Ben's Blog

We went on what turned out to be a long hike on Sunday.  We started at Kakiat Park and headed up the Kakiat Trail.  Mechel and Bala examine a waterfall:

 

Baila’s new boots were giving her heel blisters, so we put on a but of moleskin from the handy first aid kit:

 

Crossing under the power lines:

 

Grandpa and Grandma rocks (I think):

 

This reminds me of an album cover for some reason:

 

After fighting our way up the Kakiat trail through pretty broken terrain, we bailed out onto the gas line easement and hiked Torne Valley road towards the lake:

 

There was a bit of water in spots:

 

The lake at last:

 

The sun was setting fast, so I carried Baila for most of Torne Valley road.  It took 2.5 hours to get to the lake, and only 1.5 hours to get back:

 

Walking the gas line easement:

 

RCC in the distance:

 

We made it back 10 minutes after sunset.  Close call!

In the last half-mile, we passed a woman to whom we said hello but got no response.  She was heading up the mountain as darkness fell.  Here’s what turned out to have happened:

RAMAPO — Rescue personnel were called out to Kakiat County Park on Haverstraw Road on Sunday night to conduct a search for a local woman.

Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco said the woman, described only as in her early 20s, was reported missing around 7 p.m. after she had an argument and went into the park property.

Police were gearing up for a major search — as many as 40 rescue personnel were gathered at the park’s pavilion and an aviation unit was about to be called-in — when the woman emerged from the Old Mill trail just after 8:30 p.m.

“As we we’re gearing up to put another search team into the woods she actually came out,” Falco said, later adding, “We would have stayed here all night.”

Members of the woman’s family were on the scene and after she was located and checked out by medics, she was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital. The woman was distraught but not seriously injured, Falco said.

The incident, first reported just after 7 p.m., drew a response from Rockland police fire and rescue units, some of which have deployed K-9 units and all-terrain vehicles to conduct the search.

Officials set up a command post near the park’s pavilion about 500 feet off Haverstraw Road. Beams from flashlights swung in the dark as police searched the wooded area.

Later, after the search had been called off, two officers could be seen inspecting the woman’s backpack. The contents were laid out on a picnic table: a jean-jacket and a bottle of seltzer water.

 

Here’s the route.  8.02 miles, 4 hours.  1,670 feet of climb.  Max grade was 42.5%:

The kids were real troopers.  We will have to leave a bit earlier next time.