Finally blogging about this weekend's adventures!
On Saturday, I decided to try hiking after one week off my feet (mostly) after the accident. I donned my ankle brace, put on sneakers for the first time in a week, and chose Loantaka Park's bike path. I usually hate pavement, but I figured since it was dead flat, it might be a good foray back into hiking.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22
When we got there, we started the tracker - we use View Ranger on Jon's phone to track our distance, time, and elevation gain. We didn't expect any elevation gain that day - and later we weren't surprised that we gained only 10 feet. We stopped by some bamboo on the way in, took a couple pictures. At least I think it was bamboo. Nobody ever said I was a botanical expert.
I tried to hide my limping when people walked by. And boy, were there a lot of people! It was split about 50:50 between people walking/running and people on bikes. I told Liam to stay to the right so the bikes could get through and he became the trail etiquette police/backseat driver. "Mommy, you're not over to the side enough!" "Mommy, get over to the side! There's a bike coming!" My response was, "I can't get much further over without falling off the side of the pavement, Liam, and if that happens, my ankle will be much worse!"
While the pavement quickly began to hurt my feet, I did enjoy being out in nature - though we were certainly not as secluded as we usually are. I took the time to say "hello" to every person we walked by and most people returned the favor. Some people glared at me or stared at me like I was an alien, but I didn't let it ruin my mood. I later told Liam that if you're kind, that's enough of a reward. If people aren't kind in return, don't stop being kind. I know he's sensitive like I am and we take things personally, but hopefully he got the message.
We did an out-and-back to a small algae-covered lake. We stood on top of a bridge over a waterfall, but the sound of the water crashing bothered Liam and he wanted to hit the road. On our way back, we saw flashing lights on the trail. Up ahead was an ambulance and about three police cars. We waited as they exited - I didn't see what happened, but I hoped the person inside the ambulance was okay. Liam echoed my thoughts when he said, "I hope they're okay!"
Liam became fatigued on the way out and stopped at a lot of benches. Jon eventually carried him for a while before Liam said that break time was over and he was okay to walk again. Sometimes he just needs that break, that time off his feet. I don't know what we'll do when Liam is too big for Jon to carry! For now, as long as we're not huffing and puffing our way up a mountain, Jon can carry him for moderate stretches.
On the way out, we saw the ambulance and police cars in the parking lot again. We totaled our time and distance: 1 hour 15 minutes and 3.4 miles! Not too shabby! That's what flat pavement walking will do: just about double your usual speed!
SUNDAY, AUGUST 23
The next day, we decided to do a little bit of a harder hike. Let me clarify: still easy, but real hiking and not pavement walking. We chose Cheesequake State Park, the park that Jon and I hiked almost every day before our wedding in 2005. The park has a special meaning to us. I have a story from there that includes Liam that I'd like to tell you:
Hiking Cheesequake 10 years ago!
About two years ago, we went to Cheesequake with Liam, I think it was our first time there with him. We heard cicadas from the parking lot, but didn't think much of it. Well we were not prepared for what we encountered as we entered the woods. It turned out to be cicada year there.. and boy was it ever! Cicadas everywhere! As we got deeper into the woods, it got worse and worse. Not just hundreds, but THOUSANDS of them dive-bombing us like big fat kamikaze pilots. These were not tiny insects, they were huge and made the worst droning sound as they whirred towards your head. They reminded me of helicopters. Liam started crying and screaming and we picked him up and ran out of there, but could barely see as they kept going into our faces. Dead ones littered the ground and the live ones were flying in legions. It was mayhem. I am not a fan of bugs and this about did me in. Liam was having a panic attack and we just ran as fast as we could, taking turns carrying him. Once we were out, he said in his limited vocabulary - he had just started school; he was 3 - that he didn't want to go back. Luckily it's not cicada year this year!
Source: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Oh god, no!
Cheesequake is closer to the Jersey shore than we are. It took about 1.5 hours one-way to get there as it's much further south. We're now used to the rocky Northern Jersey terrain, but this is mostly boardwalks, a little dirt, some sand, some marshes and swamps, and a lot - I mean a lot - of flying insects. It's always muggier there than where we are. But there is no way to get lost in the park. There are four trails and while each of them are not clearly blazed, (in fact I don't remember seeing a single blaze) at every intersection, there are huge signs telling you which way to go. It cost us $10 to get in because it's in peak season. And here I thought hiking - except for the gear and gas - was free!
We decided on the Green trail on Sunday. We started out and Liam was surprised to see the sandy trails - he is so used to dirt and rocks! He marveled at all the birdhouses surrounding the wildlife center in the woods and had a fun time trying out every bench along the way (he did that at Loantaka too). He started out with great enthusiasm!
There were some stairs to climb and Liam asked, "Why do we have to climb those stairs?" I responded with, "These stairs are nothing compared to the mountains we've climbed!" and he had to admit that was true. They had rerouted some of the trail, but again, it was impossible to get lost. The terrain is varied and interesting with winding boardwalks, neon green plants poking out of swampy areas, black and blue butterflies (nobody ever said I was an entomologist either) at the occasional flower, small rolling hills, views over some marshy areas... but the BUGS! They were beginning to eat us alive. And we were sweating from the humidity, making us feel like an itchy, sticky mess. It wasn't pleasant, though the terrain itself was lovely.
We came to a service road that led back to the parking lot. Liam was beginning to get tired and, frankly, my ankle was getting sore. So we decided to take the road back and skip out on some of the green trail. According to the map, it was almost the same distance but more direct and more even footing. But the bug situation became worse on the road and I could see Jon's skin was already covered in mosquito bite welts. This put a damper on our mood, but we tried to keep cheerful. We walked quickly, but Liam became too fatigued. He rode on Jon's shoulders for a while.
We finally got back to the car and my feet and ankle were spent. Too much road walking - there was Loantaka and the last part of Cheesequake's service road was pavement too. That evening and especially the next morning, I limped around with pain in the bottom of my feet.
We're planning a hike for tomorrow morning. Somewhere in Northern Jersey and - dare I say it - perhaps a trail with lots of dirt and some rocks? We're back in the saddle, ready to take on mountains. Bring it on!
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