Appalachian Trail from NYC

This weekend Kyle and I are going to try something new.  We are going to hike a small portion of the Appalachian Trail!  A little known fact, there is actually an Appalachian Trail stop on the Metro-North Railroad about 2 hours north of NYC. 

Rather than re-hash his article, I will let you read this short description by Jeff Thrope for the New York Times.   

We plan on doing the out and back version, I'll let you know how this ends up! 

Meanwhile, here are my preliminary thoughts about food:

Saturday Breakfast: on the train.

Saturday Lunch: Pre-made PB&J, apples, carrots, celery, etc.

Saturday Dinner: Saltines, hard cheese, salami, fruits and veggies, whiskey

Sunday Breakfast: Oatmeal with fruit, Coffee

Sunday Lunch: Anything we have leftover?

This is kind of a conundrum for me, we won't really be going that far or away for that long, but we also will be without a method for keeping things cool or heating them up (the Sunday morning coffee is going to be just a rough grind of bean soaked in cold water overnight... it's an experiment).

Any thoughts on food that would make this easier / more fun?

Croton Aqueduct Bike Trip!

Go take a bike ride!  That’s my advice.  As I told you about here, this past Saturday Kyle and I planned a mini-trip to the Croton Aqueduct using MetroNorth’s Westchester Trails BikeRental.  We had so much fun!

Since food is always front and foremost on my mind, I’ll share what we packed.  In addition to two nalgenes full of water, we brought some rolls, baby carrots, plums, manchego cheese and my new favorite version of salami, wine cured with hazelnuts!  Into our backpack this went and we were off to Grand Central Station where we bought our package deals and hopped on the train.

Of course, as soon as we arrived at Dobb’s Ferry, it started to pour.  We huddled in the public library for awhile, got a coffee in a local café and I even got my hair cut at a barber shop!  This all killed about an hour, and literally as my hair cut was ending the sun came through and the skies turned a bright blue.  To the bike shop!  Endless TrailBikeworks was so nice, they took our vouchers with no problems and even offered to give them back if it started to rain again so we could use them on a sunnier day.  As it happened, the sun stayed out all day and we certainly feel like we got our money’s worth.

I won’t go into too much depth, but the trail is beautiful and very easy to ride.  We had to skirt a few puddles, but assuming you went on a day without a monsoon, you barely need to look where you are headed and can enjoy the beautiful scenery.  You can even see a castle which was so gorgeous and would be a good spot for a picnic.  The old conservatory is neat too; you can barely see me here waving from in front of it.

After about 14 miles we were pretty pooped so we bid adieu to Dobb’s Ferry and headed home.  Even if you are not a bike person, I’d urge you to at least walk this trail, it’s gorgeous and many joggers were on it as well as families out with strollers and dogs.

Weekend Bike Trip

       One of the things I love about living in NYC is the sheer volume of things to do.  There is no legitimate excuse if you are bored in NYC.  That being said, one of the things I also love 
about NYC is the ability to get out of it fairly easily.  It might be my New Hampshire roots, 
but once the weather gets even a little chillier and summer weekend excursions are all gone by, my desire to be outside goes through the roof.  I want to go apple picking, pumpkin picking, forest walking, foliage viewing, etc.  

       Tomorrow, Kyle and I are trying something new, and taking advantage of one of MetroNorth’s One-Day (Outbound) Getaways.  We’ll be trying the Westchester Trails BikeRental.  This deal includes a round-trip train ticket and an all day bike rental which allows you to “enjoy a ride down the Croton Aqueduct. This remarkable car-free bike path has beautiful views of the Hudson River and historical points of interest and is an ideal day trip for those not up for a strenuous upland tour.”  Not up for a strenuous upland tour? Ha! We’d be up for it, but maybe we’ll start with this…  

The trail is described as being mostly flat, packed dirt, very scenic and 60 miles in length.  I’m thinking we won’t do the full 60, actually I’m certain we won’t.  Maybe 20?
 

Looks beautiful! Photo Credit

       I’ll let you know how this is, we’re excited!  I am planning a no frills, no effort lunch.  I’m thinking some grainy rolls, hard cheese, some fruit and veggies, maybe chorizo and iced tea.  Yummy yum!
 
       Have a nice weekend, please let me know if you’ve done any of the MetroNorth excursions or have any other fun fall day trips you recommend from NYC!