Leif and I jumped on the F-train for an adventure down to Coney Island.

After a 30 minute ride, we got off the train and onto the beach.

Leaf acknowledged the presence of the ocean…

… surveyed his surroundings …

… and got to work.

After a while, he decided to explore.

He soon discovered a bird. “Bird!” He exclaimed! (It sounds like “Dah!” In fact most of his words sound like “Dah!” It’s sort of like his sound for *.* in DOS … or “.*” if you’re into regular expressions)

He gave chase for a while and soon bored of the futile pursuit.

He was happy to get back into the stroller.

We had a couple hot dogs (Hot Dog = “At Ga” in Leivish) and fries, and then hopped on the subway home.

It was a really fun day.

I’m going to tell you about a fun trip to visit Pop and Kevin in Townsend, TN in October. Yes, that’s a really long time ago, but it was a blogworthy trip, so here goes!

Pop and Kevin invited us to crash Kevin’s family reunion, so we hopped on a great, comfortable JetBlue flight from NYC to Nashville and drove about 4 hours to Townsend TN. Leif was fine for the flight, but didn’t really approve of the long car ride after that. We got in really late … the next morning, we woke to a beautiful scene …

and Pop and Kevin’s smiling faces!

After a brief period of adjustment to his new surroundings …

… Leif got a chance to warm up to Grandpop.

We spent a lot of time on the porch looking at Mount LaConte in the distance.

While there, Leif made a new friend — Dalton.

“What the heck? We’re surrounded by grownups! Do you have to go to these things all the time?”

“Hey, watch this. I just discovered the glass coffee table over there … ”

Now the grownups are looking!

What trip would be complete without a drive in Pop’s new high-tech car up to low-tech Cade’s Cove?

There was a dramatic sky up over the Smokeys.

Once back at the cabin, we discovered that Leif might be called to be a conductor:

I’ll leave you with a picture of Pop in one of his favorite pastimes — involving amazing displays of cunning and dexterity. And a few smeared flies.

[See, I knew this would be fun... ] [[D just forced me to bracket that...]]

Of course, what camping trip would be complete without Smores? Can you guess who makes the best smores in our family?

[This is a very serious business... ]

The dogs favorite “on leash” activity…

… rolling in the grass and dirt …

… and trying to live with the tangled consequences of their frolicking!

Leif had a tough time falling asleep in the tent on this trip (unlike our previous trip). He also had a tough time sleeping.

So did his parents.

It was a wonderful break from the city … we returned sleep-deprived, but soul-refreshed.

These are dogs looking for squirrels to eat.

This is a squirrel.

This is a dog chasing the uncatchable squirrel.

This is our street about 3 weeks ago … no leaves anymore!

The block north of our house is the “Parade Grounds” where troops once mustered, and now athletes of all ages congregate.

The block north of the Parade Grounds is Prospect Park. It was looking fabulous, even after the “peak” of fall colors.

I thought that this grandmother and kid were funny because the grandmother was running in the park and the kid was trying to keep up!

One of my favorite trees looks haunted. It’s reaching out to gobble up any puppies and small children. Wouldn’t it look scary in the dark, silhouetted by flashes of lightning?

Following the path …

… to the lake …

My favorite tree of the fall was yellow.

Elizabeth mixed some paint earlier today. Fortunately, we were able to scrape it all off the floor.

Marley, however, will be dogged by the consequences of her action.

Here’s our final approach into Burbank. The montains I climbed are just beyond the runway. The range behind that is the San Gabriels.

Here’s the view of the mountain from my 17th floor hotel room. The "peak" I climbed is the one on the right.

On my way up to the foot of the hills, I stopped at a deli and got 3 liters of water. I attempted this hike a week earlier and got totally dehydrated about halfway up. So I wasn’t going to be lacking water this time!

It was about a mile to the foot of the hills and then about 3 miles to the peak. The temperature was about 90-95 degrees — but it was a "dry heat." By the time I got partway up the foot of the hills, I was seriously hot.

I stopped under one of the few trees and took a break. I think this Buzzard hoped I’d get a heat stroke so he could be first to the spoil!

Here’s the Burbank airport from the hills.

On and on I climbed. It wasn’t a terribly hard climb, but it was seriously hot. So bad that I had to stop every time I could find shade to rest. Stopping in the sun didn’t do anything at all. And there was no wind. By this point, I’d had over 1 liter of water. A dry heat in the sun is still a hot heat.

I came around a corner and the trail disappeared into a pile of rubble and brush.

It was a small landslide.

After picking my way over the landslide, I had to search for a while to regain the trail.

This is the city of Burbank. In the middle of the photo is my hotel.

Here are Glendale (lower left) and LA.

The trail kept on going. In the heat, I was concerned that I’d run out of water. By this point I’d consumed over 2/3 of my water supply.

A view of the "peak" as I was about 85% of the way there.

Looking back down, on the ridge I’d just come up. There’s a circular thing on top of that part of the ridge (on the right side of the picture). It has a giant "V6" painted on it. I think it’s a helicopter landing pad in case of fire or emergency.

Downtown LA again.

As I got to the top of the ridge, I could see the San Gabriels beyond. They reach up to over 10,000 feet.

Finally at the top! I can see Glendale, LA, …

…and out in the distance Catalina Island.

I was really hot and there was no shade, so this is the best self-portrait I had patience for.

Looking northwest along the ridge top.

Back toward the Burbank airport to the west.

On the way back down, I enjoyed looking at the dead and alive vegitation…

On the way down, it was about 4 pm and finally there was shade on the trail. I should’ve waited till 4 pm to start the hike!

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.