10. Heritage Trail in Goshen to Mountain Road in Greenville

This is not really very rural any more. The roads are busy and some of them have trucks of various sorts. We were there about 11 on a Wednesday and the Pine Museum was closed. The worst part of this section is that there are no bathrooms and few places to hide in the bushes. There is a Mobil station at Hunter Place and County Road 49, where there is food and a bathroom, but that was the only facility along this section. The deli at Ridgebury Hill Road smelled good but the bathroom was out of order.

After 10 days on the LP I am convinced that every New Yorker should experience this hike. I know it won’t happen in big numbers, and neither do we necessarily want to see a mass migration of New York liberals upstate, but this trail has been so important to me. I believe that our LP should be listed among America’s great thru hikes. None of the individual sections so far were life-altering on their own, but as a mosaic this is a life-changing experience. Each day has been very different and as such it’s hard for me to pick a favorite. But if I had to, Stage 10 would be it for me. The day started rather inauspiciously. I have come to realize that there are 2 things in life that are entirely out of our control: The weather and whom we chose as a spouse. The former is controlled by God and the latter is ‘bashert’ (#predestined). I was starving at the start of Stage 10 on the Heritage Trail in Goshen!! My wife harangued me last nite that I shouldn’t expect gourmet meals this week because she is cleaning the house for Passover. I don’t want to sound mean, but her idea of gourmet at baseline is spaghetti with meat sauce or a turkey sandwich topped with Grey Poupon. Anyway, I’ve been having to survive on trail mix and could really use a home-cooked square meal. Nevertheless, I do appreciate that she is a good traditional wife. Back to the hike, the heritage trail boasted more beautiful wetlands and the road walk thru the towns of Waywayyonda and Greenville was so lovely it’s hard for me to put it into words. You see, most of my life I considered this region ‘fly-over-country’ between NYC and the Borscht Belt. In actuality, this land is rich in natural beauty and the people here live such meaningful lives. You say this is elementary!!!! I say most New Yorkers hold my previous prejudices!!!! I saw beautiful farms, pristine grain silos, enchanting barns, both simple and stately country homes, happy children playing in their driveways, friendly dogs, midget horses (sorry I don’t know the P.C. term), and roving hawks. There were also innumerable Trump 2020 flags flying from homes. There was a perfect country deli at the turn to Ridgebury Hill Road with tempting pastries and fresh coffee. Thee was a fascinating cemetery just down the road with graves dating back t the early 19th century. You only need to read the gravestones to realize what a different world it was back then. I know the NY/NJ trail conference leadership wants to take the LP entirely off the roads. And they have largely succeeded, but I implore them to keep Stage 10 intact as is. We have so much to learn from seeing life lived at a pace different than our own. We grow so much on a trail, but perhaps even more on the well-placed road walk. The LP teel markers nicely dotted the telephone poles along the course, but I recommend printing out the directions above (or use your smart phone) as turns are not highlighted with neon signs nor even with offset trail markers. It could be easy to go off course without being aware of the next turn – and there are no trail maps for the first ~10 miles of this section. Also, pay attention as you walk. As stated by a previous hiker, some of the roads have a fair amount of traffic. Also, the guide suggests this segment may be traversed by bicycle. Bad idea!! The roads have almost no shoulders and there are relatively steep drop-offs. Also, this is a hike!! Wouldn’t it be cheating to bike? You would only be cheating yourself. This reminds me of the Brooklyn Half-Marathon I ran with my father in the mid-80s. I was 15 years old and my father was just a couple of years younger than I am now. Neither one of us had run more than 8 miles at the time, but we signed up for the 13.1 mile race. Entering Prospect Park, less than a mile from the finish, we sharply cut a corner and saved perhaps 1/100th of a mile. A race official looked at us wryly and shouted “you’re only cheating yourself”. We used to reference “you’re only cheating yourself” all the time. Its not laugh-out-loud funny, but it was a way for us to remember that great day as it was. Speaking of cheating yourself, someone suggested I’m cheating by driving home every nite instead of sleeping in the woods like a true thru-hiker. Please understand that the ability of residents of the NY metropolitan area to do the LP from the comforts of home is one of the reasons that I believe this hike needs to be on top 10 lists (or top 20). It adds that extra dimension of discovering the beauty in your own backyard. NY is our home! I am not opposed to sleeping in the woods but I consider it a necessary evil of seeing this amazing planet rather than an end in itself. Besides the Devils Path, which I hiked with my brother in the early ‘90s (see my comments in Section 8), I have hiked some of the iconic backcountry trails in the USA with my son Bobby including: Rim-to-Rim in the Grand Canyon, the Tonto Trail in the Grand Canyon, the Northern Traverse in Glacier NP, the Teton Crest Trail in Grand Teton NP, the Gallatin Skyline in Yellowstone NP, the Ray Lakes Loop in Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP, and the Outer Mountain Loop in Big Bend NP. However, I enjoy the hikes but just tolerate (barely) the tents. I hope to one day do another grand thru hike like the AT, the PCT, or the CDT but so far I have never been unemployed for a long enough stretch. Also, my traditional wife would find it a bit odd if I up and left for 6 months.

As planned this section began at the Chester Depot Museum. The day was perfect for biking. I rode from Chester to as far as I could along the Heritage Trail in Goshen, it was closed at one point. I rode back to Chester and beyond to the little nature sanctuary. Lots of friendly people on the trail. This was nice warm up for the Discover the Hudson Valley Ride in Poughkeepsie. Looking forward to Hike 11.