The Great Saunter (May 5)
This was an entry I wrote weeks ago, but has sat on my desktop unposted since then...
Today was the annual "Great Saunter" organized by New York City's "shorewalkers" -- a group dedicated to exploring the city on foot and ensuring access the the shore of the city wherever possible. The Great Saunter is their flagship event and has been occurring annually for 22 years, originally with just a few core members but more recently with hundreds of participants (I think there were about 500 this year). It is a day long hike along the edge of Manhattan, beginning at 730am at the South Street Seaport, and ending (you guessed it...) at the South Street Seaport about twelve hours later. It was beautiful weather, sunny and seventy degrees with little wind.
Many started the walk, somewhat fewer finished...
This is not the sort of walk I would have finished alone, since it is long and at times ugly, but in a group it made for a great day. At first we followed the edge of the river down to Battery Park and then up through Hudson River Park and Riverside park. The walkways here were very well maintained and quite wide. This was good thing since there were hundreds of us (although we were spread out over a couple of miles) and the regular cyclists and runners trying to dodge us. The walk continued up to Inwood (at the northern tip of Manhattan) where we stopped for lunch. This was sort of the halfway point, about 16 miles into the walk. People were starting to thin out a bit, and I think many people were happy to head home after this portion -- it had been a long morning of walking and 16 miles is nothing to sneeze at.
Tempting resting place?
Walking north through Riverside park
Arriving at Inwood Park
The rest of us (still a couple hundred people I think) continued on down the east side of the island. The first half of this leg was characterized by its lack of river access. Instead we spent a good portion of our time zigzagging through streets. Even where we were along the river we were way too close to traffic, or walking through trash. But heh -- that's part of living on Manhattan. In this section it was neat to see the beginning of streets that I think of as running down the center of Manhattan. Since the north end of the island is so narrow, roads such as Lexington Ave just end in big metal guard rails -- not surprising at all, but still an interesting image to contrast with Lexington Ave further south.
Leaving Inwood
Stretching next to the Harlem River
Scenic riverfront property...
After a few more hours (at about 5pm) we were back on maintained walkway in the upper east side. By this point everyone was pretty damn tired and I think most people had bandaged at least two blisters. People had been gradually dropping out as their feet became too sore to continue, and we didn't meet too many walkers that weren't exhausted past this point. Never the less, it was only about 5 more miles and I suspect there weren't too many people stopping beyond this point.
It was a slow but steady plod on down through Sutton Place, past the United Nations, then back down to the riverfront as we passed under the last three bridges on our route -- the Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges. And lo and behold, 32 miles and twelve hours later we were back at the seaport. This time of day, however, there were many more tourists and certainly a larger proportion of people stumbling on the cobblestones in their stupid evening-wear outfits.
The end of the walk is visible just past the Brooklyn Bridge
I must have missed the party -- it's certianly messier than when I left this morning
Thanks to everyone with whom I chatted along the way -- it was fun! (although I find myself somewhat sore and stiff now...)
Today was the annual "Great Saunter" organized by New York City's "shorewalkers" -- a group dedicated to exploring the city on foot and ensuring access the the shore of the city wherever possible. The Great Saunter is their flagship event and has been occurring annually for 22 years, originally with just a few core members but more recently with hundreds of participants (I think there were about 500 this year). It is a day long hike along the edge of Manhattan, beginning at 730am at the South Street Seaport, and ending (you guessed it...) at the South Street Seaport about twelve hours later. It was beautiful weather, sunny and seventy degrees with little wind.
Many started the walk, somewhat fewer finished...
This is not the sort of walk I would have finished alone, since it is long and at times ugly, but in a group it made for a great day. At first we followed the edge of the river down to Battery Park and then up through Hudson River Park and Riverside park. The walkways here were very well maintained and quite wide. This was good thing since there were hundreds of us (although we were spread out over a couple of miles) and the regular cyclists and runners trying to dodge us. The walk continued up to Inwood (at the northern tip of Manhattan) where we stopped for lunch. This was sort of the halfway point, about 16 miles into the walk. People were starting to thin out a bit, and I think many people were happy to head home after this portion -- it had been a long morning of walking and 16 miles is nothing to sneeze at.
Tempting resting place?
Walking north through Riverside park
Arriving at Inwood Park
The rest of us (still a couple hundred people I think) continued on down the east side of the island. The first half of this leg was characterized by its lack of river access. Instead we spent a good portion of our time zigzagging through streets. Even where we were along the river we were way too close to traffic, or walking through trash. But heh -- that's part of living on Manhattan. In this section it was neat to see the beginning of streets that I think of as running down the center of Manhattan. Since the north end of the island is so narrow, roads such as Lexington Ave just end in big metal guard rails -- not surprising at all, but still an interesting image to contrast with Lexington Ave further south.
Leaving Inwood
Stretching next to the Harlem River
Scenic riverfront property...
After a few more hours (at about 5pm) we were back on maintained walkway in the upper east side. By this point everyone was pretty damn tired and I think most people had bandaged at least two blisters. People had been gradually dropping out as their feet became too sore to continue, and we didn't meet too many walkers that weren't exhausted past this point. Never the less, it was only about 5 more miles and I suspect there weren't too many people stopping beyond this point.
It was a slow but steady plod on down through Sutton Place, past the United Nations, then back down to the riverfront as we passed under the last three bridges on our route -- the Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges. And lo and behold, 32 miles and twelve hours later we were back at the seaport. This time of day, however, there were many more tourists and certainly a larger proportion of people stumbling on the cobblestones in their stupid evening-wear outfits.
The end of the walk is visible just past the Brooklyn Bridge
I must have missed the party -- it's certianly messier than when I left this morning
Thanks to everyone with whom I chatted along the way -- it was fun! (although I find myself somewhat sore and stiff now...)
posted by blumaroo at
8:10 PM
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