Along The Trail... (Second Leg)

Nature Girl and I struck out along the blacktop into as bucolic a setting as you're likely to ever see on the Island of Manhattan. All I had heard about Inwood Park was that they host a major food festival every year (which I am going to be sure to make this year)...and many people see it from the Henry Hudson Bridge, having no clue that the expanse of green just east of the West Side Highway is, indeed, an amazing stretch of woodland with trails that wind up through the hills and spill out onto a view of the aforementioned bridge, the Spuyten Divel (Devil's Spigot -- where the East River meets the Hudson) and the river we're following. It's probably best to let these pictures tell the story:


I'm feeling a bit Dutch at this juncture...wondering if this is what the first settlers spied when they first laid eyes on our little isle. Okay...maybe not the bridge...but couldn't you be anywhere upstate? I do love Pennsylvania Dutch noodles, lathed in butter.

Before we take another step, I have to throw out a big fan-like hug to Barry Lewis and David Hartman for their wonderful "A Walk..." series of jaunts all around town. Given our heights, I think NG and I might pass for the female version of this dynamic duo...but without Barry's great insights into the lore of this great metropolis. Barry is going to be lecturing at the Met (Museum, not the Opera) on some aspect of NY history. Wish I could see him, but I won't be in town then...someone has to go and report back on how entertaining and informative I am sure he will be. Of course, we're really in Manhattan. Albeit bucolic and tranquil (especially at 9:15 on a hot Sunday morning), there are signs of urban life:

This last photo even has some "art" value, as what looks like a dog running to the end of the pier is actually a black tin image of a dog...there were three others closer to the shore. We weren't sure if they were placed to look like guard dogs (this pier is at the end of the Columbia University Rowing Club facilities) or intended to give the crew an artistic lift.

Wanting to stick close to the water, we move along a paved path around the inlet that starts rising into the hills in a westerly direction. And, we hit our first roadblock...Now this is where NG would start climbing fences and tromping through the muck and mire (trust me, we have been down that road before).

Luckily, we spied a path leading up the hill...and I was able to pry her off the railing and propelled her up, up and away...into the forest primeval.

This is getting a bit more like hiking...and not quite the strolling I had in mind. We see few fellow hikers as we follow the narrowing road:

Suddenly, Sacajawea forges ahead to a stone bridge. Nearly sprinting to its apex,

she strikes the patented NG pose:

And, what is on the other side? A cliffhanger (in more ways than one)...