Beloved Green Bandana

Blue skies abound! We got back into boots and racked up 12 miles in a
Harriman loop hike. Our first 10+ in as many months. Our GPS tracking,
pictured below, began at a ballfield off Tiorati Brook Drive. We
enjoyed the first 5 miles, walking on near rockless grassy moss (and
some muddy areas) without interruption from any other people until we
were chased down by a couple of trail runners coming off the Menomine
Trails intersection with Red Cross at a bridge crossing. These two
were aged 50+ and miles from any road, running without any water that I
could see. That's to be admired. We took the Red Cross trail to the
Burnt House landmark, which is nothing more than an old hole in the
ground with nothing burnt or houselike left standing. Unlike our usual
blazed trail adventures, it is getting harder to complete new circuit
hikes without bushwacking, so when Red Cross headed straight for the
Palisades Parkway we veered north searching for Owl Lake Road and
caught up to the historic 1779 trail where General Anthony Wayne led
revolutionary troops in July of the same year to fight the British in
Stony Point. We then headed back west up Black Mountain on the very
familiar Appalachian Trail. Just short of the summit we took an
extended break enjoying the sunshine by eating, reading, napping, and
watching hawks glide silently by. With another 6 miles left to get
back to the car, we picked up the pace to head out only to get caught
up in the middle of a Boy Scout pack, who sandwiched us in the middle
of their party and cut our pace way down. Once we finally broke free
and reached the ledge that overlooks William Brien Shelter, we found a
"tent city" of Cub Scouts and ther chaperones. A kid noticing our
presence said directly to me "I can beat you up!" but I later figured
he was talking to his friend about scaling the rock's ledge. Another
mile of pushing put us at another intersection where decisions needed
to be made. We chose to bushwack once again on the very sparse Bockey
Swamp trail. It was over a mile of a deer run, at best, with a cairn
every .2 mile and as many ghost blazes from an AT route from days gone
by. Finding our way back to the Red Cross trail to complete the
circuit definately required GPS and map. Somewhere along the way H
lost her beloved green bandana, so I promised one day we will return
to rescue it.