It’s time.
You might ask, “For what?”
How about a couple of hikes down in the Catskills? I had planned on taking two of my great-grandsons down to Twin Mountain and hike up to Dibbles Quarry. It’s not a long, difficult hike, but Jack had an accident and broke his collar bone several weeks ago. Well, it’s finally healed, so it’s time to hit the trail.
It’s about a mile hike up to the quarry. There on the side of the mountain is the remains of a blue stone quarry where they cut the sidewalks for New York City back in the 1850s. It’s rumored that at night the mountain gnomes come out and make rooms, thrones and chairs from the rubble. Well, Jack and Vinny are old enough now that they don’t believe me, but it will be a great first Catskill Mountain hike. It also will be good for me, so I can be in shape for some of the more difficult hikes.
Look … I’m 79 but only slightly out of shape. I’ve been hiking up my hill from our pond to an old log cabin we built 40 some years ago. It’s nearly a mile up and fairly steep in several sections but climbing up there several times a week will definitely help. Heck, when my dad was in his 80s, he hiked up there every day and sometimes twice a day during deer season.
You know … it’s not just the hike. It’s what you see along the way. As I left our house a couple mornings ago, I spotted our resident coyote. She was checking out things on the other side of the pond. I watched her for a few minutes before hitting the old farm road.
When I got up on the first level, I checked out a clump of purple thistles. On top of the biggest flower was a hummingbird moth. I knew there would be some. They are there every year. This morning, I saw four of them gathering nectar from the colorful plants just off to the side of the road.
Along several sections of the dirt, hillside road, there are vast clumps of milk weed. The outer edges of the leaves had been eaten off by the caterpillars of the monarch butterfly. I saw several of those beautiful, orange butterflies as well.
On top of the hill just below the woods I spotted some movement in the foot tall grass. There were three large wild turkey gobblers. They had already spotted me and were heading to the safety of the scrub pine trees along the edge of the old pasture.
After they disappeared, I moved on up into the woods. I stopped. The movement I saw ahead was a doe and this year’s spotted fawn. They stayed ahead of me and soon disappeared into the downed treetops from last fall’s logging.
So, it was time to head back home. I realized that I’m not that far out of shape. By hiking the hill every other day or so, I’ll not only be ready to lead those boys on their first hike, but I’ll be in condition for much larger hikes.
I have a few trails to check off on my bucket list, and some of them are going to be tough. Besides that, one of the hikes I have planned is on private land. Most people only wish that they could hike it, but a friend of mine got permission for us to hike their trails. His grandfather built the trail and was a life-time member of their private club many years ago.
Don’t worry … I’ll tell you all about it one of these days.