753. The Catskills

Where: Catskills, New York

When: October 26 - 28, 2013

With: Dave

Well, the time has come. Time to start posting about trips I've taken since leaving the UK. I have to say that one very positive thing about being back in the US is that I can start applying my ferocity of travel back towards the homeland. While abroad, it was inspiring to hear how many foreigners consider the US the prettiest country in the world, hands down, and it made me excited to get back and start exploring. Over the two years, the US trips I was inspired to take, but put on the backburner until my return, have piled up quite high. So, with that, let's resume tackling travel on the homefront. 

It's amazes me how many daytrips and things in the Book are available around New York City. New York state alone has a ton of things to do, and it's so silly to not have even made a dent after living here for 6 years. The recent "Get Outta Town" campaign, promoting tourism outside of NYC, feels like it's speaking directly to me ("there's so much more to New York than NY").  So for our first weekend trip since returning, we decided to adhere to the ads, rent a car and head up into the Catskill Mountains (or just, the Catskills) for some fall foliage and time outside of the concrete jungle.

As soon as we hit the road on Friday night, I was amazed to find that I felt like I was truly on vacation already. I'm glad that my mental approach to travel seems to have developed over the last couple years. It seems that every little getaway now fills me with a sense of excitement and wonder, even if it's not to a completely foreign place. By the time we stopped to have dinner at a beautiful cabin-like restaurant in the middle of nowhere, I was fully checked out and ready to relax. 

We stayed at a small bed & breakfast owned by a lady who was kinda like a quirky hippie, but her place was lovely. It also had a great location, just outside of the town of Woodstock, a good central location for exploring the surrounding area

After a home-cooked breakfast on Saturday morning, we started to drive up into the mountains to pretend we were true outdoorsmen, and not just city-folk. As our car climbed, the road to the park wove in and around the mountains,  which rolled in various hues and shades of red, orange, brown and yellow. We drove right into the heart of the park to a trailhead I had researched that matched what we wanted our hike to be: long, but easy. 

The first stretch took us around a lake and through a campground. I have to say, I love camping so much that even if I'm not camping, I get happy just watching other people camp. There's something so nice about a group of friends, or a large family, just being outside and relaxing, playing football, sitting around a fire. 

After leaving the campground, somewhere between the parking lot and the bathrooms, we lost the trail (ok, so we're not talking about super rustic hike yet). Eventually we picked up a different trail, but it wasn't the one I'd mapped out and planned for. As we began to climb a rather steep path, I will admit that all those warnings about hiking started creeping into my head. Don't hike too far so that you can't get back before sunset. Don't hike beyond your means. Plan your way. Make sure you have enough food, water, blah blah. Basically we were ignoring them all. But as long as I knew where the parking lot was, I was ok, right? Probably famous last words of all those missing hikers just before they're lost in the woods, dying of hypothermia and dehydration. However, after climbing up the first leg of this new trail to find a limping, old grandmother hobbling along ahead of us, I felt much more at ease. 

And then, emerging from the heavily wooded pathways, the trees cleared out and we found ourselves on the edge of a cliff face looking down on the whole Hudson valley. Absolutely gorgeous. We stood here for awhile, just taking it all in.

After taking in the view for a while, we kept on hiking. We picked a new trailhead, feeling new-found confidence in our capabilities, and set off. It was well marked, and there weren't that many people, letting us feel like the only people on the mountain at points. 

Every now and then, a clearing would show us the view of the valley and sides of the fall foliage cascading down the mountains. It was stunning. 

Apparently, this is a very imporant rock. Important enough to get a sign.

Eventually, we found a clearing with a view that seemed like the perfect place to stop for lunch. I must say, I did a good job of packing lightweight non-perishables for us to feast on: cans of tuna fish, crackers, seeds, dried fruit and beef jerky. A true hikers lunch!

At this point, we'd grown comfortable with our map and actual travel time to hike the trails so we felt comfortable just wandering along the paths. The sky was so so blue, and looking at it through the colored leaves of the trees was such a pretty view. All in all, we hiked for about six hours, and came back to the car feeling refreshed and outdoorsy. Take that, Manhattan.

 

The nice thing about this type of trip is that you don't have to go-go-go the whole time. After our active day, we didn't feel guilty about taking it easy and stopping for a well-deserved pre-dinner nap. 

The next day, we headed back into the park. The destination this time did not take us as far into the park, but is one of the more famous spots: the Kaaterskill Falls. In the summer, this place is teaming with people, but in the fall, we felt like we had the trail to ourselves and were completely removed from civilization (of course, this was after we parked the car, and walked along the shoulder of the highway to reach the trail). 

But once you leave the pavement, a walkway of packed dirt, leaves and well placed stones take you along the one mile trail to the falls. 

Kaaterskill Falls is one of the highest in New York (doesn't sound like an impressive stat, but remember, it's competing with Niagara Falls). This caused it to be a top tourist attraction in the 19th century. The volume of water was at its low point for the season, but even the stream that was pouring was beautiful. We plopped down on a big rock at the base, and just enjoyed the view. 

Eventually, we began to climb. At the base of the waterfall was a small pool that was this shockingly bright turquoise. The reddish brown rocks around it made for a really beautiful scene.

The hike up the falls wasn't too tough, but the rocks were slippery in the mist and if you slipped, it was a long way down. But the climb was definitely worth it. About halfway up, the rock face concaved in and you could walk behind the falls. This provided beautiful views of the valley through the waterfall.

We could have kept climbing all the way to the top, but decided to just start making out way back. We enjoyed the hike back as much as there.

To acclimatize ourselves back into civilization, we made one final stop before driving back New York in the town of Woodstock. While not exactly where the famous music festival was held in 1969, the hippie vibe is still alive and well here. Small boutique shops are filled with tie-dye print t-shirts, and hemp blankets line the main street of this old town. Definitely a cute place to grab brunch and stroll about before jumping in the car to head back.

It was short and sweet, but a great reintroduction to US travel. And going when the foliage was like this was amazing. It was refreshing and relaxing to be one with nature and all that, and I am fairly positive there will be more NY road trips in our future.