The Flatlands Blog

Long Island Sound: Sailing the Salty J

Posted on by JK_PA

An old friend stopped by recently while I was in Peekskill, NY, visiting my mom. Joe and I grew up in the same neighborhood and he was visiting his parents as well. Our conversation drifted to his Precision 21 Pocket Cruiser, which he loves sailing near his current home on the north shore of Long Island. He was bummed that the calendar had already flipped to August and he had yet to get the sailboat in the water for the season.

transporting sailboat
Transporting the Salty J from its winter storage

I offered my services to help him launch the boat during my stay in NY and a quick check of tides and weather found a brief window of opportunity to make it happen.

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Tagged: Flatlands3 Comments

Iron Spirit Trail: The Space Between The Roads

Posted on by Peter Minde

Over Mothers’ Day weekend, I drove to New Jersey. Took my kiddo out to dinner on Friday night. Saturday’s rehearsal with Katye Kellye and The Interruption was scheduled for late afternoon.  For a change, I had a chance to get a run in before driving down the shore to rehearse.

high water

When I lived in NJ, Lake Denmark Road was my regular roller skiing haunt.  Five miles of rolling pavement, it wends through country that’s the antithesis of the tired “Jersey? What exit?” trope.  It’s adjacent to Picatinny Arsenal, and on the right day, one’s workout is leavened with explosions as they test ordnance.

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Tagged: Flatlands, Hiking3 Comments

Stephens State Park Route Finding

Posted on by Peter Minde

Searching for new trails not too far from home, I pointed the shooting brake west last week. Stephens State Park is in Mount Olive. Since the one time I’d been there many years ago, parties unknown — possibly the Jersey Off Road Bike Association — have put in an extensive new trail network.

Green Trail meadow
Along the Green Trail

All this new singletrack augments the old hiking trails, but it comes at a price. The only printed map that I’m aware of is published by New York New Jersey Trail Conference, and it is so old as to be obsolete. At the urging of my physical therapist, who rides there regularly, I downloaded an app called Trail Forks onto my surveillance device mobile phone.

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Tagged: Flatlands, Hiking4 Comments