Aug 19 2012 Hiking at Mohonk

It's almost the end of summer and Will and I are trying our best to catch the tail of summer :) Today, we went hiking in Mohonk~This place is recommended by one of Will's family friend who is an outdoor lover. It turns out we had a great hike there.

We left stony brook at 7:30 AM~I waked up earlier on the weekend than weekdays :( It took about 2 hrs to drive there since the traffic is good on the way.
The beginning of our hike didn't turn so well. We park in the parking lot in the northern section of Mohonk preserve park. we began our hike at the Table Rocks Trail(blue) ,then connect to the cedar trail (red) and to the Bonticou ascent path(yellow). The last one is a mistake. Instead of scramble up, we found we were on the top of Bonticou crag. Since descent from there looks scary, we decided to take the same trail back, take the blue one( Northeast Trail)  and ascent again on the other side. However, if someone just want to enjoy the spectacular view on the top but doesn't want to scramble up. It's a good way to go.  When we are in the intersection of yellow and blue trials, we mistakenly took a right turn instead of left~We found it out after we were on the wrong way for a while T___T. The rock scramble is enjoyable~It's briefer than Breakneck ridge. We finished our lunch on the top with the great view of valley.

The view from the top of Bonticou crag

black vulture 

Then we headed to the mountain house by the carriage way. After taking a break at mohonk mountain house, and enjoying the view of the lake and garden, we started climbing on the red trail (The labyrinth trial). There is a warning at the trial head which is the most serious one I've ever seen. It said the challenges you'll encounter on the trail include headache rock, fat man misery, lemon squeeze~All the names sound scary.

The warning at the trial head of labyrinth

The beginning part of the trails is fun. I hoped between stones, climbed the ladder and squeezed through the crevices. I really enjoyed the beautiful Shawangunk Ridge view on the trial. We left the trial and went up to see the tower. The tower just like the crown of Mountain Mohonk. Following winding up stair, the view on the top is far and beyond. You can see the terrane miles away.

After enjoying the view on the top of the tower, we went back to the red trial and we turned left to The Crevice.  It's most exciting part of the hike today. The crevice become narrower from the bottom to the top. The opening at the top is less than 2 feet which i can barely go through with my backpack on. The three sections of ladder make the whole climbing much easier. After enjoying the view at top~we took the carriageway back to the parking lot. There is a lilly pond on the way back and it's very pretty and remind me Monet's garden~

ladder up to the crevice

Lemon squeeze in Mohonk 

Chill at the top of the crevice

On the way home, Will asked me why I enjoy hiking. There are tones of reasons~I like the view like the feeling of challenge my limit, and like changing the environment and away from work.... Can't wait to have another hiking adventure with you, Will <3
Hiking route today

Aug 17, 2012 Will's special~lava cake

I found having a boyfriend can cook is one of the happiest things in the world. Will is the first boyfriend I have can cook. Last time, when we went to JoJo in the restaurant week, the desert served was lava cake( they call it warm chocolate cake though). I just told Will I like it and he said he can make it for me. At that time I think he's just joking. However, he really kept his promise in mind. 

Today I am suffering from the cramp. So Will decide to come over and cook dinner for me. Besides the ingredients for dinner tonight, he got something like sweet-bitter chocolate and other staff for lava cake. I was touched by how he kept his promise.  

After dinner, we cooperate to make a lava cake. I am in charge of making raspberry compote. Will found an easy recipe for me. There are only three steps in the directions, which is the shortest recipe I've ever seen=.=

Ingredient:

1 pint of raspberry 

1 pint of water 

1/3 cup of sugar

Directions:

1. boil the water

2. put the raspberry and sugar in 

3. stir and keep it boil until the desired thickness (it took around 25 mins)
I don't know which recipe Will followed. However, the lava cake taste delicious~although I took too much photos before i started eating~so it didn't act like a volcano eruption:( 

Mt. Marcy is the highest point in the New York, with an evaluation of 5,344 feet. It's a popular hiking trial in NY because of it's astonishing view from the top. Since it's so close to the place we do white water rafting, we decided spending one day on hiking at Mt. Marcy. The shortest route which people usually take from the heart lake ( Adirondack  Loj) is about 14 miles and the total evaluation is about  We planed finishing the ascent in one day and predicted taking 10 hrs to finish the whole journey. 

We left the B&B at 7am even before the breakfast is served T__T and headed to heart lake. It's about 20 minutes drive to Adirondack Loj. There is a sing in place at the trailhead~That makes me feel it's a really serious hike. Actually, according to the summit ranger, there are few people got lost each year in the Mt. Marcy. The beginning of the hike is pretty easy, the only thing bothering me is the trial is muddy because of the rain. I spent a lot energy on hoping up and down to avoid the water=.=. There is a lot of different kind of moss on the way. The last 1.2 miles from the top is intense, although it's not as hard as last time when we hiked at breakneck ridge. My stomach kept complaining all the way because i only had cracker for breakfast.( good breakfast before the hike is really important). Finally I made it. The 360 degree of view on the top is really stunning. I was so hungry at this point~I had best ever tuna sandwich at the top: )

The view from the top of Mt. Marcy

Since It's a little bit late (1pm)  when we climbed to the top, it may have thunder storm at late afternoon and we didn't have enough water, we decided not to keep hiking to the skylight and directly head back to heart lake. 

Hike Map

To celebrate we finishing the hike we went to Caffe Rustica. The restaurant is inside the plaza and we almost missed it. We got the last table so we didn't need to wait. The staff is attentive, the atmosphere is cozy. I order the special of the day which is bacon wrapped scollops with maple BBQ sauce. It's delicious. I forgot what will order but it's also taste good. The desert is Tiramisu~I was sad because they ran out of butterscotch creme brulee.