The very first thing for the very first week. Sort of. I’m a little ahead on posts, so everything you will read has already been done in advance. Still, I’m keeping up with my part of the deal and trying to do one interesting thing each week.
Back to this post. We decided we would go on a hike at Breakneck Ridge. This was my first hike since Taiwan, and it felt much easier by comparison. Before I continue, I’ll briefly describe what Breakneck Ridge is.
Breakneck Ridge lies in Cold Spring, just slightly upstate from NYC. From my home in the middle of Queens, its a brief(ish) hour and a half car ride north. If you don’t have a ride, there is also a Metro-North stop just across the trailhead. Be aware though, it runs only on weekends.
Before tackling this hike, I did my research. It had been at least a month since I last hiked and I didn’t know if my cardio was up to the task anymore. Many websites were mentioning how steep the climb was and how difficult it could be. After my perilous trek up “Huangdidian” in Taiwan however, I was barely fazed by their warnings.
Was the hike really that challenging though? Honestly, not really. Sure, it did tax my cardiovascular system a tad, but that really was just me falling slightly out of shape. In fact, as we climbed, we were looking for ways to make it more difficult.
If I had to name the pros and cons, it would be as follows: After climbing, you would eventually get to a clearing. Based on that, you might assume your ascension was over. But you’d come to realize there was still a lot left. At least the views each time were great.
Another con was the trails on the hike. We first embarked on the white trail, scaling steep inclines and rocky walls. That part of the hike was fun and got the heart pumping. However, once we transitioned to the yellow and red trails, it was just walking through a thin forest. At the red trail, it was a good half-hour of downward tottering. I much prefer scaling rocks over boring walking. We did pause by a nice tree I climbed, so that’s a plus.
All in all, it was a fun experience made more fun by the company. Nobody came close to dying like last time, so it was definitely safer. I think I’d like to try some more hikes in the future. Maybe you’d like to give it a try later. It can be the next interesting thing about your #onethingoneweek challenge!