Well, today Beth and I got up a little earlier and went to Hawk Mountain again. Yesterday we bought a family membership
* for a year, so admission is free, making it a very inexpensive hiking trip (not including gasoline costs, since it's about 45 minutes away). This time we did a much longer hike down the mountain and back up again, seeing the river of rocks (it's a field of large rocks which looks something like a river). It was a great hike that was a lot of fun, especially at the end where we took a minor detour and used the "escarpment trail" which requires "scrambling on rocks". Basically, the in places the trail consisted of the occasional spraypaint mark on a hillside of rocks at about a 50 degree angle. It was incredibly fun.
Actually, the entire trail we took was little more than a series of red spray-paint marks every 20' or so. In some places there were signs of wear, but by and large we were just trapsing through the woods on a guided tour. I don't think that I ever had so much fun hiking before, and I can't wait to do it again. It was a little harder on Beth because she didn't have very good boots, but she enjoyed it too. It's kind of funny that we only recently discovered a mutual interest in hiking, but it's incredibly convenient that we have it.
I also realized that I don't have a really good coat for hiking. I've been using my leather bomber jacket which I got at a Wilson's Leather outlet in Pittsburgh, but being a bomber jacket it rides up all the time and exposes the small of my back. The weather yesterday (raining) made me think of Australian raincoats, and today I was thinking about them as well. After doing a bit of research on the internet, I decided that I really want one.
It turns out that they're traditionally made of
oil cloth. They're warm and great for rugged wear, and
can be purchased for $182 (total price to your door) custom tailored to your measurements by an actual Australian company which uses 100% Australian ingredients. They're perhaps on the heavy side at 2kg (4.4lbs), but I've found heavier cloaks to be perfectly comfortable (come to think of it, I think that my leather bomber jacket weighs at least that).
While they're a bit in the pricey side, they're apparently very durable, very very weatherproof, and very easy to clean. Indeed, the cleaning instructions are, "The Oilskin fabric is very easy to look after, just treat it like a dog: wash it down with a hose and let it dry and look after it like a friend." Besides, $180 isn't too bad for a custom-made coat; they take your waste, chest, and arm length measurements, plus your weight and height, and make a coat to fit you. From what I gather, they fit very well, though I do have to admit that I'm gathering this from the customer testimonials on their page. :-)
Now, I would like to go hiking more, both because I really like hiking and because it is decent exercise, and God knows I could certainly use more exercise. I could really see a nice, weatherproof coat helping out both by making it more pleasant to go hiking in all types of weather and also as a motivation. And certainly it wouldn't hurt that hiking through the woods in a black australian workman's coat would look really good. :)
Of course, if I was going to do that, how could resist eventually getting a nice
black kangaroo leather australian hat? Of course the hat wouldn't have to come immediately, my felted wool hat does reasonable well in the rain, though it goes get a bit wet after a while (it's described was water resistant, not waterpoof, as the australian hats are).
Anyhow, I hadn't mean to turn this post into a commercial for australian clothing, but it was really on my mind as I was hiking along. In any event, it's really great to be hiking again. I had forgotten how much I love hiking in the woods.
*Beth asked the person working at the counter, "Can I and my fiancé get a family membership?" The guy looked at us for a moment, then said, "Sure!" Thus we got a family membership for $40 when an individual membership costs $35. Beth and I figure that we're only 1 trip behind now (since admission costs $7/day), and have a year to do it in. It's such a beautiful area that we're pretty sure that it
