While I love hiking in general, I was not incredibly excited for our trip to the catskill mountains. It seemed kind of unnecessary to me to drive three and a half hours to go on a hike, and to spend more time in the car than actually hiking. It was true that on a normal saturday I would probably watch college football and do nothing productive, but being the college student who loves sleep that I am, I hated having to wake up at 6:15 in the morning to be ready to go. Plus, on top of all of those minor complaints, up to this point all of my favorite hikes I had been on in my life had been on the west coast. I found incredible beauty and awe in the hikes of the Sierra Nevada mountains thousands of feet above sea level with views for miles around. Yet, while my hiking experience on the East Coast was limited, none of the hikes I had been on had been anything comparable to hiking on the west coast.

When we finally arrived at the trailhead, I was in a much better mood. I had survived the early morning wake up and long car ride, and now got to do the thing that was actually enjoyable to me, hike. We started walking up the trail and immediately I was drawn to all of the leaves on the ground. I had experienced East Coast fall before and seen the leaves changing color, but I had never been among such variation of color and so many leaves all at once. They covered the trail making it slippery and wet, but with each additional step, and each additional leaf crackling under my feet I felt more and more of a connection with the area. While I was enjoying the hike and very glad my professors had forced me to stop be active on a saturday, the hike did not compete with some of the experiences I had hiking the Sierra Nevada mountains.

My opinion of the comparative beauty of the west and east coast all changed when we reached the first ledge. I have spent my whole college career comparing the east and west coast. Me and my friends have debated natural beauty, politics, sports, and a whole range of other topics with me always defending the west coast. Standing on that first ledge and looking out and rolling hills of autumn colors I was just as awestruck as I have been standing on the top of any mountain. The vista took my breath away like I never expected it to. It was at this moment that I decided to try and stop comparing at least the natural beauty on the east and west coast. While I will always have an affinity for west coast environments because I have grown up in them and am more familiar and comfortable in them, this hike taught me that the east coast can also be stunningly beautiful in its own way.