Pic is part of the Giant's Playground/Arching Rocks bouldering route at Mohonk
In Yankeeland we are in prime hiking season. No bugs, no heat.
I am finding rock scrambling to be more interesting than regular hiking or even hill hiking. Demands agility, judgement, full-body conditioning, and a bit of stress-tolerance. I have no interest in technical climbing, though, although it is fun to watch people do it in places like The Gunks.
One item that might help me a bit with scrambling is some knee pads. I have bony knees which do not enjoy too much time on rocks. Scrambling means a fair bit of hands and knees, high step-ups, and steeply-angled boulders. In other words, fun with just a whiff of danger.
A few cool scrambling trails in the Northeast that we are familiar with:
Breakneck Ridge (Hudson Highlands)
Giant Stairs Trail (Palisades Park, NY and NJ)
Labyrinth and Giant's Playground at Mohonk Mountain, NY
Flume Slide Trail (Franconia, NH)
Alander Mountain (Ancram, NY)
Tuckerman's Ravine (Mt. Washington, NH)
Also, New Hampshire's White Mountains have some of the best mountain day hikes in the US. My sis has done 'em all.
What do people do to be in shape for this type of "hiking"? Stair-climbers, 2 steps at a time - and sideways stair-climbers. Rule of thumb for rock hikers: almost never go down the way you came up. Down is rarely safe.
Got any favorites? Let us know.
