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Three raindrops in the mountain
May 17, 2009

Blamed it to the weather channel which forecasted a raining day from 9 am to 1 pm on Sunday, this scared away 10 hikers from my list. It turned out three is the keyword of today which symbolized 3 hikers, 3 cameras and only 3 raindrops in the mountain. Thanked to Mother Nature delivered a few raindrops which made Moon’s stamp totally relevant with the trip. She had designed a stamp with green background and a few raindrops on a plant. It was a cold but sunny day which was perfect time for taking pictures for the new grown vegetations. R-D ridge was a wide open area with lots of natural features. Moon and Rose enjoyed the exploration of those special poses of plants, rocks and fallen branches. With presence of all of the above 3 factors, they made this more a photo taking trip.

My plan today was 2 miles to Times Square and lunch at Bald Rock Shelter at half way. We then came back along Yellow and Long Path to complete 6 miles. We started from A-SB Red Trail at 9:45 am. The wind was strong and freezing cold that we had the feeling of early winter. The first viewpoint was 3 lakes on a line. We took the group picture at this point so it wouldn’t hurt even heavy rainfall was on its way. Both girls were very artistic so they could see the beauty from the nature. We took pictures for white baby mushrooms and fallen leaves. We reached the Times Square around 11:30 am. There were 3 trails merged at this spot so it took Moon a few minutes to locate the correct direction. We took R-D Red heading Bald Rock Shelter. There was a new overturned tree trunk blocking the trail. It was a very good demonstration of how a giant tree could stand firm on piece of shallow soil by just using numerous small roots.

It was liked an exhibition of varies species of pine tree in the nature. We were busy taking pictures with varies types and poses of pine trees, flowers, cairn, rocks, burnt tree trunks and trail marks. Moon had very good eyes to spot those miniature living species hiding beneath the rocks. Rose liked to shoot and be shot within ocean of green bushes. Since she wore yellow T-shirt today, her photos among green vegetations were so outstanding. She joked our team was a moving traffic light because I wore a red jacket and Moon was on light green.

As we were passed by a large group of Korean backpackers, we decided not going to take lunch at the Shelter. We found Ship Rocks was the best shelter against strong wind so we stayed there for lunch. Moon remembered this huge rock with which she took picture in her first trip with Nature You in 2007. We switched to Yellow Trail to start the 3 miles way back. The trail was gently downhill after this point. We could hike in a faster pace also because my camera was running out of memory, and both Rose and Moon’s cameras were running out of batteries. Three raindrops felt on my jacket when we were in the Yellow Trail. Moon felt release because the reality was reflected accurately on her stamp.

We switched to Long Path and reached the parking lot by 4 pm. We used 6 hours for 6 miles. Even our pace was slow, but the photos harvested were great. Rose had her record high 365 shoots, Moon had 168 shoots and I had 130 shoots.

M.O.M.—2 High Points and the Sun
May 9, 2009

I didn’t know Nature You Club was not only a place we could do physical exercise but also mental exercise. Moon was the Chief Stamp Designer for our trips. At this trip before Mother’s Day, she graphically designed a stamp which could capture the elements of Mother’s Day, the weather, trail terrain and art of calligraphy.

I had Simon, Ping, Rose, Minh, David and Moon which no one bore the title mother in this trip. We met at Seven Lakes Drive visitor’s center before 9:30 am. The weather was cloudy which disappointed Moon. The Sun was so important to her not only because of photo taking but also perfection of the stamp. According to the plan, we would climb Ramapo Torne along Blue Trail, descended to the valley from Orange Trail and climbed up back to Russian Bear. It would be a 7 miles trip with 2 high points which supposed with splendid views. As there was thunderstorm warning at 4 pm, I announced I would adjust the hiking plan according to the weather changed. We hiked quite slowly because of photo taking. Moon spot 4 big flowers off the trail which attracted David, Simon and Rose flew there to take closed up pictures. The last portion on Blue Trail was steep and the weather was very humid, this made us sweated a lot. We approached to Ramapo Torne found the fog was so dense that no views at all. The group picture taken over there looked like we came from the foggy sky. All new hikers had no idea how high we were standing now. As we missed the chance of good views, I promised we would be back later this year.

We continued on Orange Trail and reached Russian Bear around lunch time. It was my designated lunch point since it was a high point and hopefully less annoying flies under strong wind. The view was blocked by fog again but flies were very annoying. The wind was not strong enough to clear the flies. Ping had to put on his head net. Rose served us cookies for the celebration of Mother’s Day. The sky was clear for a few minutes so all photographers took chance to shoot. The clouds moved fast so I rushed the teammates to get back the hiking gears after lunch. It looked like we wouldn’t have the chance to see the Sun today.

In Moon’s stamp, she drew 2 artistic Ms to symbolize 2 mountains (high points) we would climb. She added “ay” after the second “M” to show the date. She also put the smiling sun to symbolize “O” in between the 2 Ms to spell MOM which was the theme of Mother’s Day. If there was no Sun today, her design would be ruined because of 1 missing element.

When we were hiking on the high area of Orange Trail, Moon smiled and proud to tell us her stamp was perfect because the Sun showed up at this moment. The sun was even so generous to accompany us for the rest of the trip. We reached Pine Meadow Red Trail at 1:30 pm. The rest 1.25 miles was basically flat. We had very relaxed pace and we separated into smaller groups. Ping walked with Minh and David at the front, Rose focused on photo taking under rich sunshine and Simon preferred to spend quiet time closed to the running water. We reached the parking lot by 2:30 pm which was safe enough from thunderstorm. Moon proudly showed us the stamp and cheered up when someone could understand the meaning of 2 high points and the Sun on the stamp.

A Stamp that Could Reflect the Nature
May 3, 2009

We all heard about the unstable weather about Sunday but 9 hikers insisted to go to the mountain. Since the route was closed to Route 106 which meant I could have the flexibility of cutting short the trip when heavy rainfall started, I didn’t cancel the trip. I had Feng came back after a break. William, Kim, Ping, Rose, Esther, Moon and Minh joined this hike to witness the greenish environment. The vegetations were even greener and cleaner after the heavy down pouring in the afternoon.

The rain on Palisades Parkway didn’t scare people away. I led all 4 cars to Route 106 trailhead before 9:30 am. It was cloudy and we expected we would have 3 hours of dry trail before the rain started here. If we didn’t want to get wet, it was possible to hike 6 miles in 3 hours. I announced we would hike in a fast pace so we had to be efficient and effective when taking photos. I led them to an abandoned shelter along White Bar. Likely, it was the last shelter to be collected by Ping from Harriman Park. We didn’t see much vegetation in the mountain last week. But now, the valley was green since new leaves grew. The green was fresh like new born so Moon called it baby green. Feng sighed we didn’t get sunshine today because the leaves were transparent on the photos that he took yesterday. With the presence of our ultimate photographers, Rose & Feng, it was impossible to pull people from taking pictures. I found the clouds accumulated quickly above of us and we still have 2 more shelters to go.

We took a break at the junction of White and Orange Trail. The flies didn’t give us a break but no one prepared head net. We switched to R-D Red Trail after 2 miles. There were uphill slopes on this section until we climbed to viewpoint at Parker Cabin Mtn. Rose suggested to take a group picture with a large field of green vegetation but I thought we could have a better spot afterwards. It turned out, we missed this only opportunity. Moon felt knee pain on this downhill slope which was impossible to hike on more hills. I decided to lead her back to the car by taking Blue Trail while the rest of the team will follow my nominated leader’s lead. I knew Ping was qualified but he was far at the front. I was confidence on Feng because he was always happy to help and he was not going to disappoint me. I suggested Feng to cut short 2 miles because the rain was approaching. After we left, the team kept on R-D after taking a break at Tom Jones Shelter, descended back to Route 106 and climbed Black Rock Mtn. I got the phone call report from Feng, the whole team decided to accomplish the original plan of 6 miles. They would keep going to the Bald Rock Shelter and turned back along White Bar.

Rain started earlier than scheduled 12 noon. Feng did a great job of taking care of the teammates as the trail is becoming more slippery. We waited at the parking lot for an hour so witnessed the heavy pouring in that area. The portion on White Bar was quite flat so they came back safe at 2 pm. Everyone was well prepared with raincoat so our teammates were not too messy. It looked like Moon could anticipate the weather because she had designed and printed the very appropriate stamp for today. It was a stamp in which green leaves with dripping raindrops. They took a group picture at lunch point. This likely was the first group picture without the leader. Fortunately, I got a responsible backup leader and a group of experienced hikers to make this a completed trip.

Heart Beating and Lost Breathing
April 26, 2009

Weather forecasted a 90+ degree hot day which cut today’s group size into 5 hikers. The actual humid weather on the field further cut the number of hikers who could complete this 6 miles route into 2. Simon, Esther and Rose decided to stop at 4 miles point and waited for Ping and me to pick them up. Rose had the double impacts today which were fast heart beating and lost breathing.

When we were chatting outside and waiting for Ping’s car at gas station at Palisades Parkway, Rose said her heart beating was fast in a sudden. We followed her eyes direction knowing Ping was arriving. Likely because she was happy to see Ping as she wouldn’t afraid of being “sold” or “flown” to other unfamiliar drivers. We started hiking at 9:45 am at Route 106 on Yellow Trail heading Irish Mountain. The flies were crazy hungry to see us so we tried not to stop too long. We had to put on the mosquito head net which made us looked like an alien hiking team or swordsmen. After leaving Irish Potato, we descended to hit Palisades Parkway. The stream was quite rough and nobody knew this was the spot that someone had to stay here for an hour later this afternoon.

We crossed Palisades Parkway and I pointed them the steep stony trail. We took a deep breathe and started climbing up. There were portions of bare rocks which required hands to hold tight from falling backward. After passing the Scott Memorial, we had to climb up a cliff surface. It was the most risky section especially in rainy or icy seasons. In order to be away from flies, we picked the spot on the cliff where with strong wind to have early lunch. This was also the best viewpoint of today.

I targeted The Pines as the midpoint before heading back because it was a high point with good view. We would have 2 more hills to climb after lunch. As the temperature accumulated fast in the afternoon and there was no much vegetation in the mountain, it made the trip more difficult. We reached The Pine but Simon and Esther had almost drunk up their water. I felt sorry of not turning back after lunch and brought my teammates in danger. I should cut short the trip under such bad weather. I gave my spare water to Esther and Rose and led them started the return trip on the same trail. We hiked back to the lunch point and climbed down the cliff. It was even more risky than going up this morning. The rocks were so hot to touch now. When we reached Palisades Parkway, Rose claimed her breathing was difficult. She lost breathe for a few seconds. I knew heat stroke was dangerous so requested her to rest at this spot for my car pick up. Esther found her toes were hurt and Simon felt impossible to finish the rest hilly sections with just half a bottle of water. Therefore, Ping and I got the mission of fast finished the rest 2 miles and drove here to pick them up.

The final 2 miles were not easy because of the weather condition. I tried to run but I had nose congestion due to allergy. Ping was also tired so we had to slow down to save our energy. We had to keep on sipping water to avoid of being overheated. I found this trip was a tough level C because the trail was either up or down. We reached the parking lot by 4:10 pm and rescued our teammates right away. I felt comfort after picking them up at the spot of separation by 4:30 pm. They told me they were interviewed by patrolling police as they were staying closed to the highway.

Snake and Turkey
April 19, 2009

We had 10 hikers joined today and it turned out to be an exhausted and excited trip. The up and down hill slopes hurt someone’s knee and the 5 feet snake scared us all. A turkey flew away because of our disturbance but didn’t help to release our feeling of unsafe. It was Minh’s first trip with Nature You this year and others included Jennifer, William, Kim, Ping, Rose, Esther, David and Moon.

After warmed up exercises, we started the trip from Elk Pen at 10 am. It was a windy day but not cold enough to give us some winter sceneries. We went for the similar trip last year when we had beautiful ice formations. After crossed Route 17, we climbed up steep slope along AT which had given us enough challenge to our leg muscles. Esther coughed a lot and she blamed it on her allergic reaction to pollen. We took a break at the viewpoint that could overlook the whole area. When we reached the intersection of Blue Trail, we saw the message box for AT hikers. We went downhill along Blue Trail until we hit Yellow Trail. I told everyone we would do the Yellow loop so we would come back to this spot later in the afternoon. William joked he would rather stay here and waited for our return.

We saw a lot of Indian settlement remains in that area. We reached a parking area in 2.5 miles but no way to stay because the flies attacked seriously. We preferred to shut the mouths and kept moving. The giant stone accumulations were special that attracted Moon’s eyes. She symbolized them as lonely but strong heroes. We took pictures at an open area where we could see enough pine trees and eagles. In order to visit the rough running water and historical furnace, we switched to Red Trail. As the flies were annoying at the water, we could not have a comfortable time to enjoy the food at this spot. I targeted the next viewpoint where I hoped strong wind would blow away the flies. We hit back to the Yellow Trail and took lunch there. Minh claimed he liked the trail of New York better than west coast because there were vegetations in the mountain.

Moon and I led the team continued our trip after lunch. While we were at the lunch point of last trip, Jennifer shouted at the back with fear, “snake!” When Moon and I turned around, we saw a 5 feet black colored snake was moving slowly next to the trail. Since the color was not shiny, we didn’t see it when we passed. It was lucky that both Moon and I hadn’t stepped on it. Moon was so frightened to see the creature. All other teammates passed it with care while Kim unreasonably hit it. Moon screamed and walked forwarded when the snake was frightened and coiled up.

The fear in Moon’s mind of the snake was replaced by a colorful flying turkey 5 minutes later. As both parties were in fear, we had no time to take out the camera to catch the image of the turkey. The trip came to more quiet as we had to pay more attention to the trail for other possible animals. We took group picture in front of a huge tree with the help of Rose’s tripod. The tree was so big that it required Moon, Jennifer and Esther together to give it a hug. The uphill slope on Blue Trail was quite tough as the weather was getting hotter. The steep downhill trail along AT was another challenge to the hikers. David, Kim and Moon had to move slowly to avoid further injury to their knees. The last mile on AT took us 45 minutes to complete and we reached the parking lot by 3 pm. We achieved the goal of 6 miles today.