Sunday post! I post on Sunday because I don't want any more minutes going by forgetting about this great Birthday trip. About a month ago I decided we just had to go up to Cold Spring, NY to go hiking. It has a great reputation as a getaway for the summer, but I think he was less than psyched about hearing this plan in late February. I planned it anyway and a bunch of us headed up to Cold Spring yesterday morning to hike, eat, and eat some more.
It started at 7am Saturday morning. We got up, fed & walked the dogs, then headed over to Tom & Victoria's house in Hoboken. It was super frustrating because, like usual, nothing in NYC is done easily. The Path was delayed for forever because of some track problem in Journal Square. When we finally we got to Hoboken, Tom, Matt, Brian and I headed to Bagel Smash for breakfast, which was, I'm really not kidding, the very best bagel egg sandwich I have ever had. It's hard to beat Noah's, which is in Chatham, NJ (Brian's hometown) because Noah's really does a good bagel & has excellent cheese, but Bagel Smash did it.
Bagel Smash is a hole in the wall. Not big enough for 4 people to stand comfortably inside. They take your order and then they smash the bagel and flatten it out then toast the outside. The cheese - excellent. The execution - not sloppy at all - excellent. I wanted another one immediately after I finished the first. Hot cup of coffee and then we all packed into Tom's car and headed up to Cold Spring. John & Paul were driving from Brooklyn and meeting us there. It took about an hour and 20 minutes - very reasonable.
Super easy to find the trailhead - I was shocked that so many people were out hiking on a random March Saturday. I was also shocked that there were dogs - this hike was extremely difficult - I have no idea how a dog could have made it. I read that we were supposed to give ourselves 3.5-4 hours to finish a 4 mile roundtrip hike. I could not believe it but once we started I was completely unsurprised. The weather held out - it was about 45 degrees and partly cloudy. A bit windy sometimes. We were hot because we were working so hard, though.
This was, by far, the most difficult hike I've ever done. It was a solid mile of rock scrambling to get to the first summit lookout. It was most definitely dangerous in some points. There is NO WAY the dogs could make it up. In fact, it would be dangerous for us and them to bring them. My arms, hands, and legs were aching by the time we reached the third summit. The guys were having a great time. The kept telling me it was the most fun hike they've ever been on. I agree - but also think the trail would be a bit safer if they installed some ropes here and there.
It was exhilarating, though, and the views were quite breathtaking. I'm just envisioning September/October/November views of all the red, oranges, and yellows. It would be tick central that time of year, though - one bad part about hiking in the Northeast. When we got to the top, we hung out and ate some chocolate & had some water. The rest of the hike was much easier but still included a lot of rock scrambling & up and down hills. I still kind of can't believe the hike was only 4 miles. It felt like 6 or 7.
Near the end of the hike the trail kept us in the woods and along a stream. We kept coming upon these old, abandoned stone houses. They were so cool. Only the foundations remained and they were coated in vines and ice-cicles.
After lunch we went to Moo Moo's Creamery.
I got a waffle cone with mint fudge oreo ice cream. Awesome Awesome Awesome. Brian had a dutch chocolate milkshake.
Then we drove home and Tom dropped us at the Path station. We got back to our place at 7pm. 11 hours is a pretty long time for the pups but nothing was ripped up and there were no accidents. Hooray!
It was just the best day. I'm so happy that Brian's 27th birthday was so much fun and that everyone could make it. Good times.
We definitely want to head back during the summer and possibly all rent a house together. Victoria - Tom's wife - had to teach so she couldn't come on Saturday. Allison, Paul's girlfriend, was visiting with her sister who was in from out of town, and Nigel, John's girlfriend, just moved to Philly for a grad program. We would bring all of the dogs - Tom & Vic's dog is Kojak - an enormous 90 lb goofy gentle-giant of a boxer. John's dog is Kevin, the female American Bulldog - screw gender norms, America! And then obviously our dogs. This town is totally a dog paradise. I would love to hike with Kojak and Kevin because then I wouldn't have to worry about Sofie & Bear getting eaten by predators. Kojak definitely scares any of them away.
Kayaking is really big there, so maybe we could all rent kayaks and take the pups out on the water. You KNOW how Sofie & Bear feel about water - especially Sofie - she's a little water rat. Kojak once accidentally dunked her at a pool party last summer. She was resilient - didn't even want to get out.
Carpe diem & HAPPY 27th Birthday to Brian!!!!
J
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