the Way of the Turtle

LAST VISIT TO ROEMER'S HIGH POINT
6.1 Mile Run at Thacher Park & Along the Long Path
Sunday, September 14, 2008

I woke up at around 4 AM to the sound of fairly heavy rain outside... then again at 5:30 AM when my alarm went off, and it was still raining. Checked the forecast... more rain, for much of the day. Debated about going to Olana and Tivoli Bays, and decided that 2 1/2 to 3 hours of round trip driving so that I could get soaked running in the rain didn't especially appeal to me. Crawled back into bed and enjoyed sleeping late on a Sunday morning.

Of course, when I woke up the rain had stopped, and the sky was clearing... sigh. Maybe I should have gone south to run after all.

I spent a while debating over where to run this afternoon, and finally settled on Thacher Park and the Long Path which comes into the park along its western border and then runs through the park toward Altamont. Overall, the Long Path is a 320+ mile hiking trail that runs from the NJ side of the George Washington Bridge to just past Thacher Park. Much of the path is hiking trail, though some sections are routed along local roads where off-road access isn't available. One section of the trail runs between Beaver Dam Road at the western edge of Thacher and then up and over a ridge to Elm Drive. It's a tough run, since the first part is virtually all uphill, but then it turns more rolling and eventually comes out at a cleared area on top of the ridge, with nice views off to the west and south. The original path from the high point was rough, especially in the summer when it became overgrown, but in the last year or so that was rerouted to take a more direct route switchbacking down the other side of the ridge toward Elm drive... a nice path with a fairly easy downhill grade, good running overall.

Unfortunately, word came down about a week ago that the section of trail up and over Roemer's High Point would soon be closed by order of the landowner, and the trail has been reblazed to follow the roads and bypass the closed section. I couldn't find any details anywhere, but knew I wanted to get up there at least one more time before legal access is withdrawn...

Since I wasn't sure how long I'd be out and about, I parked along Beaver Dam Rd (in case I finished after sundown, when they close the gates to the parking areas at Thacher) right near the point where the Long Path crosses the road. I immediately found out how word had gotten around that the trail over the High Point would be closing - there was a sign posted on the gate! I did a short loop along some fairly level trails that roughly parallel the road, then headed up the hill, planning to run the High Point loop before stopping to refill my water bottles and spend some more time on the Thacher trails.

The initial uphills through the fields can be a little misleading... first there's a relatively easy grade, which gets you thinking "this isn't too bad." Then the path goes around a curve and climbs a second, steeper hill, before leveling off briefly. Just when you think the worst is over, there's another curve, and then the really steep section kicks in. I don't think I've ever managed to run all the way to the top, and I'm usually gasping when the path finally levels off as it heads into the woods. Another sign about the trail closing greeted me there, and then I had a short level bit before the last steep climb - the trail used to switchback to the top of the ridge, but it was rerouted a year or so ago to climb pretty much straight to the top... another gasper.

From there the trail runs along the ridge, rolling and gradually climbing until it runs into a series of old logging roads. Then it follows the dirt roads over rolling terrain, until finally it tops out and comes out into an open area on top of the ridge - Roemer's High Point.

The view from the top was a bit murky today, but still pretty nice... I could see the houses and farms in the valley, and the mountains and Thompsons Lake off in the distance. I spent a while taking what will probably be the last pictures I get from up there, then headed down the path on the other side of the ridge, through woods and brush fields before finally coming out at Elm Drive.

I briefly considered going back on the trail, but decided I didn't particularly want to climb back top the top and I definitely didn't want to deal with the steep downhills back to the park. So I headed off down the road instead. My Vasque trail shoes handled the pavement better than I expected, though I think I'm going to try to get insoles with more cushioning. Along the way I passed a farm with two goats in a field, and from the way one of them was walking I think his knees were grumbling as much as mine. (Mine have been especially cranky since iaido class Friday, since we spent a big chunk of the time doing yin-no-kata and yan-no-kata, both of which involve a lot of kneeling.)

Got back to the car, and between my grumbling knees and the heat/humidity, decided to call it an evening and settle for a short run instead of the 11-14 miles I'd been planning to do. I'll get out tomorrow for a longer stretch.

I'll miss the run up to the High Point - there are places with better scenery, but this one was a nice combination of a tough workout and a nice view at the top. When word first started to get around about the trail closure, there were some folks who had some pretty negative things to say about the landowner... but the way I see it, he's well within his rights to decide whether or not to allow access to his land, and I'm grateful he allowed us to use these trails for as long as he did. Hopefully the property will remain wild and not be cleared for logging or development or set up to be destroyed by yoyos on ATVs.

JMH