The hike this past weekend involved a 10.2 mile round trip to Wall Street.
From Greenpoint, we hiked over the Williamsburg Bridge, along the East River, stopped for lunch at the South Street Seaport, and meandered along the cobbled stones of Wall Street.
Downtown, we received a lot of questions from strangers about our backpacking attire — though no one said a thing to us a few weeks ago when we hiked through midtown (except for a very nice couple we met on Roosevelt Island). It’s most likely because it’s much more rare to see backpackers in the Financial District than in Central Park.
Several people stopped us to ask questions. More than one person didn’t know what trekking poles were. They were excited to learn about the PCT, our gear, and insisted on taking our picture.
We walked by Katherine’s office near the New York Stock Exchange. The neighborhood in this part of Manhattan is very enchanting because the roads are so narrow and historic while the buildings loom so high. They form canyons and yield the same effect of standing next to a steep rock wall in Zion National Park.
A person is so tiny compared to the buildings that tower overhead.
The Brooklyn Bridge was supposed to be our return-route home, but on a Sunday afternoon, that Bridge is more crowded than Times Square.
It was best to avoid the masses; we didn’t want to accidentally bump too many people in the shins with our curiosity-provoking trekking poles.
So we walked back up through Chinatown and SoHo, and once again crossed the very pink Williamsburg Bridge.
Though we are still only doing what amounts to half of the typical daily distance of the trail –and we’re on pavement most of the time, as opposed to dirt paths — we are gaining confidence in our physical abilities. After our first multi-mile hike a month ago, our legs were sore for several days and we felt like death by the end of it; now we get home after zipping though 10 miles in 3 hours with a fully loaded pack and we feel….not so death-like. We even have a little energy left over!
i heart trail 