I took a day's break from the fair scene to celebrate twenty-four years of life at the most lovely get-away in the Schwangunks - Mohonk. Perhaps, "hike" is a loose word because in the end my friend Emily and I found ourselves mostly sitting, talking and shivering in the damp coolness that seems to be ushering in the first hint of the upcoming autumn season. When we did hike, Emily would only make me laugh because she would say things like, "I keep looking behind me to see if I could fall and die. I decided I could die."