Hiking!!

Hiking is the word of the day! Dan and I went to the Palisades Interstate Park and did the "Peanut Leap Cascade" hike. This guided tour was a first for us and definitely won't be a last. It was great! We had such a wonderful time. The weather could not have cooperated with us anymore than it did. It was sunny all through our hike. Once we finished, the day became cloudy.

This hike we took was a first in a few years. With how much I love hiking, I can't believe I let it go this long. Anyway, not only was it the first in a long time, but it was the hardest hike we've ever done. We've usually gone to Lake Tiorati Beach, which is located in Harriman State Park (right next to Bear Mountain). For the Hispanic/Latino readers, this place is better known as el parque de los siete lagos. Translation: the park of the seven lakes. There's plenty of hiking in this park, but the hikes that we've taken have been relatively easy. I've never had to worry about falling off the cliff or anything in that nature.

Not this hike!! In the description of the hike in the calendar of events, it states that there are several steep sections. When I read that, I took it pretty serious. Well, they weren't wrong about the steepness. Not only was it steep, but the sections that were steep were also right at the edge of the cliff. Let me clear things up. We hiked on the cliffs of the Hudson River. The purpose of the hike was to descend the cliff to the shoreline, which I believe is about 550 feet. So pretty much the entire time, we at the edge of the cliff. One wrong step and bye-bye.



By the time we reached the third steep section, my legs were burning so much that I worried about my legs giving in. Luckily it didn't because there were several elderly people (some in there 80s) hiking and I would have been incredibly embarrassed. When we reached the shoreline we hung out for a little bit and listened to our guide tell us the history of where we were. It was so much fun!





On our way back through the trail, we did have to go up the last steep section because we didn't have much of a choice. Now, I always prefer to go up the mountain. It's easier than going down. Let me tell you something, my heart was pounding. My legs were sore to begin with and now I had to climb. I was huffing and puffing. At one point I turned around to looked at Dan and his face was bright red. The group was pretty much quiet, except for the breathing. What a workout!

Once we got to leveled ground, we followed a different trail back to the top. We eneded up on the old 9W (that's a road that leads you through the Hudson River Valley) and walked the rest of the mile to the end of our hike. I recommend to anyone that is interested in hiking to try this out. The guided tours are great and you learn plenty of the local history. The only drawback of the tour is that you kind of have to keep up with group. So if you're interested in taking pictures, you should either do it alone or return on your own time. Missing what our guide was saying wasn't an option for us. He was great.



Check out the hiking shoes I got for my birthday: