HAPPY BDAY MARINE PARK WEST TRAIL

Yesterday was a beautiful day and while I had things to do in the morning, it was done early enough for me to have a noon run.  It was not too hot like June or July so it was perfectly fine to run at noon.  I even wore shorts and tee!

A few friends had yesterday as their birthday, according to Facebook anyway, so I decided to gwrite the message "happy bday" for them.  I thought ahead and decided that it was possible to spell "happy bday" using letters that are only one avenue block tall.  The width of the letters would be one street block wide.  I knew that I would have to resort to iTrespassing to write the "a" but the tips of "b" and "d" surprised me.  Luckily, iTrespassing worked here too.  Too bad in my rush to complete "b" I didn't realize that it was right next to "d".  And the second Y is too fat, but such is one outcome of intentional lack of planning.

"Happy Bday".  B and D should be a block apart and the second Y should be narrower, but such is the deal with intentional lack of planning.

Today, I decided I want a simple run.  No stopping to make sure which letter was just written, if I should unpause the GPS watch to resume tracing the path etc.  I ran straight for Marine Park West Trail, mostly along Avenue Y.  I entered the trail around the bus stop across the street from Gerritsen Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.  The first trail I came across I disregarded since it was too close to civilization, you probably can even see Gerritsen Avenue while on that trail.  I went further in and noticed a red car bumper on the right, with a wide opening with trails going in all four directions.  As usual, I traveled north to connect back to Avenue X or nearby exit.  Twice I was startled by some bird whose wing undersides were bright yellow.  Just a flash of yellow was all I saw.  By then I was already walking to better enjoy nature.  I even had my cell phone set to vibrate.  Somewhere past the back of the school I saw a couple getting romantic while sitting on a log in the shade.  Luckily there was a fork in the road on the right, leading to the water.  I took the water route and went along the water to go around the couple.

During one past visit to the West Trail, I noticed a blue bag tied to a low tree branch and used that cue to find the nearby exit.  I did not see the blue bag today, but better yet I saw some opening in the bushes.  There was an arch formed by a few short trees, but the bushes were pretty sparse, there was no need to crouch to go through the arch, but instead I just walked around it.  I ended up at around the intersection of Avenue X and Gerritsen.  Civilization again!

I've been discovering the West Trail by going south along Gerritsen Avenue one block at a time, entering the trail, and heading back north.  I think there are not that many blocks left before I hit the beach at the end of Gerritsen Avenue.

From near the bus stop there appeared to be a path near that green cargo trailer.

There is a trail indeed.

Looking back at civilization I could see the tower of St. James Evangelical Lutheran church.

This is the trail I wanted to reach, a little further in from the nearest road, but not right next to the water, which may be submerged during high tide.

The trail raises and falls into the distance.

The waterfront trail did not look too bad.  I wonder if it's submerged at high tide.

A fork in the road, where I was sure I already went around the couple so I made the left turn.

Marine Park West Trail was once a dumping ground for car insurance fraud, so I read.  It's possible that this car was brought here after the clean-up some years ago.

See all the photos here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/109153989599275468311/albums/5864894692359679009