Compromise and logistics dictate everything
Long Path Sections 8 + 7: Monroe Park & Ride to Smith Clove Road
This is the fifth installment of a series on section hiking the Long Path. The adventure begins here, and you can read the previous installment here.
We’re time traveling again today, back to November of last year—the Saturday after Thanksgiving—when we hiked from Monroe to Woodbury to knock out Section 8 and part of Section 7 of the Long Path.
If you’ve been paying close attention to the newsletter, you may have noticed that we only hiked parts of Sections 6 and 7 this spring. Why go out of order and backwards? Logistics, and compromises.
If I recall correctly, I really wanted to do the overnight because I wanted to try out my new backpack, but my hiking partners were on the fence—it was going to be a cold night—so we settled for a day hike instead. (Compromise!)
We opted to start in Monroe instead of Woodbury because there are multiple evening bus departures from Woodbury Commons, and only one late-afternoon departure from Monroe. (Logistics!)
Section hiking demands/allows this kind of flexibility in a way that is convenient but also sometimes hard to swallow for someone who prefers the aesthetics of an end-to-end thru-hike.
It was a bright, clear, chilly day. The trail was pleasantly crunchy, although in places the leaf cover was so thick it was slick as a Slip ‘N Slide. We held out our arms to balance, or carefully kicked the leaves away looking for a secure step. The footing was so precarious and shifty I remember being relieved that another friend who had recently recovered from a broken foot had ultimately opted not to join us.
We climbed up to the main ridge of Schunemunk Mountain, and were treated to views of the Shawagunk Ridge and the southern Catskills. Everything was brown, brown, brown, except for the splashes of bright green moss that carpeted the trail. We descended down to cross a ravine before climbing back up on High Knob, following the trail as it curved around the mountain, with views down to suburban sprawl in the valley.
This was among the most surprisingly delightful day hikes along the Long Path so far. It was absolutely empty of people, and who thinks to take the bus to Monroe of all places, when Harriman State Park is right there?
Still—sunset came fast that November day, and we had a good bit of trail left to go when it did.
After the bus dropped us off we only had five or so hours of good daylight, and it was already dimming when we descended down to a stretch of road where we completely lost track of the aqua blazes. We walked back and forth along a curve of highway with narrow shoulders and a blind corner and cars speeding by way too quickly and not expecting any people to be there.
We could see that some of the blazes had either faded beyond recognition or had been crossed out, but it took us ages to find the new blazes. They led us into a tangle of grasses taller than us, with no discernible path through. The stickery weed seeds clung and pulled at our clothing as we clawed our way down to the stream.
Then there was the water crossing itself. The stream was too wide and deep to cross without getting our feet wet, so we walked up along the bank a bit to see if we could rock hop across, and we almost could—it’s just the last jump was a lot bigger of a jump than it looked from downstream, and we weren’t sure we could make it. So we backtracked to where we had been before and took off our socks so that even if our shoes and feet got wet (they did) we would still have dry socks to put back on.
All of this took a lot of time that we had saved (saved is not quite the right word, but close enough) by hiking faster at the end of the previous section. Twilight was upon us and we had a good chunk of walking still to do: a mile on a narrow gravel road, and then a mile and a half on those paved roads that aren’t quite highways but people drive like they are. Finally, once it was well and truly dark and our way lit only by our headlamps, a smattering of Christmas lights, and the headlights of passing cars, we arrived at the turnoff to Harriman State Park. We saved that for another day and continued on into Woodbury.
We made straight for A Better Place Bar & Grill. This has to be one of the best post-hike bars I’ve ever had the privilege to visit, in part because of the good beer list, and in part because of the ample choices of vegetarian junk food, including vegan wings.
After stuffing ourselves in a fatigued daze, we walked (now quite cold and very, very tired) to Woodbury Commons, through the packed parking lot, and fell in line for the bus with all the tourists and shoppers weighed down with their discounted hauls.
Hike it yourself from NYC
(12 Long Path miles/13.2 total miles)
Take the 9:10 am Short Line bus from Port Authority to Monroe Park & Ride; arrive 10:36 am.
Hike south 8.85 miles to end/beginning of Section 8, beginning/end of Section 7. Continue on Section 7 for 3.15 miles to Smith Clove Road—do not turn left, continue straight, under the bridge, into the town of Woodbury.
Optional but highly recommended stop at bar/pub A Better Place, or the Woodbury Diner.
Buses depart Woodbury Commons at 5:21 pm, 6:58 pm, 7:15 pm, 7:30 pm, 8:30 pm, last bus 9:15 pm. (Check Short Line website for updated schedules/changes.)
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I crossed Woodbury Creek in the opposite direction just two months earlier in late September 2022 and the route was no less puzzling from the other side. I had to bushwhack through tall dense foliage with no signs of recent passage. After finally emerging onto State Route 32, a trail runner appeared from the opposite trailhead and offered me a ride to Harriman Station!