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Chef Max, Moon, Paula and Rose
November 7, 2009

As the weather was getting cold in November, it might be the last chance for the family to go outdoors. I decided to make it a potluck lunch gathering so it would require less cooking. I had Yuk, Simon, Max, Jing, Harry, Dawn, Paula, Suk Hing, Alice, Chung Kwong, Lydia, Rose, Esther, Joe, Sarah, Jimmy, Philip and Moon joined this event. I coordinated when people signed up to make sure no overlapping on the main dishes. Most people felt okay by just paying a few dollars for the food that had been prepared by our chefs.

We reached Tiorati Picnic Area before 11 am and found a good spot to set up our food table. The Picnic Area was so quiet that new hikers might not be able to imagine how strong the smell of BBQ was in summer. It was bad news to all hikers that the restrooms had also been closed after Labor Day weekend. Thanked so much for the sharing of their signature dishes, we had enjoyed the great dishes from Chef Max, Moon, Paula and Rose. Max worked in a catering restaurant so it was only a small job for him to prepare 4 dishes for only 19 people. He made lobster salad, chicken pasta, smoked salmon and a fruit platter. Moon had baked a cake. Both Paula and Rose prepared their different favor chicken claws dishes and dumplings.

It was so cold and windy in the mountain. Chung Kwong and I contributed by cooking hot tea. Jimmy, Harry, Joe and Philip set up a fire to warm up the cold hands. After the chefs introduced us the ingredients of their dishes and took group pictures for/with the food, we could talk no more except eating. Everyone enjoyed the food and the effort that our chefs had put. Chung Kwong could not take raw food so he was the only one didn’t taste the smoke salmon. Philip helped to cut the cake but he could only make 16 pieces so people rushed to take one. Max had to trade his leftover lobster salad with Rose’s chicken claws. I prepared games and prizes but the weather was too cold and windy for us to stay quiet. After all gifts were given and leftover food was handled, we were ready to go for 4 miles hiking at 1:30 pm.

Suk Hing and Yuk decided to wait for us at the Picnic Area. I brought 16 people hiked along Blue Trail to connect to R-D Red Trail. There were some uphill slopes and the trail was densely covered by leaves. Sarah and Paula were thankful to have borrowed my hiking poles. The weather was so good with enough sunshine. We shifted to AT in a mile and searched for the unmarked trail at the valley. Moon realized a cloud liked a big feather so everyone raised their cameras to the sky. I brought the group into the unmarked trail and we connected to the Long Path heading Arden Valley Road. There was a deserted valley filled with super tall grasses. That was another attraction for those who never saw this before. There were not too many colorful leaves on the trees except one next to the trail. Max didn’t hesitate to go further to have a closed up photo with the plant.

We reached the Arden Valley Road before 4:30 pm. As the weather was perfect for hiking, I suggested having a bonus mile to climb 1 more hill. Lydia and Alice had their family waiting at the parking lot so they didn’t join. I led the rest teammates to go further down on Long Path and returned along R-D Red. This extra mile on climbing R-D gave us opportunity to see the sunset in the woods. It was so pretty to see the sun went down behind bushes. We finished 5 miles and reached the parking lot before the sky was dark around 5:30 pm.

Hiking is So Difficult
October 31, 2009

The weather was cloudy but it didn’t stop the urge of 40 hikers today who wanted to grab the last chance of fall foliage viewing. I had a group of 18 new hiking friends from Trust In God. They were: Carmen, Wendy, Luis, Mandy, Margaret, Voony, Michael Huang, Sharon, Man On, Jin, Ivan, Anna, Amy, Alan, Stanley, Leon, Tracy and Sandy. It was my fault that I didn’t remind the beginners to wear appropriate shoes so Tracy and Sandy had used shopping boots instead of sneakers. Other more equipped friends included Simon, Kitty, Lacey, Max, Jing, Harry, Dawn, Yuan Yuan, Jolly, Chung Kwong, Ann, Helen, Rose, Esther, Ivy, Karen, David, Philip, Hong, Moon and Angela.

Based on what we saw last week in Harriman State Park, I chose to hike closed to George Washington Bridge today because I predicted the color had moved southwards. Since it was also the full moon night so I planned a double event today: fall foliage and Moon watching. In order to fit in two events, we met at the gas station of Palisades Parkway at 11:15am so the Moon might come after the first event. Our first sightseeing point was Rockefeller Outlook and then started hiking at Alpine Boat Basin. We would climb back to Palisades Parkway along Red Trail and hiked along Long Path until Women’s Federation Castle. Then, we would hike down along White Trail to connect to Shore Trail. It was basically two flat trails with 1 up and 1 down slope in between. Only with these up and down slopes we could call this a hiking trip.

We saw pretty sceneries at the parking lot. Yellowish leaves were everywhere included a lot on the trail. The trail condition wasn’t so bad if it wasn’t so slippery. It was also risky for those who wore inappropriate shoes because there might be holes that were covered by leaves. The uphill slope had been quite difficult for the indoor group but they never knew the downhill section ahead would be 10 times more difficult. Wendy said she used hike slower on uphill and Sharon said her feet was hurt after walking for a while. After passing the Park Office Building, we entered the Long Path. We would have 2 miles on the edge of cliff to overview the Hudson River. The colorful vegetation along the River would likely increase the mood of the new hikers. It would be perfect if we could award with a few minutes of sunshine to make the picture less gloomy. But, perfect wasn’t something that we could find in real world so we better lower our expectation. It would be worse today if heavy rainfall came with the clouds.

Lacey, Jolly and Ivy caught us up at the viewpoint on Long Path. Margaret was happy to hike at the front so she wouldn’t miss the observation point. We approached the midpoint slowly because those girls were suffering by walking on rocky trail. Michael Huang asked where I hid the deer because he expected we would see wild animals in the woods. We took a short break at the Castle at 3:30 pm. As we were moving slow and the Moon would definitely be hidden behind the clouds, I had prepared to cancel the Moon watching trip. I brought the group descended along Long Path which was probably the most painful and frightened nightmare for those city girls. The stairs were high, slippery and covered with leaves which made every step a scary move. Tracy intended to clean up all leaves with her walking stick before stepped down to next stone. After 45 minutes of struggling on this 0.5 mile of slippery trail, all 40 people enjoyed the happy landing on the flat Shore Trail. Seriously, it would be impossible for me to finish this portion if I wore regular shoes. I could understand how their feet would complain to their owners. All survivors deserved 3 minutes applause. I saw someone’s face turn pale when I announced we still had 3 miles before getting back to the cars. We hiked along flat Shore Trail with drizzles and cloudy sky. I guessed not many people were enjoying the scenery but pushing themselves to keep walking. Even the trail was flat but the rocky surface was not safe for those tired hikers.

We reached the Picnic Area at 5:30 pm. Tracy called her friend immediately sighing she knew now hiking was so difficult. We finished 6 miles today. As the time is no good for night journey, I decided to cancel the second trip after discussion with everyone. I would say only a handful of people enjoyed this trip. It was too difficult and rush for new hikers but too easy and slow for experienced hikers. The cancellation of second event made someone like didn’t fulfill any goals today. The only good compensation for someone was they could still have time to join the Halloween event in the city tonight.