Getting out of New York City
can be a daunting task. First, you generally need a car, and many of not most Manhattanites do not own one. But when I
do consier getting out and doing some outdoorsy stuff, I think about attempting hikes like the Long trail, discussed at
some length in this Backpacker article
by Johnathan Dorn. Dorn hikes the Long Path, the gargantuan, snaky 329-mile trail running from the George Washington
Bridge (on the Jersey side) along the Palisades escarpment and deep into the heart of the Shawangunk Mountains (or
Gunks), through the Catskills Park, and pressing into the Adirondacks. Over numerous weekends Dorn and buddy James hoof
it along more than half the trail’s total length, some 150 miles, and experience all the travails and exhilarations of
such a long haul.