Unexpected Harriman Holiday

Unexpected Harriman Holiday

Out of the blue, I was asked on Friday, Sept. 29, to drive Don Bosco Cristo Rey's participants in the province's leadership retreat for select junior students, starting on Monday the 2d.  This is an annual program of the youth ministry office.  Driving, as in one of the school's mini-buses (14 passengers); and staying up at Don Bosco Retreat Center till the retreat concluded on Friday morning, then driving them back to DBCR.

The retreat participants (ANS photo)

I confess that I wasn't super-enthusiastic, for several reasons.  1st, it was very late notice  2d, it was covering someone else's "back end."  3d, I hadn't driven any form of a mini-bus since about 1972, altho I've had loads of experience driving 15-passenger vans (which are now basically unlawful for schools).  4th, I had to cancel 3 sacramental appointments.  5th, I had to jump immediately thru some hoops with Maryland Vehicle Administration, and pay for that, in order to get onto DBCR's driver insurance.  6th, the province newsletter has a Monday nite editorial deadline.

But I agreed because 1st, there was some urgent need; 2d, I'm supposed to be involved in DBCR, and so far there hasn't been much chance; and 3d--an inducement that was mentioned to me--since I didn't have to assist with the retreat, I could go camping in Harriman State Park while I was up there.

So, altho I dislike doing editorial work on Sundays, I made an exception on Oct. 1 and got all the copy and photos off to the designer with a cover explanation that I wouldn't be available for proofing until Wednesday afternoon, but could be reached by text with any question that might come up before then.

And after delivering our 7 students and Fr. Dieunel Victor to the retreat house, depositing my non-camping bags in my room in the residence, and doing a final email check, I borrowed a car from the local SDBs and betook myself and camping gear to Silvermine Lake, about an hour later than I'd desired but the best I could do, given the plans for the retreatants.

I didn't plan an elaborate 3-day loop hike with overnites at different shelters.  I went simple: get to Stockbridge Shelter on Monday well enuf before dark to gather firewood, and stay there except for a day hike on Tuesday.  After parking at the western end of the Silvermine parking lot, I toted my 35-lb. pack (estimated)--heavy with about a gallon of water besides tent (just in case), pad, saw, hatchet, food, stove, fuel, layers of warm clothing, sleeping bag, 1st aid kit, medications, 2 small flashlights, spare batteries, etc., and hurried 1.5 miles west up the Menomine Trail, past Lake Nawhunta,

almost all uphill, to the Long Path.  I was in good enuf shape that I didn't need to make any long rest stops, just 3 or 4 very short breathers.

At the Long Path, the unmarked Nawahunta Trail continues where the Menomine ends.  But I turned right (north) and hiked the .1 mile, most of it steeply uphill, to the Stockbridge Shelter.  (I'd swear it's longer than .1 mile, but that's what Harriman Trails says.)

The shelter, perhaps the nicest one in the park, with 2 good fireplaces and a wide wood floor that could sleep 8, was unoccupied, altho there was a 2-person tent (without rainfly) set up on the platform (visible in the photo above).  There was still about an hour of daylight, and I gathered a good bit of firewood, altho substantial pieces were not to be found.  In fact, I noticed that a LOT of standing wood had been cut in the general vicinity of the shelter.  I thought some not-nice thoughts about the perpetrators.

As I was starting to prepare my supper (the 2d half of the beef stew package that I started on my August hike, plus an orange--which left me feeling a bit hungry), a day hiker came along from the north.  He was a friendly, talkative fellow named Chris, also very religious.  So once I'd finished supper and hung my bear bag, we got into conversation--he was a bit intrigued, I think, that I was a priest and didn't seem to know much about Catholicism--and we prayed together and admired God's creation together (ranging from the bright stars to the loud crickets).  He didn't seem fazed that it got dark and he'd have to follow the trail back to Silvermine with only his cell phone as a light--plus an almost full moon.

The Long Path heading north from the shelter.

My bear bag is hanging from the tree to the left of the trail.

Once Chris went on his way, I stayed up to feed the fire

and read a bit longer, finally retiring after 10 o'clock.  The nite was getting a little chilly outside; it was fine in the shelter.

On Tuesday I got up at 7:00 a.m., not by a particular plan but because the sun was up and I'd had about enuf of the hard floor and insufficient pillow (spare clothing stuffed into my sleeping bag stuff sack).  I celebrated Mass, made my breakfast, and used my iPad for the Divine Office.  To my chagrin, I discovered, that I'd brought very little instant coffee, which made me just 1 cup today.  The rest of breakfast was oatmeal, a granola bar, and peanut butter--quite sufficient.

A little after 9:00, I tossed most of my gear into that unoccupied tent and took what I needed for a couple of hours of hiking, plus the water bottles I'd emptied between supper and breakfast, and my pump filter.  (Note: I'd brought the Sawyer bag with water, and it leaked into my pack.  But I've found it hard to fill the bag at water holes, so went with the slightly heavier but more manageable pump.)  I had to use my backpack because I hadn't brought along any sort of day pack.

I went back down the Long Path to the Nawahunta Trail, that unmarked woods road that I remarked earlier.  It goes .6 mile, mostly downhill, to Baileytown Rd. and isn't particularly remarkable.

At Baileytown Rd., another unmarked woods road, 1st I went west, quite level, .15 mile to the gate at the boundary of the Harriman estate.  It was a very plain iron gate, like many others along park boundaries, and there wasn't any sign that I noticed.

From there I took a little side road of some sort till I came to a dry creek bed.  Hoping to find water, I followed that for 10 or 15 minutes, striking a bit of mud now and then, coming to a swamp area with no more water than the creek, till I figured "enuf of this" and headed slightly uphill thru briers and other undergrowth till I hit the road again.

I turned left and came upon some stone walls, which I photographed. 

I didn't notice, almost right in front of my nose, the Bailey family cemetery, which I'd seen on the maps for years and wanted to see in person.  I continued northeastward for a quarter mile to Camp Lanowa on Upper Twin Lake--a pretty body of water with other camps on its shores.  There was a Palisades Interstate Park truck at the camp, but I didn't see anyone. 

I went to the lake and pumped water to refill my bottles.  When I returned to the road, the truck was gone.

Looking for the cemetery, I doubled back on Baileytown Rd. and found it right where I'd missed it half an hour earlier.  Chagrin! 

I prayed for the dead, took a few photos, and noted mentally that fixing it up would be an excellent Eagle Scout project.

Then it was back to the entrance to Camp Lanowa to find the unmarked trail running .5 mile up Stockbridge Mt. to the cave shelter.  At the ridge I picked up a bit of firewood--there was ample room in my backpack.  From the cave shelter to Stockbridge shelter is .3 mile.  I noted a bit more firewood that I might come back to retrieve.

At the shelter I found 3 older guys standing around, deciding where they wanted to camp.  They'd set packs in the shelter but weren't interested in using it.  I guess they were content to see that the stuff in it hadn't been abandoned--except for a fire grill that had been there when I arrived.  They asked whether they might take it, and I said "sure."  (I was claiming the abandoned tent, with future student camping in mind.)  The 3 finished scouting for a camping site and went down the cliff to one of the fine spots there--also much closer to wood supply.

I spent the afternoon gathering firewood, reading, and relaxing.  I took down the abandoned tent and stowed it in my pack.  It's backpacking light, weighing about as much as my 1-man tent.

3 day hikers came by, 2 of them doing a loop trip out of Silvermine, the 3d one doing in-and-out from Silvermine.  A pretty gusty wind came up, and apparently I overexposed by sweaty body to it because overnite I noticed the onset of a cold.  But the day remained sunny and at times warm.

Sunset, Tuesday

With evening I prayed, made my supper (freeze-dried lasagna--very tasty and filling; no half package this time), and read.  When I set my fire in the same fireplace as last nite, most of the smoke blew back into the shelter.  I guess the strong wind was affecting the chimney's draft.  So I built a new fire in the other fireplace, and that was better.  I had found some substantial wood to burn in the afternoon, including a good 3" maple log that I cut into 5 or 6 pieces.  So I had myself a fine fire for several hours, till well after I went to bed around 8:30.

The wind continued to howl thru the nite, and it was a bit chilly inside the shelter.  I kind of wished I'd left the tent up and had gotten into it.

I made no rising plan, and voila! at 7:00 a.m. I figured it was time to get up, then checked my watch.  Same morning routine as yesterday, sans coffee.  I finished breakfast and clean-up with about 3/4 of a canteen of water left.

I finished packing up, picking up trash (I nearly filled a small plastic bag, mostly with junk I found in or around the shelter, including a ruined cooking pot), and double-checking the site in time to hit the trail at 9:00 a.m.  My pack was a good bit lighter without water and food in it, of course.

Below the ridge I shouted a good day to the 3 chaps who'd camped there and were apparently getting their breakfast going.  Going down the Menomine was considerably easier than coming up, obviously, and I reached the car by 9:45 even after a fairly long halt to shoot some photos in the pine grove near Lake Nawahunta.

On my way back to the Marian Shrine I stopped at the park visitors center and bought an new set of Harriman maps (2016).  I passed my 2012 set to one of my confreres who does some hiking.

Since a couple people asked about meals, I'm including a photo of my "kitchen" from a 2013 hike.