If You Can't Take the Heat, Get Out of the... City

I woke up Sunday morning before 8 a.m. and the temperature was already in the mid-80s. The National Weather Service had issued a heat advisory and predicted a high of 94 in the city with a heat index of 105 degrees. The perfect day for a four-mile, three-hour hike!
Victor and I set out for the portion of the Appalachian Trail that runs through Clarence Fahnestock park north of the city just after 9 a.m. with our fearless friends Jen (a reporter who's worked in Israel, Bosnia, Kenya and Colombia) and her husband, Steven (a lawyer who spent seven months working in the war-torn former Yugoslavia) in their rented SUV. We arrived at the trailhead about a quarter after 10. By the time we'd finished spraying ourselves with herbal "Bug Away" and spray-on sun block and assembled our bandana (Jen) and backpacks (the rest of us), we were already dripping with sweat. And we had yet to set foot on the trail. Over the next hour and a half we would encounter exactly four people: a hiker with a straggly beard, bad B.O., and large, steel-framed backpack who was apparently doing the entire Appalachian Trail; a friendly, and fit, Latino couple in their mid-40s; and a red-faced man in jeans and a sweat-drenched T-shirt who seemed anxious to get back to his air-conditioned car.
We went as far as the viewpoint overlooking the furthest edge of the lake we planned to jump into after our hike, where we sat down (in the shade) and broke out the PB&J sandwiches, cherries, popcorn, trail mix, water and iced coffee. Delicious. The walk back was a little easier, since it was mostly downhill. But by the time we made it back to the car around 1:30, we were beat and filthy and anxious for a dip in the lake.
But just as we pulled the SUV around to the entrance of the beach, we heard thunder and started to worry. Sure enough, the parks department had just cleared the beach ahead of the anticipated rain storm (though the sky was still blue above us). So we had to settle for an air-conditioned car ride instead and a cold drink and ice cream (mint chocolate chip) in nearby Cold Spring.
Not a bad compromise. And we were still home by 5--exhausted and dirty, but feeling pretty good about our accomplishment. And happy that we didn't bring any ticks home with us.
Once Victor and I had turned on the A/C, showered and changed and thrown our dirty clothes in the hamper, we toasted our hike with a cool bottle of Hennepin, a delicious Belgian-style ale made by the Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, and almost forgot we were in the midst of a heat wave.