Karma Chameleon in Garrison, NY via Metro North RR

Click this chameleon for song from Culture Club:
Today, while en route to Garrison on the 9:50 Poughkeepsie bound, we chatted about the benefits of hiking.

You see lots of green ...

and blue ...

and other hikers whom you'd met months or years before ...

but today's paydirt was the chameleon, so delicate, so fleeting, so evocative of metaphor ... the list of which we leave to you.

And oh, the exercise ...

After lunch, this leader rewards all with Hopjes, coffee candies from Holland.

Fortified, we resume the ascent.

Always tell the sweep when you stop along the way to adjust footwear.

We take in the upward and outward views as we begin the descent.

Memorize the play of light deep in the woods.

That's it; we're out.

A look back, and ...

there's West Point just across the Hudson from the Garrison Station.

Nyack: Hiking Hook Mountain

Looking back, it was all clear vistas,
tranquil stops at Hudson heights
and beaches, a visit to an old cemetery,

and a walk through
Nyack with its victorian houses and many shops
and a cafe offering a nonfat yogurt treat...

... but
the bus broke down,

and we arrived in Upper Nyack


to find the hikers and leaders long gone
from the meeting place...

One of the eight of us stranded at the bus stop
had hiked this trail before and offered to lead.

After agreeing to stick to AMC rules
by not leaving the trail for any reason without notifying the leader,
we headed north on 9W, and then over the rail onto the aqua trail.

(dum, duh-dumm dumm...)



The beginner tramp - up for an easy pace -

struggled on the rocks as the ad hoc group bushwacked

and scurried along

in hopes of catching
the main party just 35 minutes ahead,

-- and suffered a hornet's sting in the belly - owwww!!

Did you know that you must scrape the stinger out with a finger nail or credit card?

The expert tramp was alternately sweep and liason between group and breathless straggler, the gap between the two ever widening as the graceless, sweating one insisted on stopping twice to drink.

Unfortunately, the lead person fell. Fortunately, she was uninjured,
and the pace became less frenetic.

An hour out, as all hope was lost, voices to the right prompted us to shout out the leader's name, and, yes... he answered. We joined the greater group and continued comfortably with our official guide.

Courage to hit the trails next week?

A Day in The Gunks: boulders, bathing and blueberries at New Paltz

Just as unusual as this fungus seemed to us, that's how unusual the dynamics were at the hike last Sunday. Everyone in the group was laid back, accepting and supportive right from the early trials on the slidy tree routes to the after-lunch icy thrills of the swimming hole.

No way we'd consider the no-talking hike now.

Hardy souls! This water

is 58 degrees

FYI, here's some location info.

Hey, guys, check out these blueberries!!

Back at the bottom. Where to next week?

Trail map of Minnewaska State Park, aka The Gunks.