Hello dears,
As many of you know, we left our beloved borough of Brooklyn at six-thirty Sunday morning to embark on our first proper hike (apparently, as we had been taunted by one of our fellow hikers, “you won’t find any hills like this in Brooklyn!”). Though I’m still not sure exactly where Harriman Park was (NY? NJ?), I can fairly say that the day was right out of a horror film! Sort of.
This isn’t because James and I couldn’t handle the intensity of hiking 1,150 feet up a mountain that was rated three out of five (hey, you gotta start somewhere), or that the blazing summer sun boiled our blood and we melted. We didn’t even get attacked by monster mountain bugs (my personal worst nightmare).
But, as James and I giggled about throughout the day, we were going through the plot of a typical, generic horror movie, where a group of stereotypical randoms meet up, and head to a sketchy park for a “leisurely” hike that turns deadly (Ed. note: ours did not turn deadly, but if it did, we wouldn’t have been surprised). This included a big, red, rather unstable van that carted us to and from the mountain (come to think of it, we were never exactly told which mountain we were going to be climbing either — all we knew was that we were hiking the very ambiguous Raccoon Brook), a group of police checking cars (for a murderer on the loose?) at the entrance of the park, and our fellow hikers — all questionable characters.
At one point, a woman right behind me slipped on a rock and took a substantial tumble that resulted in a sprained ankle, and the splitting of our group. When we did meet up with our guide an hour later, he said, in a calm, yet manacle voice, “Oh, she’ll be just fine now,” which we were certain meant that he had cut off her legs.
Ludicrous ideas aside however, it was the perfect first hike. We hiked for a few hours in air that wasn’t contaminated, reveled in the “honks” of birds instead of cars, and picked and ate blueberries throughout.
James was awesome (though I was significantly worried when he was about to order a Frappucino from Starbuck’s before our departure — thankfully, he opted for an iced tea instead), and I tried hard to keep up with him. Since I was behind him for parts of the climb, it was interesting to note how differently we (men and women?) used our bodies to climb. For example, when “scrambling,” which I learned is an activity merging hill walking and rock climbing, I used (or, as James would say, I “flail” my arms) my arms and legs equally to hoist myself up. James, however, only used his legs — and very efficiently. I did struggle a bit with the steeper climbing, so gaining more leg muscle it is for me then!
My next step will be to invest in some proper hiking boots, as my ankles hurt me throughout the duration of the climb. (Duh!)
But, on a positive note, I only complained twice! James would say that I complained three times, but I’m fairly sure that saying my feet are hot is a fact, not a complaint (I hate socks!).
On the whole, our motivation levels are high, and we can’t wait to get onto another mountain! In fact, if anyone has any clever ideas on how/where to hike/climb on the cheap, without a car, and around the New York area, it would be greatly appreciated!
Finally, I want to thank you all for your support so far! The feedback from our friends and family has been incredible, and it’s all very encouraging!
Oh, wait!
Guess what? This is my first ever blog, thanks to James’ sweet friend, Garrett, who inspired me to get over my weird fears of putting my thoughts onto the internet. We also have a tumblr account now — which I still don’t quite understand, but James seems to think it’s pretty neat!
So you’ll be hearing from us soon. Until then, wishing you all the best!
Love,
Kelly
