and his friend went all the way into the bushes in order to search the king sized fruit. Someone replaced her regular lunch by eating 2 pounds of blueberry.

Kids found the spots matching with the photos and got little prize. We found the bowling rocks, shelter, ship rocks and stone trail mark. When we reached the Time Squares of Harriman Park, someone was mixed it up with the one with subway services. The 3 trunks bridge and the overturning tree that created a shelter had caught the eyes of the young hikers.

Tea eggs were served at the middle of the trip which was the second best food of today. I heard someone could eat 3 in a row. Likely, it was time for Jessica to franchise the food and opened her chain store. Cold water melons at the parking lot were appreciated after the long walk on the main road under the sun. Probably all participants would never forget the happiness of picking blueberry today. It was because their memories would always get refreshed when they saw the pretty stamp from their Hiking Passports.

Lake George cabin camping
July 4-8, 2007

1 trip, 2 cabins, 3 groups, 4 vehicles, 5 days, 6 meals cooked, 7/4-8 at Lake George.

We had totally 15 people joined this cabin camping trip at Lake George. The main purpose was firework on Independence Day. There were enough choices of activities in this area but our main purpose was hiking. We were lucky to have Ray to sort out the good hiking trips for us.

July 4th rained so heavily that Ray, Sarah, Jack, Wing, Kathy, Karen and Yim were completely wet at the hiking trail. We enjoyed first home heated dinner by Jessica Wong, Lisa, Fannie and Cheryl. The firework show was marvelous even with open umbrellas because it was closed to the scene.

July 5th was a surprisingly good day that good enough for a short hike to Prospect Mountain. The caged bridge across the highway and huge picnic area at the mountain top were special features of the day. We planned to go boating in the afternoon, but a short sudden rain cancelled the plan. Most people went for shopping at the nearby outlet while Jessica and Michael prepared BBQ dinner. Betty and Kelly came back on time to help. We had good food and good time next to the grills. The heating and eating of marshmallows solely added a pound to each of us.

There were 2 different hiking trips on July 6th. A majority group went for a short one and turned out could not finish it because of quick coming lightening and thunderstorm. The heavy down pour had switched on the survivors’’ instants so everyone ran downhill for life. Heavy rainfall also stopped this group from visiting the mineral rocks garden in the afternoon. The minority group finished its mission by climbing two fire towers. We all enjoyed Chef Jack’s delicious food at dinner. Most dishes were empty that could reflect the quality of the food and skill of the chef.

Since some of us were tired after days of hiking, there were options of activity on July 7th. Half group went for a long hiking trip and the others would try their final effort to dig out the best buy from the outlet. It turned out the long trip had to be changed into a medium trip because of trail maintenance. After driving on the very hidden and rocky bumpy path, we spot out the trailhead. The 360 degree wide opened scene from the fire tower was amazing. On the other side, the harvest from the outlet was also unbelievable when everyone opened their shopping bags at night. Everyone was happy because they got what they liked most.

July 8th was the last day of the trip. As the 300 miles driving would take more than 5 hours to go back home, we all agreed to start early to avoid traffic. The cabin keys were returned around 8am and we were lucky to touch the city before 3pm.

Lemon Squeezer, friends everywhere
July 1, 2007

9:30am in the morning at Lake Askoti when three cars brought 12 hikers to join this 8 miles well-known Lemon Squeezer trip. We had Nature-You earth-breaking fans liked Karen, Wendy and Yim; Nature-You semi-staffs liked my girlfriend, Jessica and 26 years friend, Kit; Nature-You recently active fans liked Moon, Miu and Kelly; also we had first time Nature-You fans who came from different hiking groups liked Sharron from HiCamp, Yat from CMC and George from independent party. I was so happy that we had friends from everywhere.

We started at 10am after a short briefing when we caught a small group of HiCamp hikers who missed their leader because of coming late. In order to bring the orphans back to the group, we hiked in full speed so we could catch them before they left Times Squares. In less than a mile, our group merged with a big HiCamp group. Our mission completed in 20 minutes. Excellent job, NYC.

The hikers were enjoying a lot of speed walking so we covered 3 miles and reached Lemon Squeezer in just an hour. Lemon Squeezer was named because that trail segment was narrowed down by 2 pieces of huge sized rock. All 9 petite girl hikers could pass without being squeezed. Kit and Yat could fight the way through while I was the one almost stuck there. It was because I was carrying an 18 pound water-melon in my backpack that doubled my body size. We took early lunch at 11:45am by Island Pond.

Here came a familiar voice calling Michael from behind. It was George, Ah Chan and Chi Chan of CMC. What a surprised and pleasant encounter! It had been a long time that we couldn’t hike or lunch together. Everyone enjoyed the brisket beef and chocolate nuts cake made by Jessica and the cold water-melon carried by Michael. Pleasant time passed fast and it was time to split with them. We had 4 miles and they had about 8 miles to go.

The front hikers were still continuous hiking in a fast pace that made Yat felt in the training camp. The time that we saved was finally used when Jessica found ripen blueberries on the Yellow trail. Free picking was always welcome by people living in the city. We were as busy as bees that had to visit different plants to find the dark blueberries. We used whatever container we could find and spent an hour on picking berries. Jessica suggested we should pop in a handful of berries instead of one-by-one. We ate liked drug addicts but it was fun, though.

Last mile on Long Path slowed down a little bit because someone got tired and toes hurt. Sharron learned rock climbing so she tried to challenge a piece of sharp edged rock. Wendy and George followed but all three failed because they were not tall enough. Let’s invited Ming Yao, probably he could hold on that only sharp edge and hopped up that step. We finished the 8 miles hiking by 3:30pm including an hour of blueberry picking.

Let me feel the weight
June 30, 2007

30 people met at Johnstontown Circle by only 6 cars which meant almost all cars were fully loaded. Feng Chen’s family of 7 was the greatest participation today. New NYC hikers included Sherrina, Pho Chan, Joann, Jade Wu, Grace Gee, Chui Huan, Joey, Jack, Angela, Thompson, Howard, Liang Tsai, Ming Siew, Chun Cha, Li Chong, Denise and Melissa. There were lots of hiking lovers who needed to be served.

We crossed the Seven Lakes Drive after climbing a small slope. The trail followed was so green with enough shades. All beginners had no problem to follow and high mood to enjoy the sceneries. The 3 young hikers were like chasing each other. Since there were so many beginners, I used to take the chance to teach them hiking technique, how to carry backpack, how to protect the feet and how to read trail marks. Joann was so curious about my big heavy backpack which I thought it was about 30 pounds. She begged me to give her a chance to feel the weight. I gave her to carry during the 10 minutes break and got it back when resumed hiking. She was satisfied. Later, I found she took a lap when the group was taking group pictures. Was that so heavy that made her so tired?

We took lunch at the green lawn spot facing Lake Sebago with canoes game showing in front of us. Here we met Ray and Sarah who intended to meet us for lunch together. The treat, chocolate nuts cakes from Jessica was welcome by the young hikers, only Pei Pei was disappointed by missing Jessica’s tea eggs. The cold and sweet water melon always surprised people and the melon skin burial hopefully will show an example of nature recycling.

We climbed the last easy upslope before heading Dutch Doctor Shelter. After the last long break and group picture taking at the shelter, we headed back to the parking by easy downhill trail. We found an eagle sitting on a rock by the trail so each camera got 10-20 pictures of it in 5 minutes. We reached the parking at 2:30pm which was early enough for Feng Chen’s daughters to go back Queens to take the piano class at 5pm.