Highlight Hiker Blog

April 3, 2021

Long Pond Ironworks, East Tapawingo Trail

New trails and blaze alterations have arrived for the 2021 hiking season, and I’m trying to chronicle all of them for you so that you know what to expect when you go out to enjoy them for yourself. Some new blazes, such as the trails in Jungle Habitat, haven’t yet been finalized, even though the updates throughout the park and on Avenza map indicates that they are complete. Still, the new Tapawingo trail has partially opened.

There are two sections of the Tapawingo that will not be completed until 2022, which eventually create a large loop trail that stretches across both Long Pond Ironworks and Norvin Green. Effectively, the “new” western portion of the Tapawingo is the former Hewitt-Butler trail on the western edge of Long Pond Ironworks. This portion of the Tapawingo is already an established trail and is only a short distance from the NY-NJ-TC/Jorba trails in Jungle Habitat. But the eastern portion, which I followed on April 3rd, is new; it uses old woods roads as well as brand new single track that needs more human footsteps to pack down the soft earth. This section of the Tapawingo is short and you can move quickly across the terrain. When you include the spur of the Burnt Meadow trail, the eastern portion of the Tapawingo is an out and back that is just shy of 2.5 miles. It is mostly easy and well graded with mixed terrain.

The Tapawingo doesn’t boast big views or deep valleys - it truly is a simple, pleasurable trail and will suit a wide range of hikers with different abilities. I’m looking forward to it’s completion next summer. It’ll be a really nice large loop through thick, deep forest when it is complete.

It was an unexpectedly cold morning during my visit: below freezing and a little breezy. The mud and puddles were nearly frozen over and crunched under my feet as I walked over the path. The sun only began to thaw out the soil on my last .5 mile. I was warm with my merino wool layer (thanks, Duckworth) and a pack on my back, and I loved that I was the only person out in the wilderness.

I’ve been asked before if I mind hiking alone, and I really don’t. I know I’ve said this before, but hiking is my time to get grounded. I love that I don’t have to talk and generate conversation, and the only thing I have to listen to is the sounds of the woods. But the truth is, I talk to myself on the trails. I say it’s because I’m trying to let bears know of my presence, buuuuuuuut I think we all know that’s not true.

Anyway…. back to April 3rd. On my way to the trail I was listening to an old song by Morcheeba called The Sea. One line of the lyrics is “living free”, which got me to thinking… what’s the difference between Find Your Freedom (my catch phrase) and Living Free?

On this easy Tapawingo hike, I was thinking about this out loud.

When I say “Find Your Freedom” what I really mean is, find what sets your heart free, or what makes you feel free. And when you find it, pursue it. For me, it’s hiking. But for someone else it might be woodworking, or motorcycling, or scuba diving. Regardless, “freedom” fills you with a sense of joy that bursts straight from your heart. It’s much like the exuberant joy I felt when I was a child exploring the world for the first time and getting to interpret it whatever way I saw it without being told how to think or feel about the fascinating new wonders around me.

I recently read an article that European researchers had found that exploring new destinations helps to relieve depression. I would agree with that wholeheartedly. It didn’t take any scientific discoveries for me to know that truth about myself. Which, I suppose, is why I try to hike new trails and see new parks…. it’s a crucial component to my happiness. Wanderlust, some would say…. I call it Finding Freedom.

But what’s the difference between Finding Freedom and Living Free? I think it’s an interesting comparison. Yes, knowing what makes you happy is integral and everyone should have their “thing” (what they are passionate about) but to me Living Free means existing in that freedom. It’s a larger state of mind rather than only when you are doing whatever it is that you’re passionate about.

Living Free is about feeling the joys of life as often as possible in your daily life or “marching to the beat of your own drum”. Tossing out conventional beliefs that tell you who you should be and carving out the meaning of happiness in YOUR life.

That euphoria from exploration that I experienced as a kid…? It’s my responsibility to myself to figure out what will bring me closest to that feeling as an adult, and live in that state as often as possible, whether or not I’m actually exploring.

So this is what I’m working on: finding the courage to live free. It’s a little easier to do now that I’m older. Honestly, I couldn’t give a crap what society thinks of me… my hair color, my clothing choices, my car, my domicile… what I’m worried about are the moments that I have left and how I can stretch each one to maximize the unconventional art of living within it: Living Free.