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Woodland Trail

The Doe

By Natalie WilkinsonPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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The Doe

For about 10 years, before my friend left the East Coast for a job in New Mexico, she and I separately got our kids ready for school and as soon as it was light, 6:30 or so, rain or shine, temperatures above 20°F and below 95°F, we’d go on a three mile trek every weekday.

For the most part, we walked two loops around her neighborhood because there were few vehicles on the roads, and a couple of good-sized hills. We’d talk about things that were bothering us, kid’s grades, new recipes, we’d notice the changing of seasons, the flowers in her neighbors’ yards, the squirrels, and we sometimes had our dogs which slowed the pace considerably.

In the fall, when hunting season started, the deer were smart enough to start showing up in her neighborhood in droves. It was a spread-out, suburban, 1960’s landscape, but densely wooded with a lot of privacy between the houses. It wasn’t unusual to see three or four groups of does and fawns on a morning walk, the occasional big buck, or young bucks off on their own. Occasionally we’d see an exotic looking red fox, a coyote and, although we thankfully never saw one in person, her neighbors would post photos of a black bear on their back deck.

White tailed deer aren’t particularly welcome in our region of New York State. They are carriers of the tick that causes Lyme Disease, and they mow down flowers and decimate vegetable gardens as if there was nothing else in the world for a deer to eat. They can walk gracefully over a four-foot fence without breaking stride, and people generally fence their vegetables to about eight feet high in an attempt to keep them out.

Over the walks and years, my oldest child started college, then her oldest, and career and residence changes led us to a new walking spot.

The Hudson Valley region has many free walking and hiking trails with several accessible right at or near Metro North commuter train stations as far as 2 hours north of New York City. Some, such as the famous Appalachian Trail which crosses the Hudson at the Bear Mountain Bridge near Garrison, have access from points along state highways. Others, such as rail trails, can be accessed from the towns they cross through.

The trail we chose, due to its length and convenience, is located at the Beacon Station on Metro North’s Hudson line. The trail starts at Long Dock Park, a short walk south of the station, right on the Hudson. For drivers, it has its own parking lot separate from the paid commuter parking, which can be full at certain times of the day. Metro North allows free parking at the station on weekends and holidays if parking becomes an issue. We’d always meet at the park early before work, so parking was never a problem for us. The Long Dock Park is run by an organization called Scenic Hudson which has established many public open spaces and parks, mainly on the eastern shore which I jokingly call the Right Bank of the Hudson. Aside from walking and picnicking, it is also a good place to launch kayaks or canoes into the river. From the park, heading south along the bank, there are several trails, including a loop around Dennings Point. It’s a fairly flat trail, not a strenuous one. If you are looking for more of a challenge with a panoramic view there is also Mount Beacon Trail which starts on Route 9D southeast of town, a 20-30 minute walk uphill from the station.

The first leg of the Long Dock trail system, called the Klara Sauer Trail, is a flat and wide gravel path along open field and marshy ponds. Here, turtles, red winged blackbirds, ducks, wildflowers, cattails and butterflies abound in the summers. The trail comes to a ‘T’ and continues in both directions. A right and a slight jog with a left leads down to the head of the Dennings Point Trail. Due to nesting birds and eagles, the second half of the loop is closed in certain seasons but it’s usually possible to walk halfway, turn around and return the way you came. This path is a narrow, mostly dirt walking trail. Early in the morning there might be a jogger or a couple of fishermen trying their luck on the shore, but it is usually quiet and calming. The point is a small, forested world where we’d see owls, bald eagles, hawks, woodpeckers, rabbits, squirrels, turtles, frogs, butterflies, the occasional snake and deer.

On the day I snapped this shot with my phone camera, a doe was grazing unconcernedly along our route through the woods about one third of the way around the loop. I liked the relationship between the shape of the deer, the shape of the trees and how they framed her form. It was an overcast morning, so the river in the background registers as a colorless blur. Her lack of fear conveys a lot about the location and the relative solitude of the entire park. Her position reminded me of a 1916 bronze in the RISD art museum in Providence, Rhode Island. Its title is “Dancer and Gazelles” by Paul Manship and depicts a dancer flanked by two gracefully posed gazelles rearing up in time with her dance.

We walked that route daily for about a year before my friend moved west. I haven’t found another daily walking partner since, but I do get out occasionally on other trails in the area with friends. Whenever I look at the photo, I think of my friend, how our lives have changed, and the importance of going out into the natural world and just walking, talking, listening and observing.

****************************** I like to capture small moments in time with my iPhone 5S camera (despite its lack of available greens).

You can see more of daily life and views of the Hudson Valley on my Instagram page:

@maisonette_textiles

Nature
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About the Creator

Natalie Wilkinson

Writing. Woven and Printed Textile Design. Architectural Drafting. Learning Japanese. Gardening. Not necessarily in that order.

IG: @maisonette _textiles

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