On Saturday, November 16th, our cheerful group from Ellis International High School set off for a day of reflective, peaceful hiking at Hook Mountain State Park in Nyack, NY. Our team for the day included 18 excited 9th and 10th grade students, their two kind teachers, and five ICO volunteers.

Prior to our departure from school in the Bronx, trip leader Ray circled up the group; we all got to know each others’ names and shared where we were from: Panama, the Dominican Republic, Yemen, Bangladesh, and NYC. Ray also gave a brief preview of what our trip would look like for the day, discussing the importance of drinking water throughout our trip and “leaving no trace”.

After a short bus ride over the expansive Tappan Zee bridge, we arrived at the trail head in Nyack. We packed up our healthy Red Rabbit lunches (barbeque chicken wraps, vegetables and juice) and set off.

With our energy high, our pace began quickly. At the first lookout point, we saw incredible views of the Hudson River and the bridge we had driven over just about an hour earlier. We also saw some vultures ominously circling the treetops.

After lunch, the students were an exemplar of “leave no trace”, responsibly stowing their empty juice boxes and brown lunch bags in their backpacks.

Before we turned around on the trail, we performed a “solo hike” to truly take in the natural surroundings. Each member of our group walked on the trail with just enough distance between each other to feel as though we were meandering alone through the woods. This experience left us more mindful and observant than we had been earlier in the day and gave us all a lot to reflect upon during our share-out to close the trip.

On our beautiful Hook Mountain hike, we were lucky to savor one of the last exceptionally warm days of fall amongst the golden leaves and steep terrain.