As the old adage suggests, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” That is exactly what 5 WASC members and 1 stowaway did on November 6, 2005. After 2 unsuccessful dates to attempt to scale the mountain, the 2nd Annual Schunnemunk Hike occurred!
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In spite of waking up to fog, all 6 of us (Joe Tag, Frank, Libby, Rob Anderson, my friend Rachel, and myself) appeared promptly at 8:00 am. After deciding who would ride with whom, WASC actually started the trek at 8:00 am!
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The trip to Harriman was uneventful (other then passing what appeared to be a New York Thruway officer giving a ticket to an invisible car.)
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Of course WASC did what it does best at the pit stop-----wait around (but there was only 1 bathroom in the combo Dunkin Donuts gas station convenience store). Needless to say, the 9:30 start became a 10:00 start.
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The skies cleared by the time we started our climb. And climb we did (with the aid of walking sticks most of us found thanks to Rachel’s ingenuity). We were all soon sweating profusely on the initial upward trek. (Lucky Joe Tag was wearing shorts.) I was drenched in short order and didn’t dry off until I got home. Layers of clothing soon came off of all of us!
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Trail markers (white, red, yellow, and robin’s egg blue faded arrows) were not easy to spot on the trees, but our illustrious leader, Joe Tag, who stopped periodically to give us geology and botany lessons, was on top of things completely.
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We followed his lead and broke for lunch at 12:20. After having our fill of lunch that included Joe’s legendary oatmeal cookies and picking up orange peel carelessly thrown on the ground, we were asked to make a democratic decision----2 more hours or 3 more hours. The unanimous vote (you guessed it) was 2!
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So off we went again. The inclines turned into rocky leaf covered declines with some water hazards and hidden tree branches and roots. But downward we plodded. (Thank you walking stick!) Thank goodness it was the 2 hour route!
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By the time we emerged from the woods 6 miles later, we were all suffering from the “big toe hitting hiking boot syndrome.” But we had spent over 5 hours in the woods not only looking around at the fall’s spectacular scenery but also experiencing support from and the camaraderie with each other. Hiking out in the woods on a beautiful fall day is an exhilarating experience that will serve as a precursor to the next season’s anticipation of skiing down a mountain in the falling snow!
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| (P.S. Where were the animals?) |
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