Into the wild – Hiking at its best

The Mohonk Mountain Lake and House

Hello folks!

No, this time we won’t talk about zip lining, kayaking or tubing. We went HIKING last Saturday and it was great ! Our two lovely tour guides took us to the Mohonk Preserve (http://www.mohonkpreserve.org), so whenever you have the possibility to go there, you should definitely do so because it is just amazing! There are 85 miles of winding trails to experience, ranging in difficulty from beginner to advanced.

We started ourThe IIB Team ! tour early in the morning, all freezing because autumn arrived so suddenly and none of us was prepared for it. After a short introduction gWhat a view!ame where everybody had to present himself with some “true or false” stories, we headed towards the mountains where the colors of the leaves had already turned into orange and red.

After having walked for almost two hours, we had a little lunch break with an incredible view on the Mohonk Lake and the Mohonk Mountain House. The historic resort is located just beyond the southern border of the Catskill Mountains, west of the Hudson River. Our guides explained us that the resort was built by the twin brothers Alfred and Albert Smiley in the late 19th century and since then, has been operated by descendants of the Smiley brothers. Several famous people such as John D. Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt andInto the wild Julia Grant have stayed at this beautiful place. And rumors say that Stephen King likes to come over to get some rest and inspiration here…

Incredible colors We continued our way up to the Mohonk Sky Top where we had an amazing view over the whole preserve! It was absolutely worth walking and climbing (yes indeed, climbing as well!) that long to finally appreciate this view.

This was by far the best trip I’ve done during my stay in New Paltz so it will be hard to top that experience… But let’s see! I will keep you posted!

/P.

 

Kayaking the Hudson River!

This Saturday we went kayaking on the Hudson River. How amazing does that sound? Almost all of us went and, even though I hadn’t gotten very much sleep the nights before (I went to NYC really early Friday morning to do some interviews and I had been studying late all week) I was very excited about the adventure we had ahead of us. Tired but happy we went to buy some picnic and then we headed to the activity center where we were picked up by a jolly and humorous bus driver.

The bus drive took approximately fifty minutes and I enjoyed the scenery that whizzed past us outside the window. When we arrived at the Hudson River we realized that the weather conditions were a bit rougher than usual. Our kayaking instructor informed us that they had decided to change the route due to heavy gusts of wind out on the river. We got some quick instructions and then we put on our life vests and we each grabbed a paddle. The sun shined encouraging and we were not too worried about the wind even though the waves were a bit unruly…

We paddled for about forty, sometimes though, but mostly great and enjoyable, minutes until we reached a lake or what looked like a big lagoon. It was surrounded by the most magnificent mountain face, which together with the willows contributed to an incredibly peaceful and beautiful view. We stayed there for almost an hour, just floating around, enjoying the sun and taking pictures. After that we returned – this time with the wind on our side, gently brining us forward. Our way back was a Sunday stroll in comparison to our first struggles and it went a lot faster!

When we got back we were starving to the point where we ran to get our bagels as soon as we sat foot on land. We ate all of our food in no time and when the bus arrived we were quite happy to find our seats and lean back. No need to say, I fell fast asleep on our way home, with Stephanie on my shoulder.

P.S. I would definitely recommend this trip to other students! It is a fun way to explore the areas surrounding New Paltz without spending all of your money!

Talk to you later!

/Fanny