Lay Missioners Conquer the Mountain
Every August the new batch of Salesian Lay Missioners goes thru 3 weeks of orientation (actually beginning in July). The last week is a retreat during which they share prayers, meals, recreation, and conversation with Salesian priests and brothers on retreat at the same time at Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw, N.Y.
In the parking lot, photo set up by Kat Mendoza (half squatting)--with (front row) Katie Church, Mara Fenn, Tim Hughes, and Fr. Steve DeMaio; (back row) Fr. Mike Mendl, Adam Goetz, Bro. Dan Glass, Paul Chappell, and Adam Rudin.
Since 2011, one piece of the recreation has been a day hike in Harriman State Park or Bear Mountain State Park. Program director Adam Rudin calls upon your humble blogger to lead the hikes. We’ve gone to Big Hill Shelter along the Suffern-Bear Mt. Trail (moderately difficult; not as easy as using the Long Path); Bear Mountain several times (strenuous); Stockbridge Shelter (using either the Long Path or the Menomine Trail, both moderately difficult); and this year, on August 17, West Mountain (strenuous).
We parked off 7 Lakes Drive and picked up the
1777W trail (.25 mi) to the Appalachian Trail. We ascended the mountain on the
AT (1.65 mi) and picked up the Timp-Torne Trail at the top of the ridge,
following it as it ran along with the AT and then continued to the West (.55
mi)—almost 2½ miles in each direction, 2 hours going up, 1¾ coming down. It was a little harder going for someone of a
certain age, but the “kids” were stalwart, full of energy, and enthusiastic.
There were 10 in our party: the 5 SLMs, Adam, 2 returned SLMs who helped
Adam with the orientation (Bro. Dan Glass, 2012 South Sudan, and now a Salesian;
and Katie Church, 2010 Cambodia), Fr. Steve DeMaio, and I. We were blessed with
some cloud cover but no threat of rain; I’d been afraid we’d bake up on the
ridge.
Appalachian
Trail Hikers
On our way up,
we met 2 northbound AT hikers who’d come up from Georgia; one told us he’d
started on May 16. On our way down, we met 6 southbound hikers who’d
begun in Maine, all of whom seemed to be traveling, loosely, together.
One said they’d begun in mid-June. All were aiming to complete the full
hike, over 2,100 miles. The halfway point is Harpers Ferry, W.Va., in
case you’re wondering. They were going
strong—the southbound crew aiming to reach the Brien
Memorial Shelter for the nite (that link is to a longer story), and hoping
the fresh water spring there wouldn’t be dry in the current drought.
At the shelter
we found a smoldering campfire on the approach—bad, bad campers! In fact, the previous weekend the park
rangers had to close access to Bear Mountain because of a brush fire and had
reopened the AT crossing on a limited scale.
In this case, after we’d celebrated Mass and eaten lunch, we prepared to
head back and found the campfire blazing away; it took quite an effort with dirt
and some of our spare water to stifle it.
The SLMs delight in the outdoor Masses that we celebrate on these hikes. When I backpack, I don’t carry the full vestments; but for the SLMs I do, altho some of the other liturgical accoutrements are scaled back a bit (no candles, for instance—they wouldn’t stay lit anyway).
I think Adam
Rudin and I were the only ones tired by the time we got back to our cars. But everyone was looking forward to a shower!
More pictures: https://link.shutterfly.com/GrjYj4YUzsb
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