After a few wrong turns thanks to a malfunctioning GPS, an uninformed policeman, and a spacey kid, we made our way to the GW Bridge and set off for the Catskills.
We joined another 20 hikers at the meeting place, Ed gave us his spiel, then we set off through a meadow where we soon encountered ... a diamondback rattlesnake!! It doesn't look that big in this picture, but I think it was over a meter long. It was a bit uncomfortable with us, so it shook its rattle fiercely as it slithered across the path into a more auspicious side of the meadow:
A slightly closer look at the moving rattle:
Disappearing into the tall grass (look very carefully):
Oddly, our group did not blend in quite as well in the meadow, even though Oscar was wearing green:
As we entered the forest, we alternated between rock scrambles and soft soil, steeps and flats, with plenty of twists and turns and abundant wild blueberries. We stopped for lunch at the monoliths:
Everyone took lots of pictures:
Ben showed off his rapelling skills as Mischa and everyone else watched:
Villo gave it a shot too, starting a wave of first-timers who wanted to get a jump on the rock-climbing lessons scheduled at the gym next month:
Lee stationed himself on the rocks below to capture the descents:
Several people tried the descent, but after one guy slipped a few feet, our leader called a halt. It's probably better to start at the gym....
We made our way down the mountain to complete a nice 7-mile loop, then 16 of us reconvened at a diner near Woodbury Commons. I believe it was called the Bright Star Diner. The waitress was incredibly kind and accommodating -- she actually gave us, at our request, 16 individual separate checks. (As opposed to Cassidy's, near FAPC, which fought us when we tried to get 4 checks for 16 people, divided naturally by tables of 4.) At any I hope everyone tipped generously at the Bright Star. I did my part, leaving more than 100% tip on my delicious and satisfying $4 meal.
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