Celebrating Love and the Long Path

 

The Long Path is blazed in aqua - we just love this trail

On August 5th, Love and the Long Path was OFFICIALLY released. The feedback from y'all has made my heart shine. Thank you to all who pre-ordered and those who have ordered since the official release. For those of you that are just tuning in, my book, Love and the Long Path is available in print and eBook from all major online retailers where books are sold. Find it on Amazon at: Love and the Long Path: Houskeeper, Heather A.: 9781098375751: Amazon.com: Books. Signed print copies are available here and at my website: www.TheBotanicalHiker.com. 

To celebrate the release of Love and the Long Path, I have been revisiting some of my favorite portions of the Long Path. There's something special that happens after one has hiked a long-distance trail end-to-end or spent a good deal of time on it...it becomes a sanctuary. Each time I return to the Long Path it is like coming home. The dwarf pitch pine and towering oaks, the stinging nettle and the fragrant milkweed like family I have longed to share space with, and each blaze a reminder of a journey that is permanently a part of me. 

On the cusp of spring, Scott and I took a jaunt into the Palisades. We wondered the well-worn path along the cliffs, brushing shoulders with many a day-hiker...very aware that we, too, were now day-hikers. Last we had hiked here we were laden with heavy packs, filled with anticipation and anxiety for the hundreds of miles ahead of us. Today we strolled, Amos at the helm, he intoxicated with the many smells these hikers trailed behind them. Looking out over the Hudson we took selfies like romantics and tourists, and marveled at how far we had come as a couple since our walk on the Long Path. It was on this day that we were graced, too, with a sneak peak of spring with a humble cluster of snowdrops.

A snowdrop (Galanthus), although non-native, is a precious find when coming out of a long, cold winter.

 

Selfie taking on the Palisades cliffs

I returned to a portion of trail in Huckleberry Ridge State Forest, that is relatively new, just off of Mountain Road in Greenville. I remembered well our fatigue of a day-long road-walk and the reprieve of finally returning to trail here. Scott and I had practically frolicked down the trail beside the yellowing leaves of black birch, in the day's dying light, so grateful to be in the quietude of the forest. Chipmunks scurried and evening birds chirped. We nestled into a campsite beneath the canopy of witch hazel. It was oh-so-very different to return on this sunny afternoon, park at the trailhead, and unload my coonhound, Amos. I suffered no fatigue, but still, as soon as we stepped onto trail there was relief. A wholehearted sigh....ahhhh...in the woods again. And with the pace at which Amos moves, we definitely frolicked, at times trail running on this mostly smooth path.

Amos on the Long Path in Huckleberry Ridge State Forest

American chestnut (Castenea dentata) saplings stood out to me on this visit. The American chestnut, which was once a dominant tree in our Appalachian forests, has been devastated due to a blight. Trees rarely make it past twenty years of age before death. However, new shoots continually spring forth from stumps and rootstock.  

One of three ponds in this section. The edge of this pond is a preferred habitat for boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)

Boneset  (Eupatorium perfoliatum) - a plant long used to fight colds and flus, reduce pain, and break fevers. However, it has in recent years been shown to contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, therefore caution in dosing and usage is strongly encouraged. 

Scott and I enjoyed strolling the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area - a portion that we have returned to many a time and that we had walked long before we ever thru-hiked the trail. It seems that this piece of trail always offers up reflection. When we first walked here, we conjured up our first notions of thru-hiking the Long Path, later when thru-hiking we entertained the notion of thru-hiking the Florida Trail (which we did the following year), and now here we were celebrating the release of a book about our experience. We had come full circle. Never mind that the temperatures were sweltering on this day...we just let ourselves melt into the trail, our skin as marshy as that of that of the Basha Kill, and appreciated the host of precious native plants this land hosts.

Swamp azalea (Rhododendron viscosum) - a native beauty

Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) - this plant's flowers had not yet opened. This is, as its name implies, a milkweed that prefers wetter habitats. All of our milkweeds are integral to the monarch butterfly population. It is on milkweed leaves (undersides) that the butterfly lays its eggs, the larvae then hatch and eat leaves for nutrition and protection (toxic constituents discourage predators), they may form their chrysalises on milkweed, and later mature butterflies will seek its flowers for nectar.

Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) scents the breeze when in bloom. Young shoots, flowers, and immature seed pods may be consumed as food (boiled/blanching required to reduce toxicity) But be sure to leave plenty for the monarchs!

Signing books at the Basha Kill! A number of these benches line the level path that guides the northbound hiker into Wurtsboro.

At least Amos got to cool off!

Dipping into the Catskills was by far the most thrilling even if we only had the opportunity to walk a few miles. We tread alongside the Batavia Kill that rushed over boulders and smooth stream stones. Heavy storms had just fed the creeks and the wet earth now blossomed mushrooms. We remarked on how very different these conditions were from those we had experienced when we last here. Hiking through this section in late September, we had found creeks and springs dry and had thrown ourselves up and over Blackhead Mountain in a last ditch effort to find water. The Batavia Kill did provide, however we had found it a mere trickle. We were also pleased on this return, to actually spend a little time in the Batavia Kill lean-to, which we had alluded us on our thru-hike.

Golden spindles (Claulinopsis) inhabits deciduous and coniferous forests. Although not poisonous, it is generally not considered edible due to strong bitter flavor.

Northern tooth fungus (Climacodon septentrionale) is parasitic on maple trees. Get its name from the fact that underside bears "teeth-like" spines that contain spores for reproduction. Not considered edible.
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Ghost plant (Monotropa uniflora) - not a fungus! This plant has such as odd appearance because it does not photosynthesize but rather gathers nutrients from fungi that are symbiont with tree roots. It is often, although not always) found growing near to beech.

The Batavia Kill lean-to that was built roughly four years ago to replace older lean-to (that lean-to has since been torn down and removed)

I invite you now to cultivate your own love story with the Long Path. You need not venture out for weeks at a time, but rather enter its forests and meadows, mountains and marshes, walking its winding path for minutes or miles, whatever distance you feel called. No matter the portion you choose, the Long Path will provide sweet reprieve. 

To learn more about the plants of the Long Path, join me on a guided edible and medicinal plant walk at the Mohonk Preserve. Saturday, September 18th and Monday, October 18th. The Long Path travels very near to the Mohonk Preserve in the Shawangunk Mountains. I will also be sharing stories from our Long Path journey! Follow the link to register: Edible and Medicinal Plant Walk - Mohonk Preserve