Take a Hike with Ken Kindler

John Virgilio and I have been leading hikes in The Sarnoff Preserve every first and third Saturday of the month since last winter. The first couple weeks of spring were cold and damp. The buds on the trees refused to open and the ground was moist and soft underfoot. Then, suddenly, the temperature shot up, rain stopped falling, buds burst open and the ground dried up. Last week, it hadn't rained for a week and it was 25 degrees warmer. John and I found ourselves in a much changed woods. It was normal to see some plants with brand new leaves already wilting when it had rained heavily only a week ago - the thin layer of Pine Barrens soil atop sand doesn't hold moisture well. What was odd was that many of the oak trees had failed to sprout leaves, and, in many places, where the brush layer should be thriving because of the missing canopy, it had not leafed-out.

We parked at the Spinney Road Parking area off Route 24 in Flanders and followed the faded yellow blazes from behind the kiosk to Owl Pond. At the Pond the yellow trail forms a T intersection with the Paumanok Path. We turned to the right, east, towards Maple Swamp and Pleasure Drive. We were refreshing the much-faded white rectangular PP blazes with paint. As we moved away from the wetlands near Owl Pond, we began to notice that many of the trees with the faded blazes were dead. This is strange. Normally you don't paint blazes on dead trees because they won't be there long. Looking up at the canopy, the few trees that had recently leafed-out bore mute testimony to the surrounding devastation. Perhaps several years of heavy gypsy moth and oak worm infestation have caused the die-off. The pitch pine trees are thriving. In fact, many of the oak trees that survived are surrounded by pine trees. The trail crackles underfoot and in many places, there was no canopy to protect us from the sun. During the early spring John and I had discovered that the brush hadn't grown into this segment of trail, so we started preparing it for summer hikes when ticks would become an issue further west in the Sarnoff Preserve. This trail needs only a little trimming and blazing. However, the brush has closed in on long segments of the DEC trails by CR104. The PP and yellow access trail are closed in and the red and blue loops have long segments of trail where the sides of the trail are touching. This has happened despite several large volunteer trail trimming initiatives facilitated in this area last year by the Pine Barrens Society.

Now, you can't even tell that 35 energetic volunteers had worked to clear the trails on two separate occasions. Until we figure out how to open up these trails again, I would suggest that, unless you are knowledgeable about tick protection, stay off them.

One walk you might like to take, where there is less of a tick threat, is along the Point Woods Trail. I took this hike last week with the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society and was once again impressed by their maintenance crew. The bridges that had become warped and dangerous have all been replaced with solid, safe structures. Even if this were not one of the prettiest trails on Long Island, it would still be worth visiting, just to see the handiwork of this trail group. To access this segment of the PP, park on Camp Hero Road in Montauk, the last public road off Route 27 before reaching the Montauk Lighthouse. Take Montauk Highway east through Montauk Village, past Theodore Roosevelt County Park, Deep Hollow Ranch and the Oyster Pond overlook (on right). The first right after the overlook is Camp Hero Road (1.5 miles east of the entrance to T. Roosevelt County Park). The trail begins on the right side of Camp Hero Road, 100 yards south of the intersection with Route 27. Park on the road shoulder by the "Point Woods Trail" sign. Walk the short access trail to the PP, a left turn over a bridge takes you along the Point Woods Trail, through Camp Hero, then along the bluffs to the Lighthouse. If you turn left, the PP crosses Route 27 to the Seal Haulout Trail. The State and EHTPS have done a great job of blazing these easy-to-follow trails. The only confusing place is where the PP crosses the highway, crossing in either direction, the opening to the trail on the other side of the road is set off to the right. This trail is clear of brush, so I didn't pick up any ticks.

Ken Kindler is a Trails and Open Space Advocate working to help the trails groups and land managers care for our "Natural Island." If you would like to learn more about our trails or help care for them, visit the Hiking Long Island website. www.hike-li.org

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