Bill Myles

Bill Myles first appeared in my radar screen, as they say, in the 1970s in Union County Hiking Club. He was extremely knowledgeable about the trails in New Jersey, New York, and beyond. He became a hike leader for UCHC, then he was President, then Treasurer for many years. He led hikes, and he gave talks on many of his hikes about the history of the area in which we were hiking.

Then he wrote The Book.

Harriman Trails, by William J. Myles, became a best seller for the NY-NJ Trail Conference, the publisher and copyright holder. Bill's research methods were creative. He'd go, say, to the Sloatsburg library or the phone book and look up names and addresses of local folks. Then he'd knock on someone's door. "Hello. I see your name is Conklin. Are you by chance related to the Ramsey Conklin who used to have a cabin in what is now Harriman Park?" If the person said yes, Bill might then ask, "Do you have any old maps or pictures or papers having to do with that person or that property? I'm writing a history of the area ..." Sometimes, Bill said, the person would say "Why yes, I have a shoebox (or a carton or a trunk) of papers and old maps and photos in the attic. I didn't know what to do with them." Well, Bill knew what to do with them. He gleaned a lot of information that way.

His wife Berthe and his friends would be regaled with storeis about the people and places that were to appear in the book. We heard lots of stuff that didn't appear in the book, too.

Finally, The Book came out. There were book signings and parties and walks to this place and that. Bill was gratified when he'd be in Harriman and would see people walking with his book in their hands, matching page to place or reading snatches of history from the book. It was truly a labor of love.

Before Bill met Berthe, he was part of a clique of hikers. We were all single at the time; we were strong (and much younger). We hiked the Catskill 3500-footers and the New Hampshire and New England 4000-footers. And, of course, we hiked in Harriman. If it rained, we'd all mosey over to someone's apartment, drink wine, and listen to classical music. Lovely memories.

Bill once told friends that the way to break in new hiking boots was this: Buy the best boots with the best fit you can. Put on your boots with your regular hiking socks. Run water in your bathtub to cover the tops of the boots. Walk in the tub until the boots were soaked through. The boots would conform to your feet that way, and you'd never get blisters. Somehow I never could bring myself to do that to a new pair of boots. But it worked for Bill.
He had an iron-clad stomach. Bill drank water from Harriman streams, unfiltered, longer than anyone else we knew. And never got giardia ... or anything. Finally we nagged him until he stopped the practice. As a chemist, he once said, "I don't know why people don't like preservatives in their food. At my age I need all the preservatives I can get." He also said, in his later hiking years, "These mountains are much higher than they were twenty years ago."

Bill taught a lot of hikers how to lead hikes. He set a fine example for many, many hikers. He was a wonderful friend and a unique man, and I miss him very much.
--Nancy Wolff

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