Sunday, November 7 Bear Mountain State Park
With the sun warm and bright, the air crisp and cold and not a cloud in the sky, New School Recreation struck out for a Sunday afternoon hike.
Hiking on Sunday? Absolutely. Stealing a day back from a weekend shortened by school work; our New School hiking expedition ventured north to Bear Mountain State Park. Fifty miles beyond the city limits along the Palisades Parkway, Bear Mountain State Park commands the high ground above the mighty Hudson River.
Fording streams and navigating boulder fields, we tramped, glided and danced our way under the deciduous canopy caught in its annual moment of autumnal explosion. Reaching the summit of West Mountain, we ran the ridge and drank in the views of the vast expanse of forest cover on fire with autumn’s finest palette strokes, the broad views of the august and meandering Hudson River and in the distance, on the horizon, the great pillars of urban progress: the New York City skyline.
The smell of smoke titillated the nose –conjuring up nostalgic moments of bygone adventures— the late day sun sparkled the eye and the westerly wind chapped the checks. The elements although challenging, created the environment to put a song in our hearts and a smile on our face. Do tell, pray tell? As the clocks roll back and darkness settles in for the long winter months, will you get outside before the last autumn leaf falls to the ground?
