Cold Spring

P's fantastic Father.

If we are too long in the city, we jones for some hiking.  Yes, we go to a park almost every day (and we *love* our park!), but there's just something about trails sans broken glass and condoms....  And we knew getting into the great outdoors was the perfect perk for Papa's special day, so we started researching.

Cuz, though we've been in the area for the better part of a decade, we have very rarely left the city.  Car-free (which can, oh so rarely, (like when you're wanting to drive somewhere) feel more like car-less) with a kiddo has been a prohibitive combo to the weekend jaunt.  But the Little Man is not so little anymore.  

So I figured we should hike the Appalachian Trail where it meets with the Metro-North Line.  E has always wanted to hike this trail (in part, at least;)  But the citified child said it was a no-go.  Something about no towns, no way....  When I mentioned another State Park, nestled next to a quaint town, the kid cheerfully consented.

P, enjoying the beauty of Grand Central.

P, enjoying the green, swishing past the train.   I'd forgotten how much we love train rides.

Our destination.  

The adorable area surrounding the train depot.

Poor E's back went wonky the day before our departure.  Though he was game to gimp in the greenery, this put P's primary pack-mule out of commission.  Would the child throw a fit to be carried (not an unheard of occurrence...)?  No.  The child hiked the entire day (well, until the face plant/tumble at the very end, but that was understandable...).  In the heavy heat.  Alongside the highway, half a mile, to reach the state park. Then up the mountain.  Without batting an eyelash.  Apparently, he understood his trusted steed was unavailable.  

And though he appreciated the gorgeous greenery, the funny flowers, the zillions of collectable rocks, he was steadfastly searching for real rocks, to climb.  After hiking for a bit, we accidentally lost the trail, but found the rocks.  He actually squealed with delight.

We picnicked in the shade and then bouldered a bit.  Then the child wanted to really climb.  Knowing E's back wasn't up to spotting the child, I took the camera from my neck and handed it off.  As I heard it clicking behind me, I was thrilled that our climb would be captured.  P and I love to rock climb in the woods, and now it would be documented.  Ummmm.  Oh, well.  There were a number of blurry shots with one of us half hidden behind a tree...    And a couple of blurry pics of our butts lacking any perspective of the height which the child was achieving...  But, really, one cannot complain about the Father on Father's day, so excuse the digression and enjoy the only two non-blurry shots....

I'm picking a spot, while P picks some moss.  He, of course, has a moss collection.

Climbing.

It was a high climb that was pretty vertical.  P was in heaven.  There was a couple of spots that were pretty tricky, and one spot where he needed a boost, but we really enjoyed ourselves. As we crawled over the top edge we saw.... the trail!  And a guy hiking down it.  He jumped in surprise as P waved his dirty paw and smiled.  The hiker was more than a little shocked that we had just climbed the wall, looking over and then telling me we were.... kinda crazy.  Erm, whoops!  Was this a bad parenting moment?   I knew it was a tough climb for a kid, but P is pretty in touch with his abilities.  And I was right behind him the whole time....

I called E on the phone (oh, the wonders of the modern hike ;)  and he came up to join us.  He was nonplussed by safety concerns for the child.  Whew ;)  The view was lovely, though the iphone in my fanny pack couldn't quite capture the grandeur and I was too lazy to dig out the decent one :)

The child was energized by his ascent and wanted to carry on up the trail, but we were almost out of water (the heat was unbelievable) and, so, had to head home.  We knew the highway hike to the train station would be a scorcher (I still feel dehydrated, two days later!)  

And it was, but the ice cream shop at the end washed away our weariness.  

P (of course;) also has a charcoal collection, from any fire-pits he passes.  He loves to draw with these, even more than his beeswax crayons.  He gained some additions to this collection while hiking (and an enormous bag of rocks...) So he set to entertaining himself while we waited for the next city-bound train.  

A couple of curious children crept closer and P happily handed out charcoal.  We had a little drawing party on the platform, the perfect ending to a really lovely day away.  

While the child had a number of highlights, I'd bet that E's was during our picnic.  P and I decided to do daddy dedications while we ate, and the kid's list of loves was so sweet.  Two tops?  "I love how much Papa carries me" and "I love how good of father Papa is."  Awwwwww!  Well, the guy is pretty great :)