Take a Hike

 As I said in a few posts back, George & I have taking up hiking.

Although we've only gone about 1,400 ft. high & 6.5 miles in one day, we are working our way up to even bigger in the future.

I can say, that I am not in the best shape- read: terrible at steps. haha
It seems every hike we've gone on has steps or a step like obstacle. I'm going to try & implement a steps workout into my day to day exercise so when challenged with this on the mountain side, it will be much easier.

With that said, where have we gone so far?
I'm glad you asked!

My first hike this summer was actually with my younger sister, Emilie.
We went to Grace Lord Park, Bontoon, NJ, to see the waterfalls. Then we hiked Turkey Mountain.
Grace Lord Park was a nice one for kids if you are taking them with you.
When hiking Turkey Mountain, we weren't exactly sure where we were going but we did find a nice stream & saw some cool views from the top.

The kids & I went on a nice hike in Princeton. It was on the Charles H. Rogers Wildlife Refuge & it was an nice easy hike with neat bridges & birds to see that the kids enjoyed!

George & I took on the next hike together! We went to Mt. Tammany, Delaware Water Gap, NJ.
It was an 1,168 ft. elevation gain, 3.5 mi length & about 2 hours move time.
Beautiful views along the way & at the top!! Definitely wouldn't bring my kids just yet.

Next George & I went to Bushkill Falls the same day as Mt. Tammany. Being all warmed up, the stairs were no problem! This one is kid friendly, but expect them to get tired somewhere in the middle with all the steps.
Beautiful waterfalls all along the way!! Definitely worth the $17.50 entrance fee.

One day, we had planned on going back up to North Jersey but got a late start & had something to do in the evening so we found a closer hike. We ended up at Amico Island, Riverside, NJ.
It was about a 2 mile hike but definitely kid friendly! Cute little island by the Delaware with a couple "throw rocks in the water" spots for the kids! 

While in NY, we went hiking in the Adirondack Mountains on the Sawyer Mountain trail. It was about 475 ft. elevation gain & 2.7 miles round trip. It was just George, my brother, Dalton, his friend, Caleb and I. We left the kids back at the cabin with Pop-Pop. I'd say, leave the kids behind if they are younger than 7 years old. Unless you can carry them, definitely not stroller friendly.

We took the kids on a hike with friends at Washington Crossing Park, NJ side. Our friends did have a stroller with them, however, if you can avoid it, it is much easier without it. A few trees down along the way & some narrow walkways is really the only reason why. But they made it through!
Our 4 year old was about down after 2.2 miles. 

Our most recent was on Labor Day. We went to Palisades Interstate Park, NJ. We took the Shore Trail to Long Trail Loop. It was a steep 807 ft. elevation gain & a 6.3 mile hike round trip. It took us about 3 hours to complete. It was neat walking down by the Hudson River & then hike up the steep cliff to the top. However, stairs!! I was doing so good until near the top where there were stairs. The return was nice, until the gravel, down hill path to the parking lot. haha Also, not really for younger kids. 

So that's it for now. We don't have anything else planned for hiking as of now. But then again, we never do, we just go whenever. 
We're always ready for the next adventure!