Leaf Peeping -- Pt. 2

(Ok, so it's been a week, but I've been busy working for the baby. Whut.)

The baby and I had an early start to the second day of our leaf-peeping trip. the morning of our event-packed day was otherwise uneventful but for the baby running into the street. According to Enn, the baby was standing in the middle of the street looking like Joon directing traffic; i.e. a little confused and dazed. Luckily, said street was a country road, and it was early in the morning. That said, it was very naughty of the baby to run away like that. Luckily nothing bad happened and the baby came away without harm.

After piling into Brutus (Kires' Rav 4), we trundled off to nearby Hunter Mountain for its Oktoberfest. I'd been a little meh about it all since these sort of events usually meant schwein, schwein, and more schwein. I'm sure the baby would've been in pig heaven (ha, ha) but I wasn't so much looking forward to it. As it turned out, all my worries were for naught as there was more non-meat options than at my cafeteria at work. After scarfing down some breaky and gawking at the oldies dancing in their lederhosen and dirndl, the gang (including the baby and me), bought our tickets and got on the Skyride, a/k/a ski lifts being used for off-season purposes -- in this case, leaf-peeping.

Once we reached the summit, we took lots of pics and wandered around the many black diamond trails which, quite frankly, were were challenging despite the absence of snow. That said, it was really nice to get out to where the air was crisp and clean, and the views magnificent. The baby enjoyed it very much, especially since she was the dog on that entire mountain top. There are benefits to being so small and so easily transportable.

After departing the Hunter, Brutus took us to and deposited us at some random parking lot on the side of a single-lane highway. There was a promise of a waterfall somewhere in our vicinity, but Enn, Ephanie, the baby and I were somewhat unconvinced as we marched in single-lane fashion along the side of said single-lane highway as cars maneuvered around us. After a short hike downhill, we turned the corner on the single-lane highway and saw a sign for Kaaterskill Falls, which evidently is the highest two-tier fall in NY State. Who knew.

The baby, Kires and I hiked the half a mile trail to the waterfall while Enn and Ephanie played model and posed by the lower falls. Although the trail was very steep in the beginning and somewhat slippery at points, the baby was able was scrambled nimbly around the rocky trail mostly on her own. She only needed help once in a while, and most of that was due to her leash getting caught in some crevice or branch. I was very impressed by the baby's athleticism, which was a sentiment shared by the many people we encountered on the trail. There were lots of bemused and astounded asides when they would notice the baby's presence on the trail. I think I see many outdoor activities in the baby's future.