Troop 353 Putnam Valley

Manitoga District Spring Event
Saturday, April 25, 2009

George Washington Bridge/Palisades Hike

This particular event is going down in the record books of our Troop as being the hottest hikes in our recorded history. The evening weatherman confirmed the temperature hit 90-degrees in Alpine, New Jersey – the final point of our hike.

We met at the VFW at 8:00AM. Thanks to Scoutmaster O’Grady we had a mode of transportation to bring our Troop to the foot of the George Washington Bridge.
At the base of the bridge on the New York side, we met hike organizers and they described the hike and various points of interest along the way.

The bridge was spectacular! The haze in the air made it impossible for us to see the Statue of Liberty from mid-span, but the skyline was breathtaking. We met scouts from different Troops all excited to see where the trail led. Blue flowering groundcover, violets and yellow daffodils covered vast areas were we walked. We crossed small streams by way of wood planked bridges and viewed distant sights across the Hudson from vantage points at the edge of sheer cliffs. We also had turkeys greet us at an overlook. I would say we had a good day.

Thank you Mr. Davidson for being there for us. He traveled alone the whole day and made sure we were safe and hydrated. The hike was two-miles on the bridge and 10-miles of trail, but Mr. Feuerstake and his hand-held GPS unit calculated we walked more than thirteen (13) miles. Way to go!

I am proud of our scouts who hiked the GW Bridge to Camp Alpine. I wish more scouts had come. I appreciated each and every word of encouragement from Mr. & Mrs. Feuerstake and Mr. Davidson, which helped every one of us complete this hike.

Thank You!

REMEMBER: This Tuesday Council re-scheduled their Summer Camp slide show for us to view. Parents please come and see what Curtis S. Read Boy Scout Reservation has to offer your son.

Also, Mr. Davidson has informed me he received a box containing our Class B red T-shirts. I look forward to see everybody on Tuesday.

During our Tuesday, April 21st meeting we were to have a guest speaker from Council present a slideshow on Curtis S. Read Boy Scout Reservation. Unfortunately he was detained in another meeting and was unable to come. We have rescheduled for next week, April 28th.

Those boys in attendance were our SPL Anthony, Andrew, Will, Travis, Patrick, Cody, Chris, Shane, Mark, David and Jelani. A number of our scouts currently working on their Eagle Required Merit Badge – Environmental Science took a short hike into the woods at the Park with Mr. Gorniak to complete some of its requirements. A number of older scouts, who already have the Environmental badge, assisted Chris reviewing requirements necessary to move up in rank.

Manitoga Spring District Event

Palisades Hike:

This Saturday, those boys and parents who have signed up, are to be at our VFW at 8:00am for transportation to the foot of the George Washington Bridge for this hike. The weatherman is proud to say the weather will be gorgeous. Please make sure you dress in layers, the bridge can be windy, and especially early in the morning; towards the afternoon we are looking for temperatures in the 80’s. Make sure you carry with you an adequate amount of water to stay hydrated and you spray your pants/hiking boots with tick repellent. Carry a small backpack with you lunch and snacks and to stow your layers when it gets too warm.

REMINDER:

Sunday, May 3rd - our Clean Up of the VFW starts at l:00pm. Please bring your gloves and rakes, if possible. Once completed we will go to the Middle/High School and pick up road side litter as we do our part in the beautification of our community and Earth Day. A list is posted for your signature to participate. This can be used as community service time, necessary for rank advancement.

Welcome back from our Passover/Easter Spring Break. Those scouts in attendance, at last evening’s meeting were Patrick, Troy, Daniel, Will, Cody, Travis, David, Mark and Shane. Although our SPL was unable to make the meeting, Patrick assumed the lead position and got us going.

PARENTS REMINDER: During next week’s meeting (4/21/09) –Ian Yearwood from Council will present an informative slideshow about Curtis S. Read Boy Scout Reservation located at Brant Lake, New York. This is designed to answer any and all questions regarding having your son attend Summer Camp during July 12 – 18th.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Palisades Hike (Saturday, April 25th)
The upcoming hike across the George Washington Bridge up Long Path to The Greater New York Council Boy Scout Reservation in Alpine, New Jersey begins on the New York side of the bridge at 9:00am on Saturday morning. The beauty of this hike is the bridge and walking over something most people only drive across.

Our Troop has started a sign-up list and is looking for MORE to join the hike. The boys who have signed up are: Patrick, Anthony, Andrew, Will, Daniel, Cody and Troy.

Please email me if you are interested as Council has given us a deadline for sign-up as Monday, April 20th.

It’s an awesome adventure – Let’s have some fun.

Please bring your backpack with a sandwich for lunch and two water bottles, a piece of fruit, a snack or candy to keep you going. Sturdy hiking shoes/boots are a must and a rain poncho, just in case. Remember the weather is ever changing and the bridge gets windy – you can always take off a jacket and tie it to your pack.

Town of Putnam Valley - Roadside Clean-up

The town has asked volunteers to pick up roadside litter this weekend, but the Troop is NOT able to participate with this short notice.

Our Troop will meet at the VFW on Sunday, May 3rd at 1:00pm to participate in our own Community Service Beautification Program. The Troop customarily completes a Spring Clean-up for the VFW Post, which normally takes about one hour. After we will drive to Foothill Road (Next to the Middle/High School) and proceed up the road gathering litter. We urge everyone to come out and help – community service time can be earned.
Many hands make the job light.

Our next hike is coming on the 25th and I know it is breathtaking.
Detail forthcoming shortly. We plan to cross the George Washington Bridge and travel Long Path to Boy Scout Camp Alpine in New Jersey.

It too is an awesome hike, which Council had organized back in 2006 and a number of our boys can still remember vividly.

Bashakill - What a weekend to remember!

Looking back to our meeting time (7:00 AM) at the VFW, many of us thought the day was going to be a washout. The sky was overcast, with temperatures in the mid-40’s and dampness of rain in the air.

Our scouts Travis, Cody, Will, William, Daniel, Andrew and Patrick all arrived looking enthusiastic to meet the challenge ahead of us. Our cars left the parking lot at 7:20am lead by Mr. Flanagan heading West towards our destination – Bashakill Wildlife Management Preserve (Southeastern Sullivan County). As we drove the clouds lightly showered on us, but the skies lighten and so did our hopes of not having to use our rain ponchos (Yuck!).

As this is an area well known by Mr. Flanagan, we parked and headed out (map in hand) on the trail, around what proved to be awesome bird and wildlife sanctuary. Walking on railroad ties of the abandoned train bed, we were flanked to our left and right by beautiful white birch trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. We came upon a majestic waterfall, which cascaded down large slabs of rock and flowed into the Preserve. Yes, we took pictures and hope to have them posted soon.

The birds chirped, cooed and cawed as we past their feeding and resting areas. We took turns looking thru binoculars and talking to other visitors at different vantage points along the trail with hopes of seeing eagles nesting on one of the many islands. We spied their nest, but saw no movement within. At the head of this trail, we stopped on a roadway, which cut the middle of the wetlands; there we paused to pick dozens of ticks off of our pant legs. (Everything is waking up!) Using this road too, was a fisherman fishing and a man observing migrating wood ducks. As we connected to the towpath on the opposite side of the preserve, we came to a clearing near an old cemetery (headstones dating mid-1800’s); we sat and ate a well-earned lunch.

This towpath was not built of railroad ties, but an elevated path with a stone lined channel used as a lock system to move barges from the Hudson to the Delaware. In various areas there were small footbridges to cross-flowing streams or stone footholds to navigate washed out areas. Conservationists built birdhouses high up in trees with protective metal collars around the tree trunks to ward off raccoons from robbing eggs. Each house was numbered and tagged in an effort of observing and monitoring the nesting birds.

The day concluded when we crossed over a field, which brought us back to our starting point and our vehicles. It was a wonderful outing, which tested our legs and our spirits.
I am happy to say we all survived and have a lasting memory of this journey.