Escape to Green Pond
Fr. Jim Mulloy and I were able to
make an escape into the woods—into Harriman State Park, specifically—on Friday,
April 22, for one nite of camping.
Events on his schedule at Don Bosco Prep kept us from going earlier, and
longer, in the week.
We parked behind 2 other cars on Kanawauke Rd. at the start-point for Island Pond Rd., an old woods road, and got on the trail at 11:08. We hiked a bit over a mile, up Island Pond Rd. to the Nurian Trail, and got to our destination shortly after noon—one of the campsites above Green Pond a short hike off the Nurian. It's one of our favorite sites.
Just a short distance from the car, I almost stepped on a snake in the road; it slithered off and camouflaged itself at the base of a tree (you'll have to look hard!). It resembled a rattler but had no rattles; I looked online to ID it but wasn't successful.
Fr. Jim saw one backpacker behind us
as we cut off onto the Nurian, probably heading to Island Pond; otherwise, we
saw not a soul all Friday. On our way to back to the car on Saturday, we
met 3 day hikers. On the road as we headed home, we saw a big party of Koreans
and dozens of bikers. The parking lots along Kanawauke Rd. and at Reeves
Meadow were mostly full.
Friday was a perfect day for camping except for a lively wind that lasted all day with a few moments of relative calm. It blew away my tent before I staked it down (not very far, before it snagged in the shrubbery), and later it gave me a hard time putting on the fly.
On reaching our campsite, we set ourselves up: Fr. Jim with a hammock, me with a tent. We gathered firewood, of which there was an abundance, seasoned, and then relaxed.
Fr. Jim napped, and I read half an issue of Biblical Archeological Review. I used the camp chair that I bought at REI’s “garage sale” a while back—1st time, and it was just fine: sturdy and lightweight. We each did some exploring; I think I found a relatively convenient water source beyond the south end of the pond. Otherwise one has to hike a rocky quarter mile down the Nurian Trail to a creek, then back up [and it IS up] with the water. We also prayed the Divine Office, as always.
During Holy Week one of our confreres
went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the Chrism Mass and came back with fresh
holy oils. The next day I changed the
stocks in our sacristy and packed up the oil-soaked cotton and the tissues I
used to wipe things down. When it was
time to start our cooking fire, that was outstanding primer along with some
newspaper and the dry wood we had.
We grilled hot dogs for supper, with sides of cheese, crackers, nuts, apricots; then kept our fine fire company for a couple of hours, doing a lot of talking and gradually adding layers of clothing as the sun headed toward the horizon.
The afternoon temp reached 80, according to my little (and possibly suspect) thermometer; but with sunset, it cooled considerably.
When I awoke at 6:30 on Saturday, the same thermometer registered 40 inside my tent. By 7:15 we were celebrating Mass on a big granite cube; unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of the rock. Fr. Jim did a thorough check of the site, which was pleasantly free of litter when we got there, and of course we left it that way. After breakfast and breaking camp, we hiked out at 8:35 in sunshine and warming air. Going mostly downhill, it took us only 45 minutes to the car. By 9:45, we were back at Don Bosco (for more coffee and a real bathroom!).
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