Harriman State Park

For the last two weekends in a row, I've headed to Harriman State Park.

The first week, I went there with my brother Jeff, my friend Danielle, and my dog Cheaper. After a few hours of hiking uphill without a trail, we looked like a motley crew: our clothing was drenched in sweat, our sneakers were soaked from treading through nasty mud, our legs were cut and bleeding from hiking through brush, and our mouths were parched because we had forgotten to bring water. However, we did find a few wild blueberries to munch on. The hard work was worth it though, because we made it to the top of a beautiful vista overlooking nothing but rolling hills covered in lush green trees. I yelled at the top of my lungs and heard my voice echo in the valleys below. It was one of the best feelings in the world!

After we got back to our parked car, we decided to jump in a lake to cool down. As soon as we approached the water, a pair of geese swam over, started flapping their wings aggressively, and honking obnoxiously loud at us. Just the other day, I learned that male and female geese are monogamous partners for life. I assume that this pair was trying to protect its terrority (and perhaps its young ones). Still, that didn't stop my brother and me from jumping in to the lake. As soon as my brother hit the water, the geese lunged. My dog Cheaper instinctively dove into the lake to protect my brother, even though she is terrified of water. Needless to say, the geese were intimidated by the mighty trio (my brother, myself, and my dog) and kept a safe distance away.

I've heard a few people say that the views in Nyack are worth checking out, so I'm probably going to ride my bike there next week.

Thanks for the pics Danielle.