50000 steps to Freedom

This is a journal of my recent bear mountain hike - The Tim Thorne Loop (A 3-mile walk from Manitou station to the trailhead) with my friends. We covered 25 km in a single day. Sounds fun, right?

A mix of chestnuts and pinecones amidst the lush green grass near Lake Hessian greeted us "Come get us!!" As we searched for Pinecones and clicked pictures, Piney was curious - "Are you from here, dear ones?" Waking up at 7:55 didn't help me, especially when your friends wait at Claremont from 8:00 For 20 minutes too early, of course, my friends were We started on time, just at the never-occurring dawn of hate We walked to the Harlem station, our walk of fame Before the hike The six of us all prepared and game to meet you after crossing the Bear Mountain Bridge Playing word games on the train, having fun - More fun than you would imagine, Enjoying the scenic beauty of the Hudson Along the Hudson line Every time someone ended a word, we laughed Haha, more fun than you would imagine, dear Piney, Once again, the fun language prevailed In a rail-themed war between boredom and ecstasy Approaching Manitou, we glared at your beautiful town decorated by the little sunlight, by the cats' mrow, by Silence's tears and frozen icicles semi-overgrown If beautiful were a person, she would be jealous of your place, of her scenery and glow, of her icicled Jade - thin as lace hanging like arrows from nature cupid's bow Taking pictures of icicles, posing with an icicled knife we crossed heaven to reach you! Haha Piney But we must move ahead, ahead to Tim-Thorne Why not come with us to hike, to enjoy? You know, dear pinecones, your friends enjoy the hike, They play with you, dancing, finding the right pinecone Taking pictures too often on the imaginary throne Why? You are the trademark of this hike, our cherished one Crossing the iconic Bear Mountain, we got lost again But this time it's not my fault - Yesterday's rain But don't worry, we will shatter time's vain Getting lost is not new to us, we go back again until we find the right direction For it is too late to give up now for us, too tired to leave our ambition Where are we now? Looks like the Bear Mountain Inn Shall we take a break here now And drink hot chocolate till Happiness grins? Wait!!! There's a Merry-Go-Round, do you see? I can't wait to get on top of the bear-shaped seatback Can we bring the childhood memories back? Let's take a short detour to gain energy, shall we? Now, shall we use that reserved energy? Not me, trying to outpace my friends, Only to find the four of us a mile behind, Crazy! Let go of the brash and rash as we enjoy this time with friends! Run with us, Piney, let's catch up with the rest, shall we? As we run our hearts out, we might meet them at the trailhead - heaven's sea The sea that is home to exhaustion trouts There they are, do you see them? How do they have this energy? Well, we know why they are ahead - shush don't tell them Let's start the actual hike now, shall we? Wait, Piney! Looks like the cops want a chat with us Wanting us to be back in 1 hour before dusk and ghastly Wow! Does it get so dark by 15:00 hours? Let's start the actual hike now, shall we? We can climb to the top by then, right? I know, ten minutes into the hike, we will be hungry After all, we did forget to bring torchlight! So, let's take a break here, shall we? I got my food from the Deli Shruti got her chocolates Naifei with his knife, do you see? Dina with her hummus and carrots Yilin and Abhinav got something that they didn't share with me These are my friends, Pines, Do you want to eat atop the hills, with me? With my friends? Well, let's go further, take one last picture Before my phone battery dies down, But!! This memory shall not die We shall not forget this day Forget? Haha, how can we? After all, we have walked the entire day 40000 steps and counting, do you see? I promise you Piney, we will take the cab back on our way Well, Do you not want to see the majestic bridge again before we finally leave the dark sea? We can walk in the dark light so we reach the inn Let's walk until then, shall we? I told you, Pine, we will take a cab back from the majestic Bear Mountain Bridge Unless a certain someone breaks our tusk Look at that beauty The enlightened bridge amidst the dark skies!!! Can you see that? Let's stay here for a while, shall we? Let the others go, we shall celebrate with two friends here! The others will be searching for diamonds in the sky Leaving the diamond mine So, let's stay here for a while, shall we? We shall walk together playing music amidst the dark souls Are you scared, Piney? Check your Pedometer - we crossed 50000 steps Only a few more steps to glory Yay! Do you see the station over there? Haha!! These are the ingredients for Freedom curry Missing the train makes it tastier, does it matter? Let's wait for the next train with friends, shall we?

We waited at the pitch-black station of Manitou at 7 pm with no charge on my phone. Fortunately, I had two of my friends and my pinecones.