Hike #390 12/21/8
Along the Hudson at the Intrepid
12/21/8 New York; Hudson Riverfront with Jillane Becker, Shelly Janes, "Commando Tom" Petrucci, "Major Tom" Conroy, "Naaron" Young, and Eric Pace
In New York Penn Station
In NY Penn Station
Escalator
Making our way out of the Subway. "Merry Christmas, BLEEAAUUHHH"
Just off the train in northern Manhattan
GW Bridge
Viewing the GW Bridge in northern Manhattan
GW Bridge
George Washington Bridge
Underside of GW Bridge
GW Bridge
GW Bridge
The Hudson from northern Manhattan
George Washington Bridge
SHELLY!
On the north side of the George Washington Bridge, Manhattan
The trail down to the edge of the Hudson, Riverside Park
Under the GW Bridge
Riverside Park under the GW Bridge
George Washington Bridge
George Washington Bridge
George Washington Bridge
Riverside Park
Tunnel in Riverside Park
Nice sign in Manhattan
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Big tanks
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Along the Hudson, Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Weird benches in Riverside Park
Old dock or something on the Hudson from Manhattan
Some sort of old dock or warehouse on the Hudson from Manhattan
View into Jersey from Manhattan
NJ view from Manhattan
View of NJ and the southern Palisades from Riverside Park NY
GW Bridge from the south
GW Bridge from Riverside Park
Northern Manhattan
Along the Hudson in Riverside Park
USS Intrepid
The Intrepid in NY
The Intrepid
Resting at the Intrepid
Resting at the Intrepid
The Intrepid
The Intrepid
The Intrepid
Riverside Park
Weird benches in Riverside Park
Jersey City from Manhattan
Jersey City from Manhattan
Lifting the lid on Jersey City from Manhattan
Jersey City from Manhattan
Liberty State Park from Manhattan
Sun's coming out
Riverside Park
Looking toward Jersey
It's like something is lifting the covers off of NJ from Manhattan. It seems metaphoric to me.
Jersey City from Manhattan
Jersey City from Manhattan
Jersey City from Manhattan
Jersey City from Manhattan
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
In Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Jersey City from Manhattan
Jersey City from Manhattan
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Liberty State Park from Manhattan
Jersey City from Manhattan
Riverside Park
Riverside Park illuminating
Love in Riverside Park
Love in Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Heading downtown in Riverside Park
Jersey City from Manhattan
Riverside Park
Jersey City from Manhattan
Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Downtown
WTC site
World Financial Center
World Financial Center
World Financial Center
WTC site
WTC site
Dinner along the hike
Dinner at a weird hole in the wall, Manhattan
Wandering Manhattan at night
Train ride back
Train ride back
On the train ride back
On the train ride back
Train ride back
Train ride back
Train ride back
Summit Station
Summit Station
Summit Station
Summit Station NJ
Summit Station
At Summit Station
On the train ride back
This was another one that I unfortunitely have lost the original journal entry to due to fire. Maybe someone will have a copy of the disc somewhere.
The plan for this one was to take a train from Summit in to the city and then meet at the big Christmas Tree in NY Penn Station. Jillane and I had no trouble catching the train. I picked her up at her mom's house and we were off.
I think we met up with Shelly on the train, but I'm not sure. We met up with Commando Tom in the train station. From there, no one else showed up to my surprise. It was raining I admit, but it wasn't too bad. We walked through the subway station to find the line north to the George Washington Bridge. Along the way, a big black guy got right in our faces as we walked by and shouted "BLEAAUUHHH!". It became an in-joke, like it was his way of saying "Merry Christmas". The rest of the year we kept saying "Happy holidays BLEEEAAUUHHH" and the like.
Once we were off the train and on the surface, we didn't know which way was east or west, and so a guy gave us directions. We walked with him to the point where we would access the Riverside Park next to the George Washington Bridge. A pathway led us down below the bridge with some excellent views.
We started walking the obvious route of the trail southbound from here.
We continued south, and the views across the Hudson into NJ were great. We walked along and at one point had to go through a garage and a sort of mall area to continue on the waterfront trail. At another point the trail was closed along he river itself and we had to go on an obvious marked route up hill a bit and onto what appeared to be an abandoned railroad right of way. It wasn't long before we were back along the river.
Also along the way on this hike we were joined late by Naaron, Eric, and Major Tom. I remember waiting for them under a bridge out of the rain for a while, then walking parallel with them as they were up in the city, and they finally ended up ahead of us and had to wait.
Together we all continued and stopped for a break at that giant ship I forget the name of that's open to public on the Hudson. Some of the group went in to try to get food while Jillane, Commando Tom, and I waited outside.
The sun started coming out as we walked south, probably somewhere in the Chelsea vicinity. We continued on the waterfront, but not all the way to Battery Park. We turned inland to go around the World Trade Center site like I'd been doing on the past hikes. This time we did the same as before, crossed the old walkway bridge into World Financial Center and took in the view. We then continued around and passed the old church and then started heading back north I think.
Jillane started acting standoffish to me here, and for the first time she was acting like she didn't want to be with me. It was the toughest period of my life so far, with everything I was dealing with already, Cathy was still living with me in Port Colden, we were not getting along, and I needed to get her out without having to deal with legal action, and Jillane had every right to be upset about that. At the same time, I was afraid to get too close until I knew she really wanted to be in a serious relationship with me. Being with Jillane had given me a new sense of security; Cathy had been telling me for some time she was going to leave me and no girl would be with me for more than a one night stand. This pained me terribly for a long time, and Jillane had given me hope that what Cathy said wasn't true. I guess I always knew it wasn't, but somehow the pain of those words replaying in my head every day hurt me more than I would have ever admitted to anyone at the time. My mind was a mess and I didn't want to deal with anything. I was feeling the most emotionally weak I'd ever felt.
We continued walking, and most everybody was getting hungry, so we found this little hole in the wall place that turned out to be really cool. We were seated in an upper level of the plade, and the century plus year old ceilings were so low that my head dragged across them while I walked. I was starting to feel sick, either from lack of food or stressing out or both. After this I started feeling better and we continued northbound.
I guess we mostly all got on the train at the end, and I think we switched in Jersey City. Tom went south and I forget where the other guys went. Shelly, Jillane, and I headed back toward Summit, but she got off first, I forget where. We had a good long talk during the ride, and I felt a bit better.
The thought of going back to Port Colden where Cathy was doing nothing, and then grilling me for not being able to take care of her, not caring, etc. was so painful.
Still, Jillane was willing to explore our relationship further, and that was enough to keep me going for a while.
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