Return to the Long Path
I miss hiking, and this seemed like a good way to get a fix in while keeping to my training schedule.
Last weekend, E and I returned to the Long Path. Not to Palenville, where we need to pick up the trail to finish our section hike, but to the start of the trail at the George Washington Bridge.1
The second-longest long run in my marathon training program is 22-23 miles, and so of course I got the boneheaded idea that we should run (run-walk) 23 of the 24 miles from Manhattan to Nyack, and then have a nice cool-down walk into town. I miss hiking, and this seemed like a good way to get a fix in while keeping to my training schedule.
It was lovely at first. The day was overcast and the city skyline and distant cliffs of the Palisades were mostly obscured by haze. Since we were last on this section of the Long Path, the pedestrian walkway on the south side of the bridge has been closed for construction and the north side reopened. The turn-off for the trail was well-marked, and it was nice to get on the trail immediately instead of crossing half a dozen very busy roads along the temporary re-route.
For the first few miles, the trail is fairly flat and even—easy. We ran past signs of the wildfires that burned through the Palisades last fall: charred branches and bare earth and blackened rock. There were early signs of spring, like snowdrops and (maybe?) daffodils on the verge of blooming. E stopped to point out a tiny woodpecker.
I had conveniently memory-holed the roots and rocks that positively litter the trail, mile after mile. I don’t run on trails very often, and certainly not for long distances, so I seriously underestimated how much more draining it would be than running on pavement, even with ample walk breaks. If you’re going slow on pavement you can get away with a run-shuffle, but on a trail that’s just asking to take a tumble. E and I both turned our ankles a few times, and I started to wonder if this had been the best idea.
At the State Line Lookout cafe we split a red Gatorade and a pack of Reese’s, which took the edge off the gnawing hunger in my tummy. (I underfueled on this run and as soon as we got home I ordered an extraordinary volume of gels, chews, and waffles to test over the next few weeks.)
I longed for the onion rings but this was not the time!! A half-dozen turkey vultures circled close overhead.
I had not forgotten the multiple rock-stairs along the trail. In fact, I enthusiastically thought of them as good opportunities to train for the notorious hills on the Big Sur marathon route. But they were hard: hard going up and way, way harder going down, as that grinding knee pain that I often get while downhill hiking steadily intensified as the miles ticked up. I may have messed up, I thought.
Every time the trail passed over pavement, however, I found reserves of strength to pick up the pace and jog steadily. There’s one section of trail that goes along 9W for a bit, and E and I both nearly jumped into oncoming traffic after practically stumbling over a dead deer on the side of the road. A wave of fear and horror washed over me—it would be so easy for a careless driver to do that to us. (Drivers who don’t slow down—at least to the posted speed limit—and scooch over a bit when passing runners/hikers, wtf is wrong with you??)
My breaking point came in Tallman State Park (mile ~16-17), when we were climbing a very short, steep section of trail, and I was heaving myself up, clutching onto my hips/lower back for strength? Stability? I was cold, sweaty, and dead tired. I said it aloud, blinking away a few tears: “I may have fucked up.” E gave me a pep talk up the hill, to a short stretch of blessed pavement, and we started jogging again, at least until the painful descent down a long rock-staircase into Piermont.
I steered us through town towards the same coffee shop we had stopped at before, where I ordered a cafe au lait (I was cold!) and E got another Gatorade, and said I think we should take my bail-out route: Running along the smooth, even rail-trail into Nyack, instead of the very challenging section of the Long Path. It was shorter, unfortunately—I probably wouldn’t get to 22-23 miles—but I just didn’t have any more trail in me. E enthusiastically agreed, after getting me to say I wouldn’t be disappointed if we didn’t finish on the Long Path.
So we followed the rail trail into Nyack and then the signs to the bus stop to get across the Tappan Zee Bridge. After buying our tickets we jogged a little ways further out and back until my watch hit 21 miles. I figured 21 mostly-trail miles = 22-23 normal miles.
reading list
Thanks, I hate it
German thru-hiker detained, deported, and banned from entering the United States for five years. (Caitlin Hardee for The Trek)
$1: The spending limit for expenses at the National Park Service that do not require permission from regional higher-ups to go through. For 105 western parks, there are just two (2) humans responsible for purchasing requests. (Chris Thompson for Defector)
US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is planning to cancel all bike lanes and other green infrastructure projects started under President Biden. (Gersh Kuntzman for Streetsblog USA)
Hundreds of campsites in Pennsylvania will remain closed for the foreseeable future due to Elon and Trump’s staffing cuts across the federal government. (Jason Nark for The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Helpful
How to find New York City’s hidden parks and public spaces (Elizabeth Kim for Gothamist)
Good news
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the public’s right to access millions of acres of public land by “corner crossing” or stepping from one public land to another, even if there is private land on either side. (I love when pharmaceutical moguls lose in court. More of this, please!!!) Additional background reading on this issue (from 2022) here.2
San Diego program gives new or gently used bikes and necessary gear to unhoused community members after they ride 100+ miles. (Kamrin Baker for GoodGoodGood)
National Park Service will reinstate roughly 1,000 fired probationary workers after two US District Court judges temporarily blocked their terminations by the Trump administration. It’s a win, but ruling-by-chaos is not a great long-term strategy. (Kiley Price for Inside Climate News)
Technically, it starts at the 175th street subway station, but the A train wasn’t running past 168th street so we walked from there instead.
Shared in this newsletter in 2023.