On Sunday, after a short trip to the Taste of New Paltz Festival, I took a ride over to the Mohonk Preserve. This 6,500 acre preserve has hiking, biking, horseback riding, climbing, and beautiful views of the Shawangunk Mountain range. Being a very amateur hiker, I decided to just take gentle stroll through the woods and let the samples from the festival lock me down to a slow pace. Checking out their website, I found out that on September 28th, they will be having the "Pfalz Point Trail Challenge Fundraising Run." You need to register early and their's only enough room for 300 participants. This was really good hike, and if your into things like this I would also reccomend Breakneck Ridge in Beacon, a difficult but quick climb which has an awesome view of the Hudson and a cool breeze on top. Also, one of my favorite places to camp out for a few days is North-South Lake in the Catskill Mountain Preserve. I've gone here for thr last 3 summers and it never fails to dissapoint with many hiking trails, boating, fishing, and pitch black skies at night. When I went, along with Buddhist Monks performing ceremonies and enjoying the scenery, there was this cool guy practicing martial arts in full Gi. Anyhow, all these places are only going to get more serene as the leaves begin to change, so try to get up their before snow hits the ground.