nature-you.org Blog

The Secret That I Hide During the Trip
August 23, 2009

It was the second visit of Breakneck this year. The weather was again forecasted whole day thunderstorm and raining. In addition with other reasons, I had only 10 hikers presented at the parking lot by 9:15 am. This was the first attempt of Max, John, Tony, Anthony, Magdalene, Rose, Philip and Stanley to Breakneck. That was the reason that I could hide the secret so easily during the trip with the co-operation of Moon.

Our plan today was an 8 miles Level D so we would like to start as early as we could. I didn’t tell the group what would be our route because I still made it open as the weather might turn bad any time. I led the team walked along the Route 9D to reach the trailhead. New Breakneck Club members were shock when they saw the steep trail on the rocky slope. Moon was at the front with Max at the beginning. Tony and John took over because they had put no effort of taking photos. Rose and Magdalene were struggling at the back with the assistance of Philip and Anthony. Stanley had enough energy to run and jump to show his excitement of being here. I was in the middle because of the heavy backpack. It was my first trip of carrying a 10 pounds watermelon up to Breakneck Ridge. As the trail and rocks were wet, we tried to avoid accident by choosing the alternative safer routes. This choose-your-own-adventure broke the team into smaller groups. Luckily, we found each other at the viewpoints. We took pictures with the patriotic American flag and Hudson River. The views over Hudson River and Storm King across the river were great. Our pace was slow but we could not push the new hikers. The only persons who had the map other than me was Anthony. He printed a page of hiking map from Internet so roughly he knew where we were. The element that was missing on his paper was the scale.

Since we had to do some rock climbing on certain spots, it was exhausted for new hikers. Everyone was sweated liked climbing up from swimming pool. Moon was injured on her left arm on a piece of slippery rock. We reached a viewpoint after finished only 1 mile but Anthony announced we had finished 2 miles by reading his no-scaled map. In order not to discourage the lady hikers, I didn’t correct his mistake. I knew they would lose the morale if I said we had only finished 1 mile after 2 hours. Based on the situation of the team, I had decided to take a shorter route of 4 miles. I hid this secret during the trip by not talking about how many miles we had finished. I didn’t lie but just not telling the whole truth. As my plan had been set, I gave them enough time to take photos. The teammates were exciting to be at the summit. Stanley posed a stone licking picture as if he was eating an ice bar.

The trail was flat on the ridge so we hiked in quicker pace. John, Tony and Stanley were in a race. I announced we would take lunch when we hit the Red Trail. Moon probably remembered the lunch spot because we were here in our last trip. This was likely the best location to rest because a Korean hiking group came and shared the space. Moon and I were surrounded by them liked we belonged to their group. The sun kicked in with blue sky which totally falsified the weather forecasted. I cut the watermelon that I had carried 2 miles and climbed 1,200 feet.

We continued on Red Trail going downhill until we hit Yellow Trail. The Red Trail was very slippery even the sun came out because there were enough trees covering the trail. Moon felt unsafe to hike downhill on muddy trail. As I didn’t want the Level D turned into Level B, I decided to bring hikers climbed up Sugarloaf Mountain along Yellow Trail. Moon decided to go downhill at this junction because her wound was painful. The uphill was quite challenging for everyone because it was too hot at this moment. There were no vegetations when we were closed to the mountain top. The view over Hudson River paid back for the sweating and legs shaking. All camera persons and amateur models were attracted by a nature sculpture at this spot. It was a bare trunk but grew liked a dragon head and phoenix tail. I gave them enough time for shooting but before getting sunburn.

As I had lost contact with a participants for 30 minutes, I led the team descended the mountain in a non-stop pace. We found Moon at the trail end where she could find some shades. We finally completed a 4 miles Level C trip at Breakneck at 2:45 pm. This team could definitely hike faster and longer if we had a better weather situation. I could tell everyone was proud and enjoyed the rock climbing section even they didn’t complete the mission. It was their first visit to Breakneck so they could leave the 8 miles challenge for next time.

Rainbow on the Trail
August 15, 2009

We usually saw rainbows on the sky but Rose spot a rainbow within the hikers. There were 12 hikers in this event. I have Jessica in red, Anthony in orange, Harry in yellow, Ping and Philip in green, Esther and Jenny in light green, Moon in blue, Rose in purple and Max and Magdalene in white. Because of this co-incidence, Rose directed us to shoot a rainbow picture at the endpoint.

We met at 9 am at the trailhead which was located next to a horse riding arena. While we were waiting for Anthony’s car, 2 horses passed us. It was our first time that could be so closed to live animals that made all hikers crazy to take picture with them. There was also a woman riding or training a horse. Our eyes were attracted by both the rider and the running animal. Max told us his painful experience of riding horse in Mongol which made him impossible to sleep on his butt. After 30 minutes under the sun, we started the trip by 9:30 am and prepared to hike in a very hot day. We started from Pine Meadow Red Trail until reached the power line road in 10 minutes. As I didn’t see clear trail mark to locate the point of turn, I led the group kept walking along the power line road until I found T-MI Red Trail. Ping agreed with the hiking plan changed. This change didn’t cut short the trip but just made it less difficult. We followed T-MI climbing Ramapo Mountain after ascended 400 feet. It was quite a tough trip for those un-experienced hikers. Harry gave credit to the Red Bull in the morning so he could lead the team at the front. Small sized Jenny, Jessica and Esther were quite exhausted. Medium sized Rose and Magdalene felt legs shaking when we took a break at the trailhead of Red Arrow Trail. Everyone was sweating because of the high temperature and high humidity. We were lucky to have enough shades on this section or we might turn into trouble under this weather.

We finished the short Red Arrow Trail in 15 minutes and continued on Yellow Trail climbing Ladentown Mountain. Here we were mixed by a group of Korean hikers. I told the front group to stop when they reached the Third Reservoir. We took pretty pictures at this spot with bright reflection from the water. I decided to take lunch at a higher point instead of adjacent to the water to avoid flying insects. We took early lunch at 12 noon when I could cut and shared the 15 pounds cold watermelon. It was probably the treat too big so I had to urge them to eat it up. Harry said he might need someone to help drinking the water in his backpack. My mouse pads gave insight to Anthony and Magdalene in their equipment lists of next trip.

We switched to White Breakneck Mountain Trail after lunch. Harry twisted his ankle that made me worried because there was no short cut at this point. Moon taught him how to release the wounds by sitting down and up. Esther puzzled about how came we were hiking at Breakneck Mountain that was different from the one she hiked before. The temperature rose to 90+ degree which made hikers overheated. We met a mountain biker who had to ask water from us. Rose and Harry were so generous to save him. We finished White Trail and connected back to T-MI. The trail was flat at this portion. Magdalene and Anthony were separated with the group. They came in 15 minutes when I was ready to run back to search them. Magdalene felt headache because of the heat. We continued to Yellow Trail but we didn’t stay long at 2 viewpoints because there were no shades.

As we had injury and patient in the team, I had to slow down the pace even it was so hot. I kept reminding people to drink more water and energetic drinks. Moon joked if I had carried 2 small watermelons instead of a big one, then we could enjoy the second one at this moment. We took a long break at the intersection of Pine Meadow Red Trail. Philip told us he lost 30 pounds in a year when he continuously went for tough hikes every week. His waist size dropped from 38 inches into currently 34 inches. I could be relaxed by now because the Pine Meadow Red Trail was mainly downhill with enough shades. We came across a stream so we took this chance to cool off by running water. What great refreshment it was. When we found a shade at the power line road, we stopped to take group picture and the picture of rainbow hikers. We finished 8 miles and back to the cars by 3:30 pm. The hot weather had undoubtedly raised the difficulty of this trip.

Hiking Trip with Part A and Part B
August 9, 2009

The weather forecasted rain would start at 10 am and thunderstorm kicked in from 1 pm. Since our plan was a Level D at Storm King State Park which covered a lot of wide opened viewpoints, I dared not to take the risky of getting deadly hits by Mother Nature. I decided to play safe by cutting this trip into Part A and Part B. The length of the event would all be depended by onsite weather situation of that area.

I had 100% showed up in the morning of all 16 people who had signed up. It was the first trip for Diana, Henry and Stanley. It was the second trip for Max, Harry, Anthony, Magedalene and Philip. Other experienced hikers included Simon, Ping, Rose, Esther, Sam, Tim and Moon. As the parking area was not easy to locate, I led most of the cars to the first parking lot which was located at the Southern part of Storm King State Park. I announced the trip would be segmented into 2 parts. We would finish 3 miles route in the morning. If the weather was fine, we would drive to another parking lot to hike another 3 miles. The trip would be downgraded to Level C but it was my responsibility to make it a safe trip.

Rose brought the group peaches and she was smart enough to distribute to individual before the trip. We started at Bobcat White Trail after warmed up exercise. The flies were annoying so we hiked in a quick pace. After we switched to Howell Blue Trail and Stillman White Trail, we basically hiked all the way downhill to hit Route 293. All hikers enjoyed the easy trail and fast pace. We saw the Stillman Spring memorial stone at this spot. Rain started at around 10:45 am so everyone took out their rain gear. Harry had a bigger umbrella than Magedalene’s. Hiking at Tibet was likely one of the hot topics between Max and Diana. Max and Philip might later group together for their adventure trips in China. Henry and Stanley could exchange their experience in photo taking. We climbed Howell Blue Trail to visit 5 viewpoints. It was the toughest part of today also because of the humidity in the woods. We reached the Pitching Point which gave us the first view of Hudson River. We kept ascending the hill with rewarding better viewpoints. All we needed today was sunshine to make the photos better. Magedalene was frightened by slippery stones so she would prepare the will before her next high level trip. Tim didn’t feel good in breathing and needed a long rest on the rock. We took group picture on one of the pretty viewpoints.

After picking some blueberries on this section, we reached North Point around 12 noon. Since it was a windy high point with less flies but a lot of pretty white flowers, I decided to take lunch at this spot. We were lucky to get the prize of 30 minutes sunshine by now. Magedalene climbed to the surface of a huge rock presumed to enjoy stronger wind but I reminded her to jump down whenever she heard thunderstorm. The sky was so cleared that I had no ground to cancel the Part B especially we had a team of serious hikers today. They came for a tough hiking event and not supposed to go home before 1 pm.

We descended downhill from North Point and back to the cars before 1 pm. Harry was quite exhausted and had to refill his Gatorade before the second trip. We drove 1 more mile to reach the Northern parking lot to climb Butter Hill. It was so steep on some points that we had to climb with hands. There were 4 terrific viewpoints on this section. It was the highest point of this area. Photographers took a lot of individual and group pictures. We felt so great when we saw the cars down there which showed how steep was the trail. The sky turned back into cloudy at this moment so not a good idea to stay longer. After the sections on Orange Trail, we hiked on the Yellow Trail which was also part of the Hudson Highland Scenic Trail. We came across a special trail mark which was half Blue and half Red. We continued on Yellow Trail for 4 more viewpoints on Storm King Mountain. We saw big mushrooms on the trail which made Simon hungry. As the clouds accumulated quick, we hiked fast on White Trail and stayed short at those 2 viewpoints on the route. We hiked 5 minutes on Blue Trail. After we connected to an un-maintained White Trail, we reached the parking lot at 3 pm.

We finished totally 6 miles today and visited totally 16 viewpoints. We were lucky that we didn’t hear even 1 strike of thunderstorm. Only 15 minutes of rain instead of 5 hours scattered rainfall was also a big gift from Mother Nature.

I Need One More Empty Bottle
August 1, 2009

It was another big production of hiking trip from Nature You. I started apologize to the registration calls since Wednesday as I had already about 50 names on the sign up list. I finalized the carpool arrangement until 11 pm on Friday when I still got sign up calls. It had been a strong message to tell all hiking clubs, there was a huge need on family outdoor activities for Chinese community. I had 60 names on the hikers list in 16 cars. Finally, 52 people showed up and 49 of them could enjoy a full day of good weather, good fruits and good sceneries from the nature.

More than 45 people were brand new or semi-new hikers in this trip, I couldn’t handle it without the assistance from Harry, Moon and Tim. First time hikers included Wing, Doris, Haiwei, Max, Harry Chen, Jim, En Qing, Jeffrey, Jenna, Cindy, Anthony, Magdalene, Hong Fu, Yao, Megan, Helen Huang, Andy & his wife, Danny, Kaichiao, Edison, Susie, Helen Lin, Lena, Derek, Nancy, Mimi, Kevin, Philip and Ling. I had a few families included Hongamata, Kaewkrajang, Feng Lin, Ben & Sharon and Clara, Jessica, Jenny, Simon and Hong Xu who had hiked before. The signed in, distribution of passports and stamps and briefing took time for such a big group so we started the trip at 10:30 am after warming up.

My plan was a 6 miles trip started on A-SB Red Trail to Times Square. We then would go R-D Red Trail to see if any blueberries available to be picked. After visiting the Bald Rocks Shelter, we would return along Yellow Trail and then Long Path. Moon helped to lead the team at the front and Tim gave me correct number of hikers. I had Harry be the sweeper. Little boy Hong Fu was injured on a slippery rock so Hong Xu had to retrieve with Cindy Fu after 15 minutes. We reached the first viewpoint after 30 minutes where people could take a break and take photos. Moon found a tree with peaches but not much enough for all-we-can-pick. The group was so big we moved in segments. Moon led the young ones reached Times Square 10 minutes earlier than the second group. I was in the second group because of the heavy cargo. New hikers were surprised to see Times Square in the mountain. Harry said he would find out the history and the story of why this location was named.

After I taught Tim how to navigate and map reading, we moved onto R-D. I announced we should have the containers ready as we would pass through the blueberry fields in a few minutes. We climbed up to the R-D ridge and were welcome by blueberries and raspberries. About 40 hardworking bees were busy visiting branches to branches. It was normal behavior as it was their first time of seeing so many blueberries for free picking. Some experienced hikers might not be too interest on fruit picking so they just ate at the spot. We had only few photographers who came mainly for photo taking. Jessica had learned from last trip so she brought a good container. Most people refilled their water bottle with blueberries. Jenny was quite self-controlled at the beginning but failed in fighting against the temptation. She emptied her water bottle in 10 seconds and joined the group. My responsibility was being patience, be the safety officer and be the time keeper.

It was already 12:30 pm so I decided to take lunch at a spot where people could still have blueberries to pick. Since the group was widely separated, I cut and served the first cold watermelon with about 35 hikers. They enjoyed the cold and sweet juicy fruit. The lunch break was not too long because shaded area was limited. We moved on along R-D. As there were more and bigger blueberries on the trail, Jenny asked if she could borrow an empty bottle from others. Tim fulfilled her wish and she transformed into a bee again. We reached the Shelter at 1:30 pm where I cut the second cold watermelon for everyone. Young hikers questioned me about how to keep the watermelons cold for a few hours. 6 years old Megan asked if she could join the Level D trip next week. Feng Lin understood now why I had to carry a backpacker’s 75 liters backpack. We took group pictures on a big rock where I could see almost 50 smiling faces.

As we had spent time on picking blueberries in the morning, it was time to fulfill the wishes of serious hikers liked Philip, Anthony, Max, Helen, Harry, Simon and Moon. Since the trail was mainly flat and downhill, I planned to give everyone a non-stop 3 miles hiking experience. I expected we could finish 3 miles within 1.5 hours. The turbo hiking trip started at 2 pm but was interrupted at the beginning because 2 deer were found on the trail. It was first time that Moon saw a male deer which with pretty horns. They were co-operated to stand still for photo taking. I brought the team finished Yellow Trail in 45 minutes. We took a break because someone needed to go restroom. As Moon insisted to experience the big backpack, we switched backpack and she led the team continued along Long Path. Harry and Simon had a race but both not won. I stayed with the slow team at the back. The last hiker reached the parking lot by 3:30 pm. All hikers enjoyed a day in the nature and many of them were eager to sign up for the next trip.