A Walk In The Woods

While I really enjoy the four seasons, including the snow and cooler temps of winter, the thing I dislike most about this time of year is that it puts a damper on my ability to go for a walk in the woods.

Walking in general is great exercise.  It gets your blood pumping, stretches your legs and it takes you out of whatever you were doing.  I always find I have a fresh perspective on things after a little bit of time on the trail.

Luckily for me, my wife and kids generally enjoy walking as well.  When there are no woods around, we’re also game to take “urban” hikes.  They are nice too but they don’t have the same medicinal effect that the woods have on me.

I’m blessed to live in New York which has tons of places to hike in all four seasons.  I know many people hear “New York” and think about New York City.  But something like 64% of the state is forest, representing over 18.6 million acres.  That makes New York one of the most heavily forested states in the northeast.  You could spend your whole life just hiking the Adirondacks and the Catskills and never run out of trails.  And there are so many smaller areas that offer the perfect hike without having to commit an entire day (or week(s)) to do them.

Second to New York, my favorite place to hike is in Colorado.  While I have walked and hiked much of my life (starting from early days in Boy Scouts), I had never been to Colorado before meeting my wife.  In one of our earliest years of marriage, we took a southwest trip and visited many national parks, including the Rockies.  It was on that trip that I fell in love with Colorado’s beauty.  Since then, we have returned to Colorado at least once a year, and always squeeze in as much hiking as time will allow.  We have only been to Colorado in winter once.  The skiing was fantastic, sure, but all of our other trips have been during summer or fall, so hiking is always on our itinerary.

When you get a chance to take a walk, put on some good shoes and get out there. You’ll be glad that you did.

Thanks for reading.

Frosty