Another Barefoot Adventure in the Catskills

September 27, 2015December 1, 2015 Barefoot KenAvenza PDF maps, Long path, LUNA sandals, Plateau Mountain, Rusk Mountain, Trail Conference Map App, West Kill Mountain2 Comments

Behind me the sky had colored with the rising sun, while to the front the southern escarpment of the Catskill Mountains was silhouetted in mauve and cerise.

Odie and I were headed north for a minimalist adventure, the objective to climb three mountains, of which one would be a bushwhack. The protocol for me would be climbing barefoot and descending in LUNA sandals; Odie is always barefoot. Emboldened by slow but successful ascents of Peekamoose, Hunter, and Southwest Hunter, I had developed the peculiar ambition to climb all 35 peaks in the Catskills barefoot, and today’s activities would hopefully get me to number 6.

To make this expedition appropriately minimalist, I was carrying a small safety kit, but no food or water.

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Lost in the Elfin Woodlands

September 6, 2015December 1, 2015 Barefoot KenAvenza Map App, Boiling Lake, Cloud Forest, Dominica, Elfin Woodlands, Morne Diablotins, Morne Trois Pitons National Park, SPOT GPS Messenger, SUUNTO4 Comments

This post describes a hiking adventure on Dominica from December 2014. Dominica was recently hit by tropical storm Erika, resulting in significant damage and loss of life. If you’d like to contribute to recovery efforts, please click here:

“Where’s your guide!”

I looked about sheepishly. The tourist book has strongly encouraged hiring a guide, but we did not have one.

“If you get lost in the woods,” the man continued, his face accusatory, “you’ll be in deep trouble.”

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A Catskills Afternoon, Complete with Flies, Thorns, Stinging Nettles, and Gunfire

August 15, 2015December 7, 2015 Barefoot KenAnti-Rent, Balsam Mountain, Bearpen, Calico Indians, John Burroughs, Map App, Osman Steele, Shandaken Tunnel, vly, Walter Scudder, West Kill1 Comment

As I dragged myself out of bed, the main topic on my mind was breakfast — not another bushwhacking adventure in the Catskills.

The day before, my friend Todd Jennings and I had put on the inaugural Ellenville Mountain Running Festival. Organizing the race and ensuring everything went smoothly had taken a lot of effort. That night I went to bed tired and didn’t bother to set the alarm. But once I was finally awake and suitably nourished, there were no other pressing tasks at hand, and in due course I found myself motoring down the Thruway in search of Bearpen Mountain.

Todd and I had designed the Ellenville Mountain Running Festival as a “minimalist format” event, meaning that the course wasn’t marked and runners had to carry maps. Many of the racers missed turns and ran extra miles, and a small number gave up and returned to the start. It was only fitting, therefore, that on the way to Bearpen I would get lost. And this despite having both Google Maps and NY-NJ Trail Conference maps on my phone. It was high noon before I pulled into the parking area, almost two hours later than expected. As they say, Karma’s a bitch.

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Secrets of the Catskills — Revealed

June 11, 2015April 5, 2016 Barefoot Kenbushwhack, Catskills, Esopus Creek7 Comments

There is more to life than increasing its speed

— Mahatma Gandhi

I could hardly wait for the weekend, so excited was I to get back out to the Catskills to run, hike, and explore. When Friday evening finally rolled along, I set the alarm clock for 4:30 AM, determined to get an early start. And I was out the door and on the road in the predawn mist.

But when I finally arrived in the Catskills a few hours later, I was dragging. En route I had picked up a second cup of coffee, but even a double dose of caffeine hadn’t helped.

I dragged myself to the starting point of the day’s adventure, the trail to Giant’s Ledge, and looked up: the path was a tumble of rocks.

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Hobbling Through the Woods

May 31, 2015April 5, 2016 Barefoot Kenbushwhack, Hobblebush, Map App8 Comments

If you stray off the beaten path, you might encounter a wall of Hobble-bush (viburnum lantanoides). Where the branches touch the ground, they send down roots and grow new stems. Soon there is a thicket eager to hobble the unwary hiker — hence the plant’s popular name. Continue reading “Hobbling Through the Woods” →

Bushwhacking in the Catskills with Marcus Aurelius

May 17, 2015February 3, 2016 Barefoot Kenbushwhack5 Comments

Nothing is evil which is according to nature

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I leaped out of bed before dawn and by first light was on the highway racing toward the Catskills. The goal was to summit seventeen peaks within 24 hours. This would be a test to determine whether I was ready to challenge an ultra-distance mountain-bagging record in this rugged region of the Hudson Valley. If things went well, I’d be back in a few weeks for a multi-day adventure, this time to officially break the record and set a new one.

What’s interesting about the Catskills is that many of the peaks have no trails. To reach a pathless summit, the runner “bushwhacks” through the woods. This entails following the lay of the land, staying oriented with map, compass, and GPS, and surmounting the obstacles tossed up by the constant flux of nature.

I was eager not only to challenge records, but also to experience the wilderness. I had been reading the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, the well-regarded 2nd century Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher. Live in harmony with universal nature, he had argued almost two thousand years ago, and you can achieve serenity and tranquility, no matter what obstacles you encounter. And what better strategy for achieving harmony with nature, than to run through mountains and plunge into trackless forest?

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The Long Brown Path

Peak-bagging, running, barefooting, exploring, and other minimalist adventures in nature

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