nature-you.org Blog

Who Should I Follow?
September 5, 2009

I had 14 participates today to aim at a tough hiking trip. We had experienced hikers liked Simon, Rose and Moon. Strong hikers liked Max, Elsa, Sam, Leo, David and Philip. New hikers liked Anthony, Magdalene, Kelly and Xiang. The weather was very hot and humid which increased the difficulty. It turned out this probably a very mysterious trip for Anthony who might ask: who should I follow?

I led all cars arrived Route 202 on time while Leo was there already. After a simple warming up, we started climbing Dunderberg Mountain along Blue Trail. Leo was a tough hiker so he intended to have a long and tough hike today. He liked to run at the front but always went into bushes because he couldn’t locate the trail mark. Young Xiang liked to follow his trail running schedule. The steep slope on Blue Trail was quite tough but it never defeated Moon, Elsa, Max, Philip and me even I had carried a 10 pounds watermelon. We took a long break at the junction of R-D to get recovered before moved to the first viewpoint of Bald Mountain. This was a terrific point which could overview the Hudson River and Bear Mountain Bridge. The sky was clear and sunshine was rich. We took the group picture by the help of Elsa. Rose lost her title of tripod lady today but took care of Kelly at the back. This might be a cursed spot for me. 2 years ago, I was mistaken and took the wrong route at this spot. I realized the mistake and brought back the team in 5 minutes at that time. Today, I did the same mistake and luckily I had Moon to remind me in just 1 minute. This was the first impact on Anthony: who should I follow? I concluded this was the mistake because of over-confidence.

We kept on R-D for 3 miles with lots of up and down trail. We moved slowly because of weather and trail condition. Kelly would likely remember this trip forever because it was out of her expectation. I was tired because I never carried the watermelon for 5 miles on a high level hiking trip. We conquered The Timp and likely entered an eagles’ nest at a hill top. There were at least 10 eagles flying in the sky. We connected to Yellow Trail for a mile and finally saw the sign of West Mountain Shelter after 1 pm. All of us were tired and exhausted because of late lunch. My leg was much closed to cramp at one time. I cut a very sweet and juicy watermelon to comfort them. The viewpoint from the Shelter was good but it was occupied by another group of hikers who were playing card games inside. We finished 5 miles so far. As I found the level of exercise was enough for most of us, I proposed cut short the trip into 8 miles by taking 1777 after Yellow Trail. Since Kelly needed more time to hike at the back, I told the front team to wait for me at the intersection of 1777 and decided what to do. I took a very special photo for Moon when we were in a spot where only a beam of sunlight shone through the forest on a white rock. It looked liked a studio photo. When Kelly, Rose, Moon and me reached 1777, I was surprised to see no one there. I called Sam knew they had missed the spot and was waiting about half mile away at the front. I requested them to turn back because it would be too late to go 10 miles today. Kelly took this chance to lie down for 15 minutes. Leo said he knew he had passed the spot but they waited to see if I would come to find them. This excuse was not acceptable. Hiking safety rule #1: we should turn back to find the last trail mark right away if we got lost. I could tell those hiked extra mile was exhausted from their faces. This was the second impact on Anthony: who should I follow? I concluded this was the mistake because of ignorance.

Anthony joked he would follow me closed after this bonus mile. We hiked along 1777 to visit Doddletown. Since there were special residential remains and historical information on the trail, photographers liked Rose, Simon and Anthony were attracted by the scene. Our team was segmented again. Since it was rather late, I led the team went back from an unmarked short cut route. The photographers got lost with the team and went for the official Blue Trail. It took me 20 more minutes of waiting and worrying at the parking lot. Magdalene kept calling Anthony to locate his position. Actually, it was not the fault of anyone because Rose and Simon didn’t know the area. They were smart enough to follow the trail mark. This was the third impact on Anthony: who should I follow? I concluded this was the mistake because of lack of information.

We finished 8 miles at 4 pm and enjoyed Max’s homemade food and cold coffee at the parking lot.

My Hiking Boot Die at the Mountain
August 29, 2009

It would be an honor for a soldier to die in the battle rather than lost his life because of stepping on soap in the bathroom. My beloved hiking boots finished its last mission on my way of climbing Carris Hill. Let’s salute to my faithful servant.

It was cloudy and rained heavily in the morning. The weather forecasted raining whole day. I still had 7 participants today who were afraid of nothing from whatever weather situation. Philip said he had once hiked under the rain for 5 hours without a raincoat. Simon said a four season hiker should be ready to hike with the sun, rain, snow and ice. I had also Max, Esther, Moon and Harry to be the first Nature You exploration team to enter Norvin Green State Forest. We had to put on the raincoats when we were preparing the gears at the trailhead but we removed them very soon after we hiked in the densely covered forest. Max claimed the narrow and rocky trail condition made him associated picture of forest.

We started from the Blue Trail and we reached the Chikaboki Falls on White Trail in a mile. The Fall was bigger and prettier than ever because we visited it in raining day. Harry fell 2 times on slippery and angular stones when approaching the Fall. All we needed was sun shine on our photos. We spent long time here in order to view the Fall in different angles. A few hikers said they were hungry already, so I decided to take early lunch at the first viewpoint on Yellow Trail. The viewpoint was great even we didn’t know how grant the view was. The fog filled up the valley so we could only see a few trees in front of us. I didn’t bring watermelon in this trip because I didn’t expect we would have sat down lunch under such a rainy day. Eventually, we didn’t need the raincoat any more after we took it off. It was definitely a cloudy day but no rain.

We continued on Yellow Trail to climb Carris Hill. Esther was accidentally hit by Philip’s hiking pole. That was sad to know she might get a scar on her face. My right boot died at this section with the bottom separated from the top. Fortunately, I had a stabilizer in my backpack which I prepared for Moon. I put on 1 stabilizer so I could finish the whole trip without too much trouble. I just had to be more careful when stepping on the rocks because I was wearing a shoe with metal on the bottom. That was the reason I kept 1 foot with hiking boot so I could have a safe foot. We connected to Blue Trail to visit Yoo-Hoo Point. It was a big opening area with some pretty pine trees. The trees in front of the foggy background were not bad. We could also see raindrops condensed on the pine needles. We reached High Point very soon but there was no view again even we were so high.

We switched to White Trail heading south. We finished the White Trail after half mile then linked back to Green Trail. To make the trip more colorful, I decided to change trail instead of just going along Green Trail. We went through Red, Orange and Yellow Trail before went back to Green Trail. We took a long break at the last viewpoint on Yellow Trail where Harry could apply medicine to comfort his feet. Max shared us his stories and tips of touring Yunnan. We finished the 6 miles trip before 3 pm.