Rain Started after We Finished
June 13, 2010
It was a potluck lunch event which meant food had priority over foot. We would first have big lunch party in the mountain before going hiking. Max had leg surgery but volunteered to serve as the food ambassador to make this event possible. He prepared pasta, shrimps, vegetarian dish and fruits platter and delivered Rose’s chicken claws and dumplings, Betsy’s fried noodles and Moon’s bread and buns to the lunch point while we walked 2 miles along a flat trail. Since it was basically an easy trip, a few families joined. There were Han’s family which included Minh Van, Fang Nong, Tiffany and Vivian. Mak’s group included Stephen, Betsy, Doggie and Eric Luk. Jing, Eric Chen and Dawn helped Max to set up lunch. Yu’s group included Clara, Raymond and Susie. Others included Kam Sun, Pinphia, Jocelyn, Angela, Kaichiao, Josephine, Esther, Moon, Philip and Rose. Chung Kwong joined to support even his knee was seriously injured weeks ago.
We met at 9 a.m. at the gas station because I didn’t want a lunch too early. It took about 45 minutes to bring the cars to the trailhead parking lot. After a briefing with the group and souvenirs were given, Max drove to the picnic area and we started the trip by going downhill along the auto road. The weather was cloudy as forecasted so we had a fast pace than expected. There was a dog training show presented at the river which had attracted us to stay for 10 minutes. Esther, Moon, Rose and Jocelyn spent time on photo taking. Chung Kwong said they would all soon turn into botanists because they took pictures for every plant on the trail. We met Max at 11:15 am which was so early that Max had to be hurried to make his on-site fresh dish. Kam Sun was puzzled about how could Nature You Club being run without an office. Good food in pretty scenic area with breeze, shades and river side sitting platform made us relax as being home. I saw Han’s family had a 30 minutes family lunch meeting by the Hudson River. I wouldn’t feel surprised if any hikers was thinking about taking a nap of 2 hours and cancelled the 4 miles hiking in the afternoon. I set them free and grouped them together before 1 pm.
According to the situation, we would divide into 3 teams. Max and Jing would take the tired Doggie and drove back to the trailhead. Chung Kwong couldn’t handle downhill slope, so he would walk back 2 miles along the same trail. I would bring the others to climb Hook Mountain as planned. We left the Nyack Beach State Park and passed an amateur backyard stone selling booth. Philip sat there pretended he was a selling boy. Angela and Pinphia missed the turn until I called them back. We passed an area where ground vegetation with huge leaves. Moon found a stone with a few pennies stuck into its gap. After 15 minutes on White Trail, we turned into Long Path. The sun was shinny hot and luckily there were shades on the uphill slope. Josephine and Kaichiao were always at the front but they were still not confidence enough for next week’s level D event. We reached the first viewpoint which could overlook Tappen Zee Bridge and Hudson River. Since the summit was too exposure to the sun so most people preferred to hide under shades. I distributed the baby carrots to the teammates.
We approached to another viewpoint which could overlook the picnic area down there. We saw a group of teenagers were playing group game. Stephen was so hot that he had to release buttons and showed off his 6 in 1 muscle on his tummy. Since we were standing on a cliff, Tiffany could only dare approach closed to and watched down from the cliff by using 4 legs landing format. We saw cactus with pretty yellow flowers which was so special that Rose was hit by cactus while she was taking picture on it. There was a gigantic plant with big flowers at the summit which attracted camera shots. Eric Chen was supposed at the front but was pulled by Dawn for photo taking. As the photographers were serious at the back, I suggested Moon to lead the big group to go first. I stayed at the back to wait for Rose, Esther, Jocelyn, Dawn and Eric. The downhill slope was longer than I expected. Esther, Dawn and Jocelyn caught us up before we saw the parking lot at Rockland State Park.
Everyone met again at the parking lot at 3:15 pm after 6 miles exercise. Max served us trip end coffee and Susie shared us her cold pineapple which she left in her car this morning. Some hikers were still energetic enough to chase the wild cock for shooting a few photos. As the sky turned gray, I announced the completion of the event. The heavy rain started at once after I went into my car.
