We have arrived at the foot of Kilimanjaro! It’s beautiful, if very intimidating. Turns out, it’s pretty tall. Very tall, even.

Due to lost luggage, we don’t have any of our gear, so we’re unsure when we’re going to start our hike. For now we’re just enjoying being at our destination, being intimidated by the mountain, and planning our next steps.

Our second hike doesn’t have many photos, but that’s ok, because it was meh.

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Less than a week after Beacon, we went up to Garrion to climb Sugarloaf Hill. It looked like a nice, moderate hike–something to do while we were recovering from Breakneck.

Unfortunately, we hit problems right away. Despite having the latest NYNJTC maps, the white blazes we were following that were supposed to take us to the trailhead led us to a dead-end. With some quick thinking (largely on Tom’s part) we were able to find the trail, but it was frustrating. If you’re thinking of doing this hike via train, don’t. It’s really only made for drivers.

The actual hike was pleasant and through some beautiful woods. We went up Sugarloaf, took in the view, and then decided to try and hit the blue blazed trails near by, connect with the AT, and then loop back around. Unfortunately we missed the turn on the blue blaze and ended up getting a bit lost, though we did eventually find the AT and get back to the train.

The hike was beautiful, but save for the steep climb up Sugarloaf, not much more than a walk in the woods. If that’s what you’re looking for this is the perfect trail for you. However, we’re trying to become badass mountain climbers and this was a cakewalk even for me (the worst mountain climber).

On a finale note, Garrison, NY is a town without food. Unless you want to go to a fancy country club all sweaty and hike-stinky, there’s nothing we could find on foot. We were starving hungry and there wasn’t even a gas station to get some chips at. Pack extra food if you go, or just avoid altogether.

Our first hike took us from the Breakneck Ridge Trail (conveniently next to the MTA train station of the same name) past Sunset Point, up to the summit of South Beacon Mountain and into Beacon, NY. Including our not-short walk through Beacon, NY, total time was 8 hours.

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Seth came along and helped us follow the many trails we were on that day. We only got lost a couple times!

On the way home we ate delicious cheeseburgers at “Max’s On Main” in Beacon, after which we hopped on a NYC-bound train.

I picked this hike for us to start with because I knew it would be very fun, but also very  difficult, and it would give us the confidence to try other difficult day hikes. So far, that has been the case.