One of the best things about the weather changing in the Hamptons is that you finally get to do things outside. But what does that mean exactly? For many, it means going to the beach, outdoor dining, surfing, boating, and golfing. But there is a secret tribe of Hamptonites who absolutely love hiking in the woods, and I think I’m now one of them.
On Tuesday, the weather hit 70 degrees and the brilliant thought of hiking in the woods with my wife and daughter came to my mind. “It will be great! You’ll love it,” I told Alena, my wife, who looked at me with great suspicion. I’m not much of an outdoorsman. To me, going on an outdoor adventure is going to the beach and hiding underneath an umbrella on my iPhone while watching Sopranos episodes. But I was committed to the idea of a woods hike with the family.
First off, the most important thing to do if you are as paranoid about your health as I am is to throw on a ton of bug spray. This will give you the peace of mind that a simple walk through the woods won’t lead to a life-altering disease where you are bedridden half the day as your body slowly deteriorates for the rest of your life.
Okay, maybe I’m being dramatic, but I go hard on bug spray. I spray all of my clothes and shoes that I’m wearing on the hike with a permethrin-based product and then on my skin, I’ll rub a Deet-based product all over. It takes 30 seconds to do and it’s worth it.
We decided to do the trails by Barcelona Neck in Sag Harbor, and I simply could not believe how beautiful it was. Walking on the beach is a great activity, but hiking is just as incredible and a different experience. You feel a complete sense of aloneness with nature that is different from a beach walk that typically involves many more people on the beach. On the state trails, which are all marked so you can’t get lost, you feel like you’ve been transported to another planet.
Within 20 minutes I was hooked. “We should do this all the time!” I told my wife. And then my daughter, in classic two and half-year-old fashion, decided that she didn’t want to walk anymore and needed to be carried.
Our trek continued for another 40 minutes. I was sweating, my daughter refusing to walk, as I hiked the now treacherous trails of the Hamptons, laughing the whole time.
“Next time, we are bringing a stroller!”
You can find all of the magnificent trail systems in the Hamptons by checking out the below links.
https://www.alltrails.com/us/new-york/east-hampton
https://www.alltrails.com/us/new-york/sag-harbor
