I arrived at W 42nd St., in time for the late start at 9:30 am, then set off on the greenway. Bright, cool, and breezy it was a perfect day for a long walk.
I've spent the last few months working through Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way and Walking In This World with a group of friends. One of the tools Cameron suggests for artists is the Artist walk, a 20 minute walk where you just observe your own thoughts and the world. For me, the Great Saunter was an artist walk on steroids.
Starting at the Circle Line terminal brought back the time my parent's took me and my sister to Bear Mountain for a picnic. I think I was about 5 or 6 years old.
I passed the Intrepid Air Sea Space museum. I visited it for the first time last summer and got to meet a veteran who served on the ship. He told me the story of how he rode out a typhoon on board the Intrepid during WWII.
It was great to slow down and really enjoy the parks and greenways.
There were little moments of surprise and delight every where. I even saw just a bit of the views that inspired the Hudson River School painters of the 19th century.
I called it a saunter at around 1:15 pm when there was a short burst of rain. By then I'd pass through Dewitt Clinton Park, Riverside Park, West Harlem Piers Park, Riverbank State Park and walked 7 miles of NYC Greenways.
I left the greenway at W158 st and Riverside Drive. The beauty of living in NYC is that you can spend the day walking through green spaces and still pop out just a few blocks from a subway station. I got the #1 at W 157 st and Broadway and headed for home tired, but refreshed at the same time.
My next urban hiking adventure is to walk the next leg of the greenway from W158 st to the Little Red Light House in Inwood.
Next year I'm walking all 32 miles of the Great Saunter.
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