The Adventures of
David
Elizabeth
and Leif

On Monday and Tuesday this week I decided to go backpacking. I haven’t been on a "real" hike where you have to carry food / water / sleeping bag / tent / etc. I’ve been reading a moderately funny book about a guy who walked parts of the Appalacian Trail in many states and I was inspired. Earlier this year, I bought an inexpensive external-frame backpack since my highschool vintage internal-frame pack had finally bitten the dust. Equipped with my backpack, Eureka 3-man tent, some salami, cheese, crackers, oatmeal, dogfood, dogs and other miscellany, I jumped into our trusty Toyota and headed for New Jersey. Why go to New Jersey? Because Campmor is there and I needed a water filter to avoid giardia.

My planned hike would start at about 1200 feet elevation at Woodland Valley and hike about 4 hours over 2 peaks (Wittenberg and Cornell) to the col between Cornell and (previously hiked) Slide Mountains where I would plan on camping. The trail is supposed to be the hardest hiking in the Catskills. I haven’t hiked with a full pack since about 1992. Buy hey, I live in NYC where I walk in a day more than the average american walks in a week. This should be easy, right?

By the time I’d finished all my errands (which also included completing and fedexing our board package for the co-op apartment we’re trying to buy … see earlier post), I made it to the trailhead around 4:30 pm. Doing the mental math, I decided that I could probaby make it to the campsite and have my tent set up by sunset if I pushed.

The first part of the hike was pretty steep. My pack felt really heavy. It was probably in the 40 lb range but it felt like 100. I found myself taking a lot of brakes and wondering if I needed to go with my backup plan of camping in the shelter on Terrace Mountain, an easier 3.4 mile hike, not the 5 miles and 2 peaks I’d planned. The junction for the Terrace trail would be halfway up Wittenberg, a good place to see how much daylight and energy remained.

When I arrived at the trail junction, I took off my pack, drank a lot of water and pulled out my map and the Catskill Mountain Guide. It was about 6:10 pm. I was soaked with sweat. I’d started hiking at 4:45. The book said it would take about 1.5 hours to get where I was, so I was making reasonable time. Energy-wise, I was so-so. Although it was only about 2.5 miles from the car, it felt like a lot more. Could I make it another 1.5-2 hrs over 2 peaks, up multiple "extremely steep scrambles up rock ledges"? While I was mulling over my choices and eating a banana, I started getting annoyed by flies. I decided that I’d better keep hiking since I’d have nothing to do in a lean-to except be eaten by bugs.

The rest of the hike turned out to be really great. I got a second wind. As we got higher, the steep climbs turned into small (and not-so-small) cliffs that had to be climbed. The dogs mostly found ways up on their own, but on one cliff, they couldn’t do it. To get up, I had to take off my pack, shove it to the top, and climb to the top. The dogs ran around the bottom of the cliff, whining because they couldn’t find a way up.

I got the dogs to come toward me. When each dog stretched out as much as she could, I grabbed her by the collar and pulled her the rest of the way to the top. I was impressed that they let me do this.

The views from the top of Wittenberg were great, although it was pretty hazy. I didn’t spend much time there, just enough to eat a banana and press on so I wouldn’t have to set up camp in total darkness. The col between Wittenberg and Cornell was an easy hike and the view from Cornell wasn’t that great. I finally found an unoccupied campsite about 5 miles from my starting point and set up camp.

I pitched my tent, lit a fire, ate dinner, hung the bear bag and turned in. I was wondering what the dogs would do. They seemed pretty calm outside the tent when I went to bed. However, the breeze was gradually increasing and they started to bark at forest sounds about every 30 minutes. The full moon rose around 1:00 am. They barked more. I made them come in the tent with me and slept fitfully. Around 3:30 am, Marley growled and barked at something. I held her down and saw she was listening very intently to something just outside the tent. I could hear it trying to walk away stealthily. After it left, as I was falling asleep, I thought I saw the distant flicker of lightning.

Around 4:30, I the dogs woke me up again, this time because the sound of thunder was making them nervous. I was amazed that it was actually barely getting light outside at this early hour. When the rain finally started to fall, we all relaxed. Even though it was thundering and we were on top of a ridge, it was relaxing. I think I actually slept till 7:00 or so when the rain stopped.

It took about an hour to eat salami and cheese for breakfast, feed the dogs and strike camp. The walk back was ok, although going down the mountains with a heavy pack was really hard on my knees. It felt like waterskiing through shark-infested waters — your legs hurt really bag after the first hour but you can’t quit.

Going down the hard cliff, the dogs tried several times and got their front legs going down the cliff, but every time backed up to the top and whined. Finally, I had to get myself as high up as I safely could. Marley basically stepped/jumped into my arms after much calling. I lined her up and dropped her down on the next ledge. Sam was more reluctant, and I had to take her by the collar to get her in my arms and put her down on the next ledge. It was quite an adventure.

In summary: 10 miles of hiking, 2 new peaks, sore legs and a night without the sounds of car alarms. Although I might have slept better in Brooklyn, I wouldn’t have had the soul-reviving chance to prove that I can still camp in the woods.

So we’re trying to buy a co-op near Prospect Park. Buying stuff in NYC is not a simple process. It starts the same as anywhere else — deal with shady real estate agents and agree on a price with the buyer. Then you hire a Lawyer who draws up a contract. Unlike Atlanta, we had to put down 10%. Some places require zero financing. That’s right, to get into some co-ops here, you have to pay all cash. Once you’ve put down the cash and have a fully executed contract, you get the bank to issue a committment letter.

Now is where things get really different than the rest of the world: A co-op is a corporation where you own part of the building that comes with a 99 year lease on your apartment. Everyone who owns the building gets to elect a board. The board gets to decide who can live there. The board provides a large application where you answer all kinds of questions about yourself and have personal references, work references, how much do you have in all your bank accounts, how much do you make, do you have any pets, etc. If they decide you have enough money (but in our case, you don’t make too much), you get an interview with the board. Even though they’re not allowed to discriminate based on the equal housing opportunity yada yada, they get to decide if they like you enough to let you live there.

Our application was submitted yesterday, so right now, someone is calling our references, making sure we’re not really drug dealers, making sure I am employed, etc. They’re also asking people what we’re like. They’re also checking our checking accounts. Hopefully, next week we’ll find out when we can interview with them. If they like us, then we’ll get to close. At the earliest, I think that would be mid-August.

Let’s see — Close in mid-August, 4-6 weeks of renovation required, that puts us around the 1st of October. Baby due in November. Hopefully he doesn’t make an early appearance, or else we’ll be moving with a newborn!

Today (ok this entry is backdated) we went to the Palisades Interstate Park. Yes, a strange name for a park, but it was named after the Palisades Interstate Parkway. I think. Or maybe it could be an interstate park because it’s in both NY and NJ?

The Palisades are cliffs along the Hudson River starting just north of Jersey City and extending well north. West Point is at the top of these cliffs.

Here we are, happily enjoying a nice Sunday afternoon.

Ellie with the George Washington Bridge behind her.

At the bottom of the cliffs, the Hudson is an estuary — it goes up and down with the tides. Here’s a young duck shaking the water out of his feathers.

We were about 1/2 mile north of "the George" here and E was enjoying the peaceful panorama of Northern Manhattan.