Tag Archives: walking quotes

Walking, Walking And More Walking

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“Breathe in, Breathe Out, Move On.” -Jimmy Buffett

“Don’t me why I walk. Ask yourself why you don’t.-Anonymous

This weeks goal was to get at least a couple of longer days in even if it was just 15 minutes more to make at least an hour. The closest I got was 55 minutes and I was happy with that. Every day I felt good and on a couple of days, I was able to do some hill work by experimenting with the incline. I’ll keep playing around with that to get some harder workouts in. I was able to walk for a period of time at around 3.3 miles per hour and for the time that I did, it was faster than I ever move when I am hiking!!!

For what it’s worth, I like walking on the treadmill as much as I liked riding the stationary bike. The good thing with the treadmill is no knee pain. I am walking in my backpacking boots and that may be helping. Each of the treadmills also has a tv attached to it which makes the time fly by.

Needless to say, I will keep walking so when fall finally arrives and the colors on the leaves are at their peak, I can head back out into the woods.

It’s all good.

Total Minutes-

9/9/19-50-365 (The Thumper was right next to me, the horror)

9/10/19-45-410  (No Thumper)

9/11/19-Rest Day

9/12/19-45-455 (Thumper two treadmills down)

9/13/19-55-510 (No Thumper but a dude older than me who smelled like he just crawled out of a dumpster got on the one next to me.)

9/14/19-50-560 (No Thumper) 

9/15/19-50-610 (No Thumper)

245 minutes for the week.

The Thumper

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“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Walking brings me back to myself.” – Laurette Mortimer

As I mentioned in my last post, even though I would much rather be outside,  time does not permit it. To be totally honest with you, I have found walking on the treadmill to be a pleasant change from hiking in the woods.

For one thing, I am able to control the speed that I walk and also walking on an incline has been interesting. The best thing, however, has been the people watching. For instance, no matter what time of the morning or afternoon that I have been there, I have seen a man running on a treadmill two spaces away from me. Usually, this wouldn’t be an issue, but this man runs with a sense of purpose that is truly frightening.

What I mean by this is his feet hit the treadmill so hard that it makes a thumping sound. A loud and rather annoying thumping sound. On Thursday I walked in the front door and I could hear the telltale boom, boom, boom of this mystery man running. I can’t believe that he hasn’t wrecked his knees running like this. If I didn’t know better, I would think he is stalking me.

Since I am going to the gym to train exclusively for hiking, I wear my backpacking boots on the treadmill and I don’t make half the noise that this guy does.

Anyway, I like walking on the treadmill. I don’t get eaten alive by mosquitoes, I don’t have to worry about the weather, dogs or other human beings (for the most part), and I can adjust my workout depending on how I feel. Plus, every treadmill has a small tv on it. You can’t beat that with a stick.

So here are the days that I have walked and the time that I did. Of course, at various times I adjusted the speed and the incline only to test things out for the time being. When I get more adjusted to walking this way I’ll use some of the workouts that they have on the treadmill.  So far, so good.

Total Minutes:

9/3/19-45.0-180.0

9/5/19-45.0-225.0

9/7/19-45.0-270.0

9/8/19-45.0-315.0

Walk, Walk, Walk

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“Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time.”

-Steven Wright

Not that those of us who hike/walk have to be told, but check out the link below for some great information on the benefits of walking. It fascinates me that an activity as simple as walking can have such a profound effect on your overall health.

Research Says Walking This Much Per Week Extends Your Life

Happy reading and as always, Happy Hiking!!!

Red->Green (27)

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“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”

-Nhat Hanh

“Every path, every street in the world is your walking meditation path.”

-Nhat Hanh

It was another beautiful morning here in the Hudson Valley for hiking! When I started at 5:50 am, it was a pretty chilly 52 degrees with clear skies. What a great day to be out in the woods! Today’s hike was a decent one. I did my favorite Red Trail, came back around and then figured I would also do the Green Trail as well. Excellent hiking!

Since I am having some issues downloading pictures, today’s post will be photo free!!!

Summer 2017 Mileage:

8/28/17-9.1-151.82

It’s Finally August!!! (23)

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“What business have I in the woods, if I am thinking of something out of the woods?” 

Henry David Thoreau

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Compare this picture to the one taken a few days ago. You can feel the humidity sitting on you just looking at it!

Since I didn’t get out yesterday, I knew that I had to do a hike today. Since the forecast today is for a high of 84 degrees with a real feel of 93, it was important to get out early since I tend to sweat profusely on days when it is in the mid 20’s! Starting out at 5:50 am, the temperature was already 72 degrees with the humidity hovering at 94 percent. Needless to say, it didn’t take long for the water to start running off of me.

I don’t think that I need to state the obvious but I will anyway. It’s days like these that remind me of the importance of making sure that you stay hydrated when you are out in the woods. Before I even left my house I made sure that I drank 48 ounces water. I then brought another 96 ounces for the hike.  Since I knew that I was going to be hiking between 6 and 6 1/2 miles, I knew that making periodic water stops would be crucial.

With heat index already in the 80’s  (remember, the sun hasn’t even risen yet!) making sure that you drink enough water and not running out of water can be a delicate balancing act. This is why when I plan a hike I try my best to factor everything (weather, terrain, difficulty) into how much water I will need to bring.

Today I ended up doing the Red Trail again at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation as well as a little extra. Since I have already done this hike, I won’t bother to write it up again except to say, IT WAS HUMID!!!!!

Happy Hiking!!!

Summer 2017 Mileage:

8/19/17-6.4-119.12

Ward Pound Ridge Reservation-Red Trail (21)

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“Walking is magic. Can’t recommend it highly enough. I read that Plato and Aristotle did much of their brilliant thinking together while ambulating. The movement, the meditation, the health of the blood pumping, and the rhythm of footsteps… this is a primal way to connect with one’s deeper self.”
-Paula Cole

“Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.”

-Thomas Jefferson

Today (8/14/17) marked the third day out of the last four where I have hiked at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. As with the first two hikes, I have never hiked the Red Trail prior to today so I was hoping that it would be as good as the others. Needless to say, even though this one was the longest, I enjoyed it the most. The trail varies from soft earth to rocky and had a minimal amount of ascents. With that said, none of the climbs were that bad.

As I pulled into the parking lot I was met by this wonderful metal sculpture. Just awesome!

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Starting on the right just off of the Michigan Road parking lot, you will pass a gate with a kiosk filled with the usual warnings. After looking at the map and reading the section on the Red Trail in Walkable Westchester, they even recommend tackling this hike in a counterclockwise direction.

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The Michigan Road parking lot

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The Red Trail begins and ends just after the kiosk.

Immediately after the kiosk, the Red Trail starts off level and on soft earth.

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As you wind your way through the park, the surface of the trail changes throughout the duration of the hike. Earth, rocks, gravel, this trail has it all.

The one very cool thing about this Ward Pound Ridge is that they have cabins and shelters scattered throughout the park. This one happened to be just off the Red Trail.

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Here are some interesting rock formations along the trail.

Happy Hiking!

Summer 2017 Mileage:

8/14/17-6.0-107.32

Some Food For Thought (Or Walking)

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As I was looking for quotes to put with my last post, I came across two that were a little lengthy but convey how I feel every time that I am in the woods. They are both by Frederic Gross from his book A Philosophy of Walking. Feel free to read them and leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Happy Hiking!

“Walking: it hits you at first like an immense breathing in the ears. You feel the silence as if it were a great fresh wind blowing away clouds. There’s the silence of woodland. Clumps and groves of trees form shifting, uncertain walls around us. We walk along existing paths, narrow winding strips of beaten earth. We quickly lose our sense of direction. That silence is tremulous, uneasy. Then there’s the silence of tough summer afternoon walks across the flank of a mountain, stony paths, exposed to an uncompromising sun.” 

“None of your knowledge, your reading, your connections will be of any use here: two legs suffice, and big eyes to see with. Walk alone, across mountains or through forests. You are nobody to the hills or the thick boughs heavy with greenery. You are no longer a role, or a status, not even an individual, but a body, a body that feels sharp stones on the paths, the caress of long grass and the freshness of the wind. When you walk, the world has neither present nor future: nothing but the cycle of mornings and evenings. Always the same thing to do all day: walk. But the walker who marvels while walking (the blue of the rocks in a July evening light, the silvery green of olive leaves at noon, the violet morning hills) has no past, no plans, no experience. He has within him the eternal child. While walking I am but a simple gaze.” 

Long Mountain and Turkey Hill Lake (18)

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“It is a surprising and memorable, as well as valuable experience, to be lost in the woods any time.”

-Henry David Thoreau

“Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.”

-John Lubbock

The weather for hiking this summer has been pretty good. Even though we have gotten more rain than in past summers, we have only had just a few days where the temperature has actually got into the 90’s. The Hudson Valley has also been spared the oppressive humidity that usually define the months of July and August. Until today. With the temperature hovering just around 70 and the dew point being just as high or even higher, I anticipated  sweating even more than normally do!

As usual, I got to the trail at about 6:30 am and was hiking before 6:40. Starting at the kiosk on the Long Path, the trail starts off level and then heads sharply downhill.

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The beginning of the hike on the Long Path.

After hiking for around 10 minutes, you will cross paths with the Popolopen Gorge trail on the right. At this point, stay on the blue blazed Long Path where you begin a relatively steep and winding climb to get to the top of Long Mountain.

Once you get to the top, not only do get some awesome views, but you see this memorial.

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The Raymond H. Torrey Memorial on top of Long Mountain.

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Turkey Hill Lake from Long Mountain.

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The opposite side of Bear Mountain. Note Perkins Memorial Tower on the right hand side of the picture.

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Looking towards NYC from Long Mountain on a really hazy day.

After spending some time checking out the views, I pulled out my map and saw that the descent looked like it might be steeper than the ascent. It also didn’t help that  it had rained the night and added with that some steep drop offs to the left of the trail, the way down was more than a little treacherous. I actually slipped a couple of times and thought that the end might be near!

After getting to the bottom, the Long Path continues straight ahead. You should take the woods road that cuts sharply to the left and follow that until you meet up again with the Popolopen Gorge Trail. Remain on the PG Trail until you get to Turkey Hill Lake.

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Turkey Hill Lake. Long Mountain is in the background.

 

As I made my way around the lake, I came across this shelter. It was actually very well built and looked as though it would keep you relatively dry during a rainstorm.

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Obviously someone had some time on their hands to construct this shelter.

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The tail end of Turkey Hill Lake.

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A small flower alongside the trail.

Summer 2017 Mileage;

8/4/17-5.1-92.12

Anthony’s… (12)

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“I can only meditate when I am walking.  When I stop, I cease to think; my mind works only with my legs.”
–   Jean Jacques Rousseau

“Happy is the man who has acquired the love of walking for its own sake!”
–   W.J. Holland

 Since I started blogging, my goal has always been to document every hike that I do. Sometimes I do the same hike during different seasons so I can show how the views change over time and season. And some, I just do over and over and over because they are awesome and convenient hikes. Anthony’s Nose is a good example of this.

In an effort not to bore anyone that might actually be reading my posts, I’ll keep them short and sweet from this point on.

Since the heat and the humidity have refused to loosen their grip on our area, another trip to the Nose was just what was needed to get a short hike in before the heat of the day.

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Looking at the Torne from Anthony’s Nose.

A short distance from the Nose is another view-point.

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Looking up the Hudson from the alternate view-point.

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Sugarloaf Hill

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Survey Marker

Summer 2017 Mileage:

7/21/17-4.0-58.62

A Respite On The Nose (11)

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“Thoughts come clearly while one walks.”

-Thomas Mann

“Never trust a thought that didn’t come by walking.”

-Friedrich Nietzsche

As the week has progressed, the temperature and humidity in the Hudson Valley has risen into the 90’s. Being as hot and humid as it is supposed to be, I decided not only to keep today’s hike relatively short, but also something familiar. Soooo…..another trip to the Nose seemed to be in order.

When I started the hike at 5:50 am, the temperature was already over 70 and the dew point was equally as high. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before I was sweating buckets! Even at this early hour, the hiking wasn’t easy with the oppressive air sitting right on top of you. But once you get to the top, it makes it all worthwhile.

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A hazy morning on the Nose.

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Looking Northeast from the Nose.

Summer 2017 Mileage:

7/19/17-3.7-54.62