Day #9 on the Paumanok Path...

What a beautiful for hiking! We were up, and out on the trail today by 8:30 am.  Today's endpoint was uncertain at first, as there is nothing posted ANYWHERE about this section of the trail.  We drove around the area near the landfill in Southampton, and decided to leave my jeep parked on the side of a road called Majors Path, with a note on my window saying "Out hiking ~ will return to my car" so no one would think my jeep was abandoned. We began at last week's endpoint, the Preserve entrance on Millstone Brook Road. Most of today's hike was in brisk air,  mostly walking  in the woods, with beautiful views, great company and NO TICKS.

Although there is almost no information on this section of the trail, and it's development, I can happily say the blazes in this section are well marked, and the trail is very well maintained.  There are a few sections where we were on the road for a bit, but it was great as we walked passed other friendly people, exercising, riding bikes, mowing their lawns, and just outside enjoying the beautiful weather.  We both agreed it was one of our favorite sections of the trail so far.

The trail wound through the Wolf Swamp Sanctuary for the first mile, we crossed over Scotts Road, over another section of Millstone Brook Road, and came up on Big Fresh Pond. It was a beautiful, calm body of water set in the middle of what felt like nowhere.

Pond selfies!

Big Fresh Pond

After enjoying the view on the shore of Big Fresh Pond, we continued walking and entered into Emma Rose Elliston Memorial Park.  There is a beautiful monument in the park, dedicated to the residents of Southampton Town.

photo by Carole Warren

This park was beautiful, with many small foot bridges helping us cross over little streams throughout the park. Normally we know when we are coming up to any type of water, as the mosquitoes begin buzzing all around us, but not today! It was peaceful and beautiful throughout the mile we were in the park.

We exited the wooded area, crossed over North Sea Road, and proceeded to navigate in and out of the woods, and through some residential areas, hosting beautiful homes and friendly people.

As we approached the next crossing of a road, which happened to be North Sea Drive, we stopped a nice couple who were walking their baby in a stroller to ask if they knew how far away the landfill was.  We knew it was where I had left my jeep, so we were hoping it wasn't too far from where we were.  They said, yes, it was just around two corners right up the road! We were so happy and proud of where we estimated we should have left the jeep.  We proceeded through about a half mile of more woods, and the trail dumped us out onto Cove Neck Lane.  Wait, where have I seen that before? Oh yeah, I looked to my right, and there sat my jeep, note still attached, undisturbed. We had successfully found the car, completed 4.8 miles, and felt so great about our day.  I took a picture earlier in our day, while still in the Memorial Park that just about sums up our day:

photo by Carole Warren

You can see our progress from today on the map below. Cumulatively, we have completed a little over 70 miles of the 125 mile total that we want to finish. We are right on schedule, and looking forward to getting a few hiking days in this week, so stay tuned!

Until Next Time,

Rosa & The Thruhiker's Wife