These Boots Were Made for Hiking

Ok so I got my new boots (see post below...way below...long post...keep scrolling) now I got to try them out. So I did some googling to see what was nearby and I came upon the lovely hikes of the PIP (Palisades Interstate Parkway) immediately I wanted to try the scramble of all scrambles called the Giant Stairs, but in order to get there you have to do a 45 minute hike so I set off on the Peanut Leap Cascade hike. The hike starts out from a lovely lookout where you can see the Tappan Zee bridge, the George Washington Bridge, and Manhattan.




One of the only nice views of Yonkers

The first thing I learned about my boots is treads mean very little on ice, though being Canadian means something as I was able to steady myself and do a triple lutz onto the safer snowy part of the trail. At this point I figured the scramble was probably out of the question and I would simply do my best to do the Peanut Leap Cascades without falling on ice. Considering its a short 7 minute drive from home this hike was fantastic. I especially enjoyed the solitude of hiking in the winter it was just me the woods and a nice healthy dose of nothing, doesn't sound possible considering I could see Yonkers and the Bronx, but it was.






Sweet Solitude


Or is it?



The hike takes you through a fairly tame but scenic trail through the forest that with a little more snow makes for great cross country skiing.





Then you arrive at a monument marking the state line between New York and New Jersey




Leave your Bon Jovi cds, and mullets behind, your not in Jersey anymore


After this you begin a fairly steep cliff side descent with fantastic views and thankfully a strong cable fence to keep you from going from cliff side to cliff dive.








These pictures do neither the steepness or scenery much justice


At this point I decided that because of the need to move slowly over the slippery ice and snow I should turn around and head home before it got dark. All in all it was a great hike, but perhaps a little to slippery. I knew I wanted to continue hiking in the winter and that perhaps it would be my favorite time of year to hike but what did this mean do I buy crampons, crampons in New Jersey, that somehow seemed ridiculous. Thankfully I was able to reach out to a great friend and avid hiker who told me about a fabulous product called Stable-icers



My great friend Rich and me at the top of the Tower on the Blue Hills reservation trail in Massachusetts.

these combined with a set of telescoping trekking poles (long going down, short going up) and I could continue to hit the trails in lonely weather without looking like an idiot in New Jersey in search of Mt. Everest.



and here are some more photos....







Me laying on a rock 100's of feet above the Hudson river





Ya I'm a tree hugger so what.