First hike in a while. Back in Harriman (where else), I'm hoping to head up there every Sunday for a while. 5 would be ideal, B4 I go west. Got a book of loop hikes, 27 in all, we'll just have to see how many I get through. Today's hike does't/shouldn't count for one, got lost twice. I got to the hike's 'goal' the top of "Raccoon Brook Hills", before that though I ended up in a bunch of thickets when I lost sight of the trail markers and after I returned to the start through a totally different way then the what the loop was supposed to cover (following Reeve's Brook). It ended up being more like an arch then a loop. Overall it was great.
While in the thicket my chabad on campus ski hat feel out of my pocket and now belongs to the forest. This wouldn't bear mention other then the fact that at the top/middle of the hike I met a J4J guy who told me to read Isaiah, as these guys are known to do. It was a completely amiable conversation though and the guy told me he had been hiking in Harriman for over 25 year! He also said he grew up conservative and had lived in Kensington (not far from where I'm employed at the time of writing this post. If the connection between Chabad and Jews for Yushki is lost on you its the fact that Chabad on Campus is there in order to counter these sort of guys on College Campuses. Maybe they should make a Park Ranger Chabad shlichut in order to counter more nature oriented missionaries.



some pics: