Hiking Tips

Sep 16

July 11, 2022

We are not a huge hiking family. But we try to do one hiking day each summer.

Boughton Park. Chimney Bluffs. Beechwood. Buttermilk Falls. Grimes Glen.

Today was reserved for Watkins Glen. Both Jon and I have been there but it’s been a long time. Being the planner, I did some research. I scoured travel blogs to find out how to best navigate it with the least amount of people (an important factor for us in this season ).

Take the upper rim trail first they said. It will be less crowded they said.

No one remembered to mention it was straight uphill for over a mile.

Halfway up, which was also halfway to the heavens, we came upon a graveyard. I wondered who in the world makes a graveyard miles into the sky and on the side of a gorge no less.

And then we realized. This is probably for all the hikers who couldn’t make it any further. We also realized it would be very convenient for us in that moment as well.

Rebekah’s comments throughout the ascent included, “I’m waiting on a miracle,” and, “I will come back here…(long dramatic pause)…when teleportation is a thing!”

Here are our real-life tips:

Rebekah: “No benches. No water resources.” Plan accordingly.

Jon: When you think one bottle of water is enough to bring, think again.

Jenn: The blogs said your shoes would get wet. They are not wrong. But please. Consider wearing footwear with sturdy and structured soles instead of water shoes. Otherwise you end of feeling every rock as though you were barefoot and end up changing into flip flops which is also not recommended. And the gift shop does not carry footwear.

All: Listen to the advice of other hikers. Otherwise you may miss walking behind the waterfall that you specifically came to see.

Once the first half was out of the way, we had a great time!! We enjoyed taking in all the incredible views, sooo many pictures and selfies, and hunting for things that others have dropped in the gorge (surprisingly we didn’t see any phones, but we are very concerned about a baby in the world that lost its bottle filled with milk, toy ball, and dinosaur ).

We are definitely not ready to climb an ADK mountain yet, but we continue to work on being present and together, making memories and building strong connections with our kids. Even if it means we are fake-hikers once a year!

At the end of the album, play Hidden Pictures along with us and look for the objects in the photos. We started documenting after we passed the bottle and ball.

And, BONUS: scroll through all the pics for the result of Jon and Hannah Grace’s camera maneuvers at Watkins Glen at the end!