MARINE PARK WEST TRAIL COMPLETION, AGAIN

It's funny how sometimes you have a lot of something while at other times you don't.  Take, for example, the Marine Park West Trail.  I recently learned about it but never had the time to explore its entire length in one run.  Instead, I had to explore it one section at a time.  Recently, I finally discovered enough of it that the rest could be done in one visit.  Today, mere days later, I was back at the trail with a friend from PPTC to run the entire length, from the entrance on Avenue U to the beach at is southern end.  J.C. accompanied me on a run for the East Trail some time ago but we couldn't get together again until today.

The West Trail is only about 2 km in length and it shouldn't take that long to run the entire length.  However, since I explored it in sections by looking for entrances along Gerritsen Avenue it seemed to take longer.  With J.C. and just going straight from the Avenue U entrance it took almost no time.  It also helped that just last week I learned that immediately upon entering the trail there was no inland path but that you have to go along the water a while before finding an inland path.  Just a short distance into the trail we ran across a dead white rabbit.  Now that I think about it, why was the rabbit right in the middle of the path?  Anyway, we just kept going along the roller-coaster path.  Soon I noticed the school then the wide area where I last saw the two dirt bikers.  At a fork in the road, we took the left road toward the beach.  I thought it would lead to the beach where I saw the group of galloping dogs but I already passed it.  I didn't pause to take photos.  Funny how the second time around it was not a novelty any more.  Back to Gerritsen Avenue J.C. and I went.  J.C. likes the quiet streets of the Gerritsen Peninsula so we veered off Gerritsen Avenue and meandered wherever the road took us, proceeded north whenever we encountered dead-ends.  Eventually we got off the peninsula and headed east back to our respective homes.  It was a good 14 km total for me in the end.

A view of the model airplane field from the trail.

In other news, my latest gwriting work, from yesterday morning, is a salute to George Takei, REO Speedwagon, and all runners.  While not as trailblazing as iTrespass, with this gwriting task, I confirmed that it's possible to take a long break and resume writing exactly where you left it.  I wrote the phrase backward, i.e. started with n, then u, then r etc. and was called by a Freecycler when I just finished the i in Takei.  This is the person who helped me re-purpose the leftover bagels from a foot race last week.  I had to run home to meet her at my subway station to give her the last bag of bagels.  I then ran back to Bath Avenue and 21st Avenue and resumed writing the rest of the phrase.  As you can see, the transition is smooth, there is no breaks in the writing.  The only drawback is that between the pause and resuming I could not run or use the watch to time anything else, as such action would require resetting the clock.

By the way, admit it that now you want to listen to REO Speedwagon's Take It On The Run.  Or maybe cannot get it out of your head.

See how it's traced out at

http://connect.garmin.com/player/307455695

MARINE PARK WEST TRAIL - COMPLETION

Change is in the air.  Soon I may no longer have the luxury of running in the middle of the day, so today I decided to explore the rest of the West Trail in Marine Park.

Marine Park is about 5 kilometers from me.  These days I normally run 10 km a day, 5 km out then back.  The entire West Trail is over 2 km, but if I were to travel it entirely in one trip that would add about 5 km more to my run.  Not that I cannot handle a 15-km run, it just adds more time to the run.  So, instead of doing the entire trail in one visit, I explored it by section.  Ever since some guy erroneously told me the entrance to the trail on Avenue U was also the only exit, I made it a mission to find as many exit points as I can.  I usually get to the Gerritsen peninsula via Avenue X then go south a block further from the last visit then try to find the entrance.  Once on the trail I would head back north and usually exit around Whitney Avenue.  I don't like the Avenue U exit because Avenue U is a commercial strip.  I prefer to run in residential area, where there is fewer people on the sidewalk.

During my last visit to the area, I went as far as the Gerritsen Branch Library then entered the trail behind the bus stop.  Today, instead of going a block south of the library, I tried to use the same entrance but planned to go south, to explore the rest of the trail.  Alas, there was some man doing clean-up near the trail entrance.  I prefer to enter the desolate trail without being seen, so I went a bit south and blazed my own trail.  I found some path but all side paths leading toward the creek were blocked by fallen trees.  I followed the wide path and ended up at the edge of Larry Veling Memorial Field.  There was another path leading back to the trail so I took that.  The trail was not quiet today.  There was some model airplane circling overhead and then there were two dirt-bikers roaming about.  Their noisy bikes gave away their positions and soon they zoomed past on the main road.  I was not sure if they were friendly and there were two of them, so I held back on the side road to let them pass without seeing me.  I doubt they would take the trail that runs along the water, so that's the path I took to get to the beach at the southern end of the peninsula.  For a few moments, I was by myself and heard mostly water lapping on the beach but soon I heard the sound of many dogs barking.  At the bend to the beach, I came upon a group of people out letting their dogs roam about.  Good thing I am not afraid of dogs and just walked through the crowd, exchanged some pleasantries with some dog owner and ignored the dogs as they circled and then followed me.  After the group of dogs and their people, I soon saw Gerritsen Avenue and even some city buses.  But as I approached Gerritsen Avenue I could help notice someone sun-bathing in the nude, lying face down.  Whatever, I don't want to bother anyone so I just kept on going.  I was going to get back on solid ground, on Gerritsen Avenue, but then I noticed path leading away from the beach so I took it.  It led me to the edge of field for model airplane, from where I got off the trail and found the skate park.  That's it, I pretty much walked along the entire trail.  Ideally, I should go south as inland as possible then loop back north along the water trail, assuming that part is not underwater at some point.  It's definitely desolate on the trail so I don't want to spend too much time there myself.  If my runner friend from the Marine Park Track Club would show me some tae-kwon-do moves maybe I'll feel more confident to roam around the West Trail some more.

If not for the occasional litter, the trail can be quite beautiful.

Tracks left by the two dirt-bikers.

Something was visible in the water.

Gerritsen Beach area used to have many car hulks, so I heard.  It still does.

In the background is the group of people with many dogs.  The canines enjoyed splashing in the water.

Airfield for model airplanes.

To see the entire album, visit

https://plus.google.com/photos/109153989599275468311/albums/5872696550594956401

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

SCENES FROM A RUN: MPSMWT RE-VISITED

Running is a great sports and I count exploration during the runs as part of the fun.  I have about five or six different routes, mostly out-and-back types, and are quite happy with them.  However, for today's run, I figured in some purposes for the run, too.

I recently learned about an acquaintance's Google Map listing running tracks in the New York City area. I contributed a few items and would like to look for more.  I can see on the map that there's a track near Midwood High School and another near Grover Cleveland High School.  Are they open to the public? What's the condition of the track surface?  Is it lit at night?  I myself run at Kaiser Park and Fort Hamilton High's tracks occasionally, but other than those two, the others in my area are not open to the public.  Lafayette High, or whatever it's called these days after the break-up, is close by but too bad it's off-limit.  A little further away is Abraham Lincoln High, near Ocean Parkway, same deal.  Some day I can go visit Midwood High's track just to collect data.  Grove Cleveland is too far, unless it's a long run, although I might have run on its track way back when I lived in the area.  I clearly recall someone throwing a glass bottle behind me.  I quickly exited the track as graceful as I could.  It was back in the early 1990s.  I lived in the area for only a year.  My first car was stolen off the street and my apartment was burglarized, a TV and a VCR removed.

Today, just by chance I came across Sheepshead Bay High School and its track, on the same block with Yak Playground.  At first I thought the name "Yak" came from some local civic leader's name but a plaque next to the park sign explained that it's from the adjacent Avenue Y.  You know, A as in Apple, B as in Boy, Y as in Yak.  The handball and basketball courts of Yak Playground were open, but the gates connecting them to the track were not. I didn't see any open gates along the other sides of the track.  It is probably not open to the public.

Shortly past Sheepshead Bay High was the Gerritsen Peninsula and the Salt Marsh West Trail that was my destination.  The last time I hit the West Trail, I exited it at Whitney Avenue.  I planned to re-visit the trail some day with a running partner and do the whole trail, all the way to the beach area at the tip of the peninsula.  Before that future trip, my plan is to explore the trail in sections.  For today's trip, I thought of entering the trail at Allen Avenue and Burnett Street.  I should have stuck with that plan, instead I went a little further south, toward the handball court.  The street path seemed to end there, or at least too obstructed and impassable without a machete.  I headed for the trail anyway, as the shrubbery was low and sparse enough to walk over or around.  Before long I found the main trail and headed north toward Avenue U.  I recognized the junction that would lead me back to Whitney Avenue's "exit".  I took a little time out to go toward the waterfront but ended at the clearing and didn't go all the way to the waterfront.  One thing I noticed is that between the trail between Whitney and Allen had many dips and rises.  I took some photos but the change in elevation does not show that well.  Once past Whitney, the path was pretty much how I remembered it.  It rained a few days before so it was muddy and water-logged.  I didn't even get out via the official trail gate on Avenue U.  Instead, I went over the low railing on Burnett Street.

On the way back, my second purpose was to try to buy some powdered instant drink for my mother.  "Sunway rye & cereal mixed powder", to be exact.  It is available only at Chinese supermarkets and there were a few of those along Avenue U.  I visited two New York Mart stores and two other supermarkets but none of them carried the product.  Later at home I googled about the product and it seems it was already discontinued.  No wonder I couldn't find it.  At least during my stops at the supermarkets I collected data for a Google Map I'm compiling.  The map is called "I've Gotta Go!" and lists public restrooms in the NYC area.  I am sure there are other such maps out there, but this one will be mine, with info I personally collected, of places I personally visited.

Different sceneries, different purposes, I love my running routes!

Y is it called Yak?

This is Y.

Made it to the happy trail!

I think I came through all that shrubbery.  Low and sparse is good.

Just beyond the clearing was the waterfront, seen as a sliver of white in the photo, but I thought I better head back.  Maybe next time.

The trail dips and rises, in the distance.

Looking toward the beach.  Or Avenue U.  It looks the same to me.  No, I was not lost.

Some happy ducks gliding on the water in the background.

Waterlogged path near the waterfront.

If this is Florida, I would not dare to go this close to the water.  Never know if some alligator would jump out of the water to grab me.

SCENES FROM A RUN: MARINE PARK SALT MARSH WEST TRAIL

I thought Google already has everything categorized and indexed, but that is not the case with the nature trails in Marine Park's Salt Marsh.  A few weeks ago I discovered that the nature trail at the Salt Marsh was re-opened, http://www.qaptainqwerty.com/2012/11/scenes-from-run-salt-marsh-trail-in.html.  I made the loop but at the southeast corner I saw that there was some path leading potentially all the way to the Belt Parkway.  I didn't have time to explore the path.  A few days ago, I tried to find more info about that elusive path but it didn't seem to exist.  Aerial views from different map programs don't show any such path.  Maybe it's not an official path.  What I discovered by chance though is that what I thought was THE trail is just one of two trails in Marine Park.  It was the eastern loop that I visited.  I was aware of some other path that runs along the water and Burnett Street, but I didn't know that it's so long.  Why, it's the western trail!

For today's run, I went mostly along Avenue X to Burnett Street.  I really wanted to find the official entrance to the trail but going along Burnett toward Avenue U there was no entrance to be found.  There were no breaks in the low rail.  It would be easy to step over the rail and in some places there were clearing immediately on the other side of the rail.  Eventually I found the entrance, as shown below, on Avenue U.  A man with yarmulke told me that there was only one entrance and one exit and this was it.  In other words, you go in here and supposed to trace your way back out.  From what I saw on the web, the trail is pretty long, so I was sure there must be some other way to leave the trail, official or not.  I went in anyway and soon hit the beach.  And the mud and other terrain.  A runner who I saw on the road earlier running in the other opposite direction re-appeared in the marsh, also running in the other direction.  I shouted to him asking him how he got in but he had headphones and was oblivious to me, or maybe he didn't want to acknowledge my presence.

At the intersection of two paths, I met a man walking a white dog coming from street-side.  Just to be safe, I asked him if that was the only way to get from Burnett Street to the trail.  He said there were other exits and headed further south, ahead of me.  I decided then that I did enough exploring for this cold day and headed out.  Sure enough, just around a big pile of branches and such I soon reached the street.  There was not an opening in the low rail, I just had to step over it.  I noticed that there was a piece of yellow police tape on a tree near the "exit".  Maybe it's supposed to guide hikers where to enter the trail.  I am sure I will be back, perhaps on a nicer day, to explore the rest of the trail.

By the way, one thing I discovered from my online search for info about Marine Park is that size-wise Marine Park is actually bigger than Prospect Park.  Maybe not more beautiful in the traditional way, definitely not runners-friendly, but surely many acres bigger in size.

The entrance to the west trail of Marine Park Salt Marsh, on Avenue U near Burnett Street.

The pilings in the water was used when there was a mill in the area, whatever the use I don't know.

Maybe on a nice sunny day, this area can make a good picnic mattress?

This yucky terrain reminds me of some scenes in the Chinese classic literature Water Margin: Outlaw of the Marsh (水浒传)

This is the kind of path us runners like.

A glance back at the trail I just left.

No sign to indicate this path as a way to reach the west trail, other than the yellow police tape on the tree on the left.