Last week, I ventured out to see what the next portion would look like for Rosa and I, and was met with some pretty challenging events... getting a little lost, several times, breaking my prescription sunglasses, and my phone battery dying. I want to say a huge thank you to all that reached out to me and offered a portable phone charger for my next venture. I did appreciate the outpouring of concern. A huge shout out to my trail angel Kenn, because last night he dropped this off with a note attached.
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| trail angel gift from Kenn |
So as of today, I am fully backed up with a heavy duty back up charger, "adventure" edition. Thank you Brother K.
Rosa and I were back on the trail this morning, and ready to go! It was decided we would hike from where we were last picked up together, 2 weeks ago. Last week's adventure was just a trial run for the upcoming, underdeveloped portion of the trail. Today, we were ready.
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| our trail angel Mike dropping us off |
Mike dropped us off at the intersection of Newtown Road and Gate Street in Hampton Bays. We proceeded down Gate Street, and walked the length of Canal Road West, along side of the Shinnecock Canal. Thanks for the ride ~ now we set off to hike approximately 10 miles to where my jeep was parked.
As we crossed over the canal, we took some selfies as the view was much better than last week.
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| Shinnecock Canal Selfie |
The next few miles would be spent navigating through residential roads, thankfully marked with bright white blazes. This is the section I missed last week, as I did not see the white marked at the entrance of Old Canoe Place Road. Even though we were road walking, it was down a private, quiet street, with beautiful homes, and minimal traffic. The trail took us along side some homes still unders construction and into another beautiful section of woods.
We weaved our way through the woods, and ended up at the entrance to the Nature Sanctuary. This was the place where my glasses broke, and I was covered in ticks last week. We reapplied our tick spray and dove it. Almost waist high in weeds, branches and brush at times, it was the hottest part of the day for us, and with no shade in sight, we couldn't wait to get through this section of the trail. We saw some beauty, like the lonely orange flower blossoming among greenery, and some not so pleasant views, like this pile of bones lying in the trail. Thankfully, we exited the Sanctuary with no ticks, and were on our way to another section of road walking.
We walked east on Route 27, and crossed over at Tuckahoe Road through a few miles of residential streets. This portion of the trail, which crosses through the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, is completely out in the open. There is no shade, just winding roads, in the heat. We headed east on Sebonac Road, and were so tired and hot. So, with these conditions, there was nothing better than the Mr. Softee ice cream truck that pulled up near Tuckahoe School. Of course, we flagged him down and bought creamsicle bars. What a welcomed treat as we continued along the road to the entrance to Tuckahoe Woods Preserve.
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| Orange Creamsicle Treats! |
With just under 9 miles under our belts at this point, we were really feeling the heat, and were so tired! The walk through the woods here was fairly uneventful, other than a few welcomed rests at various benches that were built by Eagle Scouts, and random bursts of very cool air, as if someone had opened a fridge right above us. Those were wonderful.
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| a welcomed rest stop in the Tuckahoe Woods |
The view from this bench was great - you can see for miles around. The bench was a nice place to rest our legs after the walking we did through the Preserve.
We sat, enjoyed our water break, reapplied our tick spray and were on our way to the last leg of our hike. I think at this point, we just wanted to be at the car. Between the heat, and now having over 10 miles under our feet. it was time ot call it a day.
The last part of today's trail was some of my favorite, so far. The huge fallen trees, the twisted tree trunks, patches of ferns, and foot bridges were very interesting and fun to walk through.
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| One of many uprooted tree trunks |
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| twisted tree branches |
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| one of the many foot bridges we crossed |
As we approached Millstone Brook Road, we developed a pep in our step, as we knew we were close to the car. Only a few more minutes of road walking, and my jeep would be around the corner, waiting in the wooded lot of the Nature Preserve. And just like that, there it is! THANK GOD!
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| so happy to be done after 12.8 miles! |
So, you can check out our progress on the map below. A long, but very rewarding day for us!
Until Next Time,
Rosa & The Thruhiker's Wife
We weaved our way through the woods, and ended up at the entrance to the Nature Sanctuary. This was the place where my glasses broke, and I was covered in ticks last week. We reapplied our tick spray and dove it. Almost waist high in weeds, branches and brush at times, it was the hottest part of the day for us, and with no shade in sight, we couldn't wait to get through this section of the trail. We saw some beauty, like the lonely orange flower blossoming among greenery, and some not so pleasant views, like this pile of bones lying in the trail. Thankfully, we exited the Sanctuary with no ticks, and were on our way to another section of road walking.
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