So I have been there many times, ice skating, fishing, Merry Go Round , fire works but I never did the trails until today-----------> all I can say is OMG Im exhausted ! Went with the kids and the dog, the dog started off leading the way and wound up dragging its ass ( kinda like me ) on the way out. A lot of fun but man Im exhausted , we will all sleep well tonight ! If you have never gone hiking up there oh man its a workout , we will be back !
Done the trails there before but been a many years. Did you do the full 4 mile loop? Used to hike Harriman St. Park a lot so at the time it wasn't that bad. Last summer did Crater Lake in Oregon, mile down and then mile back up nearly did me in. The years make a big difference.
Did not do the entire loop and honestly do not know how far we actually went but it was a workout, heck the kids started off like gangbusters but were telling me "we gotta rest " lol,,ps I did my share of resting too
Here's my Bear Mountain mutual convention of idiot story. I got lost there years ago with an idiot boyfriend. We finally spilled out near Anthony Wayne. I found a tin cup in the woods and drank like a mofo out of a creek we stumbled upon near dark after hours of no H20. We WERE on the Appalachian Trail, but it was poorly marked and we somehow wandered off of it. We thought to backtrack, but it just turned into this Blair Witch thing. That we're gonna die in here feeling became thick. Now idiot boyfriend has an inner sense of direction like a cartologist the likes the world has never seen. I have less than zero. In fact, I often do dry runs when I have to go somewhere because I can't find my way out of a paper bag. What was supposed to be a half hour stroll turned into a 9 hr. ordeal. So, yeah, that creek water. Idiot boyfriend got giarda and was on Flagyl and had the most awful case of dysentery ever after the fact. For some inexplicable reason, I skated. Back to my non-existent sense of direction, it's a brain thing, but the IB can navigate space in his sleep. He can read maps better than my Daddy used to, and that's saying reams and volumes. My Daddy used to read a map while driving with one hand and a Cuban cigar sticking out his mouth. My Mom would scream - not at him, just in abject terror because he drove like something out a Steve fukking McQueen flick - but we never got lost. As in ever. Turns out said boyfriend was right from the get go about how to get back because he's that good, but then I'll have to get in to the whole I told you so thing. I was relying on his manly inborn thing all of you freaks have, and it was there, it was just a lack of water/momentary lapse of reason thing. I finally said F it, I think I hear cars, let's go that way, and that's where we spilled out near Anthony Wayne onto the Palisades. Anyway, we got a lift back to our shitty car, the guy's girlfriend was on furious mode for picking us up, and rightfully so . We were filthy and probably looked like hick murderers hiding an ax in our pants. We drank three jugs of Coke with tons of ice (I'm a Pepsi girl, but who cared) because were so dehydrated, and Pizza Hut never tasted so good. Still married. Anyway, it's beautiful there. Oktoberfest is pretty cool. The lodge is a bit outdated, but it's lovely in the Autumn for sure. They always have stuff going on there. Oh, bring a compass. And a map.
For the record, I'm an avid hiker and live for the woods. It sustains me, hearing leaves whisper secrets. Don't ask me how I get out alive half the time.
JETO woman I wish I had seen the movie instead of reading your cliff notes,,lol. I went to Oktoberfest a few times lots of fun -----> lately they have moved it to Anthony Wayne too bad they were not there on that fateful day you could have just followed the music or the smell of beer and strudel !
Lotsa childhood memories at Bear Mountain. Grandfather owned a house in Mahopac NY which is down Rt 9 going East. Also reminds me of going to Army football games and watch them lose hahaha.
