It’s my oasis. I come to the “Hills” to escape the computer in my office. I come to experience the largest, natural, unfenced forest left on Long Island because it’s there. I don’t have to pay. I have only a compass and map. I can bushwack or follow well-marked trails. I am away from cloying noises. I can get lost at random. I have the chance to some upon magnificent boulders that stand out dramatically in a forest of pine/oak trees. I come to be with the lichens which have not diminished as they have further west due to clean air void of sulfur and nitrous oxides which lichens are sensitive to. I came to be with my pal with Mark. my hike companion.

The day was beyond a February thaw. I’d call it a “melt” there was snow cover but it is corn snow mush. I wore the wrong footwear, a pair of sneakers which soaked up water. I had the camera and note pad. Our plan was to walk east on Hot Water Street and turn left on #6. Number 6 is one of the north-south emergency routes that serve if a rescue is necessary. They are wide enough for a four-wheel vehicle. We found snowmobile tracks which helped our footing. My shoes sank into the soft snow.

We had come a mile east of the parking lot to explore trails we’ve seldom taken. There are some pretty steep ascents, with deep erosion gullies. Anytime a trail is straight up and down one of these “Hills” it is likely to become eroded. Water has no barriers and can pick up sand and pebbles during a heavy storm. We passed through on such gulley was six feet deep. Longtime Hills enthusiast Ken Kindler learned to create trails that side swipe hills which prevent erosion.
The Ronkonkoma Moraine is about 100 miles long. The “Hills” is about a mile long. Thank God it is called Baarren. Developers missed this place and finally when they wanted to develop, New York State decided to preserve is as a core of forest whose role is to sit fast and soak up clean fresh water. “Good Job Hills.” It alone is devoid of roads, and houses. The glacier stopped here and dumped its load. It melted in place and left a pile of silt, mud, sand, cobbles, pebbles, and an occasional erratic. When passing through the deep erosion cut, I was able to see the profile of a six foot section of earth. The top humus layer is only 4 inches thick. This layer drooped over the edge, undercut by erosion. The litter layer contained humus, needles, small branches, and globs of moss. Beneath it, raw drift. Drift is the term for the material that drifted from the melting glacier.

Mark and I took a break. He sat on a pine needle swath beneath a huge pitch pine tree while I wrote notes and took a few photos. “This is a perfect place for a bench.” We have become “benchified” looking for new bench locations. Sunlight and tree trunks created parallel shadows on snow. I’ve only been on a few hikes have occurred with snow on the ground. Snow magnifies the topography. We see the “Hills” as we hike them. It’s like being on the ocean with swells passing under a boat in wild chaos.

We met a hiker at the intersection of the Paumanok Path and #6. He showed us his map that he downloaded. “This is my first time here”. He showed us the map. It is an excellent map, clear, concise, and easy to read. He said it was made by a man by the name of David Waring. Mark and I decided to head west on the Paumanok Path and head back. I photographed a deer track, pine branch against snow, a boulder, and the base of three trees. All the trees had no snow up against their trunks. The snow was scoured by strong wind during the snow storm. Although is was almost 60 degrees, strong wind jostled the pitch pine treetops. It is a sound unique to the pine barrens. I compare it to water rushing rapidly past a bouldered stream.

Mark pointed out a boulder that caught my attention. All the boulders do because they are few and far between. This one was low and long and was covered with interesting textures. It looked like a Map Carta city view from above. There were patchy lichens, needles, small cracks, shades of gray, and a few tiny moss clump islands. Mark looked at his GPS. “We are a half mile from Hot Water Street. We decided to return to the parking lot. “Looks like a bench over there.” Said Mark. “No, that’s just a fallen tree.” I responded. It was a bench, a magnificent bench, sculpted, sanded, and well constructed. It has a name on one end…”Rick”. this bench is large and heavy and took some serious physics to end up here.

Four miles out and back. Always good to be here. Has to be. I drove 37 miles east from Babylon to visit. There is always something new to be teased out from the bigger picture of trees and hills.

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