maggie’s family always begins the year with a hike on january 1. in 2021 and 2022 i joined them in little rock for the tradition, and in 2023 maggie, katie, terrance, and i capped off our upstate adventure with a hike before returning to the city. i was on my own this year but still wanted to continue the tradition, and i lucked into a short hike not far from the city that was perfect.

irvington, new york, is about half an hour from astoria but feels a world away. there’s less traffic and far fewer people and the streets felt very similar to those on signal mountain. the o’hara nature center has a number of trails that all connect to one another, so you can make your journey as long or as short as you’d like. i did a combination of the blue, red, and yellow trails to circle down to the reservoir, and then followed some purple and finally blue to get back up to the parking lot. all told i did about 2.5 miles, and apart from one pretty steep uphill it wasn’t too strenuous. the weather was perfect, about 43 and sunny, and it was great to enjoy some fresh air and stretch my legs.

often when i hike on my own i’ll listen to something, but this time i decided to skip the headphones and just let my mind wander while i walked. i thought a lot about what the last few months have looked like and what i’m hoping the next few will bring. i thought about friends i’ve been wanting to reach out to and how to do that. i thought about some of the projects i’m working on and what my next steps are for them. it was a good reminder that i need to enjoy the silence and sit in my own thoughts every once in a while.

so now that i know i won’t be disowned at least for this year, here are some photos from my new year’s day hike.

xx