Hiking: Lake Awosting

Cole enjoying the great outdoors

On Saturday we took Cole on his second hike. It was glorious! His first hike was at Peter's Kill a few weeks ago. That was fun, but it was pretty hot that day, even though we went in the morning. Saturday was perfect weather for hiking. Clear blue skies, warm dry air, cool breeze. This time we went to another part of Minnewaska State Preserve: Lake Awosting. We did not make it to the lake (we didn't intend to), but we did go on a decent hike on Mossy Glen Path, Blueberry Run and Lower Awosting Carriageway (a.k.a. Cardiac Hill).  We had planned on going to Split Rock at Mohonk and going on a hike to Lost City, but the parking lot was full and because we decided to sleep in, we paid the price and missed out on parking at several trailheads because of all of the climbers and weekenders who made it there before us. Oh well, that extra sleep was worth it. So we went to Minnewaska and no surprise there - that lot was closed. Fortunately, the Awosting lot was still open. I nursed Cole in the "V" (as Keith calls it), we changed his diaper, realized we had only packed one diaper (the conversation went something like this: "I thought you packed the diaper bag." "I thought you packed the baby essentials in the hiking pack.") It didn't turn out to be a big deal since Cole had taken his poop of the morning, so we didn't need to change it again until we got home.

Me walking down Mossy Glen Path

The hike was amazing. It started out kind of rocky- literally and metaphorically. Keith put the Beco on first and wore Cole. In typical Cole style, he started to cry and carry on. So we did a quick switcharoo on the pine-needle covered path, and I wore him. I figured if he kept up with the crying, I could nurse him while hiking (I nursed him once or twice before while wearing the Beco) and he would be OK. We really didn't want to go home. Once I started to wear him and we kept walking, he calmed down and just looked at the trees and leaves and sky until he fell asleep. It was great to be able to keep going and know that even if only for a little while, he was able to observe nature. (The last hike at Peter's Kill he pretty much fell asleep right away - probably because of the heat.) The trail itself was very rocky and had tons of roots, and wearing a baby while hiking is no easy feat. I worried that I'd lose my footing and fall over and hurt the baby, so I hiked slower and more carefully than I normally do. I also couldn't observe nature as much as I wanted to because I had to constantly watch the path in front of me. Only once did the top of my Montrails get caught on a root sticking out of the ground. Luckily, I was aware and caught myself.

We're about to ascend the most difficult climb yet

Pretty stream (although a bit dried up)

I have to say this about babywearing: even with a soft structured carrier like the Beco, it is not that comfortable after a while. After the first hour and a half, it became clear to me that my back was in severe pain. I had been ignoring it, but by the time we got to Lower Awosting Carriageway, I could barely even bend forward or backward. That's when we did the ultimate switcharoo - we moved the baby from one body to the other without waking him. I won't even explain how we did it, because it's probably illegal in three states, so I'll just say that we succeeded. Success is, of course, measured by not waking up the baby. Of course, we had a backup plan if we did wake him up (we always do nowadays). If he woke up I'd nurse him and then Keith would hold him. Luckily we didn't have to do that and we ended up waking Cole up to nurse him in the parking lot (we figured the car would be a sauna) about a half hour later when we returned. I was hesitant about nursing him IN A PARKING LOT, but we found a shady spot in front of a gigantic Lincoln SUV and I was able to do it discreetly (as you can see from the picture below.) The whole time I was doing it, I was praying the people who owned the Lincoln would not come and move their car and leave me exposed, so to speak. I was also worried they'd be freaked out. Later when we were leaving the lot (I ended up finishing nursing in the car since my back was killing me so much), we saw the owner of the Lincoln standing next to her vehicle. She was an older woman, wearing a yellow top and a long flowing white transparent skirt. She actually began to hike her skirt up and pull her underwear down right there in the parking lot. I averted my eyes, because I did not care to see someone taking their underwear off in a public parking lot. But Keith and I did exchange looks and said, "She wouldn't have cared."

Cole was wonderful the rest of the afternoon. We ate lunch at High Falls Cafe (where a table full of French tourists actually ate all of the french fries in the restaurant -- I had to eat sweet potato fries) and then we went food shopping at the local grocery store. Cole did not get cranky once. In fact, he woke up before we started eating and was making the most adorable faces. This is just one of the cute shots Keith got with his new point and shoot.