HOOK

58 HOOK while hiking in and out of the gorge, is unforge5able. Ice erra4cally froze around the water, its movement only visible through sparse patches in the frozen falls. Further on the drive, local roads and expressways brought me through the Finger Lakes, where sweeping vistas roll along carved out lakes, hiking trails and streams meander through gorges, and signs for wineries ap- pear sporadically next to the road. Here, I explored small sec4ons of the 580+ mile Finger Lakes Trail, ex- panding from the Pennsylvania- New York border in Alleghany State Park to the summit of Slide moun- tain in the Catskill Forest Preserve. Going southeast approaching the Catskills, I remember snowboarding for the first 4me, and visi4ng Awos4ng Falls. I dream of experi- encing the Devil's Path, largely con- sidered one of, if not the, most challenging trail on the East Coast. A%er reuni4ng with friends, I head north for four days of hiking throughout Vermont, and in order to get there, I'd be trea4ng myself to the next leg of the drive. Parallel- ing the Hudson River, some of the ridges and peaks I've hiked up in au- tumns past, like mount Beacon or Breakneck Ridge, tower above the roads and water. In the distance, Catskill mountains of different shades of dark blue and black roll along, as mountains do from afar. When the river is in view, I think about the northern sec4ons I'm headed towards, where I've paddled through rapids and wilderness areas alike on white water excursions. The ample nature of New York's lakes and valleys is a reminder of its rich geologic his- tory. Around 18,000 years ago, the Wisconsin Ice Sheet, covering millions of miles in North America, began to shi% and recede. This movement, known as glacial scouring, deep- ened and widened valleys, leaving behind de- posits known as recessional moraines. These func4oned as dams, blocked streams and rivers, and caused lakes to form within newly expanded valleys. The Finger Lakes region benefited from this greatly, helping shape fer- 4le soil and mazes of gorges, whose glistening walls trickle with small springs, and neighboring waterfalls like Bu5er- milk and Taughannock flow heavily. The Hudson Valley as well, shared a boon for soil fer4lity and farming. meanwhile, the Catskills wouldn't be the rugged region they are today without glacial ac4vity. Geologically, the Catskills are a dissected plateau, star4ng out as a flat river delta and going through a series of erosions from rivers and glaciers. The awe- some, open landscape we know today remained, leaving a wide range from family friendly to in- tensely steep trails. Further north, Shawangunk Ridge is what is known as a cuesta, an asymmetrical ridge with a gentle slope and steep nearly ver4cal escarpment, which creates the world-class rock climbing on the cliffs. At the top of the state, nes- tled away but hardly small, is the Adirondack Park, the largest park in the lower 48 at six million acres. These mountains, though techni- cally old bedrock, are young in height and s4ll growing, being pushed up by magma at an average of one to three millimeters a year. As I approach the final stretch of the New York por4on of my drive, I pass signs for Lake George, Queen of the American Lakes, a body of water I've snowshoed and camped alongside in the winter. At this point, though I won't make it much more north in the state, I know what comes in this expanse of a park. In the spring, waterfalls roar and white-water ra%ing commences on the Black and Hudson Rivers. my first black bear sigh4ng came on a

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