Survival Monday: For Your Health

After spending eight years in cities that had great walking and public transit infrastructures, I have a hard time picturing myself in a residential suburb. I prefer being able to walk or bike or bus for work, errands, and fun.

Where we live in Salt Lake City, I can get away with doing most of my commuting and small errands on the bus. Even still, there are some nights when I find myself spitting and cursing because the bus only runs at 8 and 9 p.m. before stopping completely. 

The limited accessibility to public transportation is particularly frustrating on days like—well, any day last week. With the exception of a few weekend snow storms, Salt Lake City had been trapped under a layer of thick polluted haze since the beginning of January. 

The pollution stays in our bowl-shaped valley during a weather phenomenon called an inversion, as illustrated by the graphic below. 

Inversion Smog Episodes by Salt Lake Tribune

For two locations just 45 minutes from each other, you end up with a weather forecast that looks something like this:

(And really, the mountains were closer to 40 degrees by midday.) 

A significant portion of this pollution comes from vehicle emissions, from the things you and I do every day. 

The Utah Division of Air Quality offers a great list of "things you can do" to help, and I plan on adding a few to my own routine. However, many of the transportation suggestions are either truly unrealistic or psychologically daunting for the majority of the population. 

Kennecott Copper Mine recently donated 2,500 free transit passes to the public. That's an amazing start, but it just scratches the surface. Local businesses and local governments both need to focus on active infrastructure change and sustainable consumer incentives. Public transportation needs to be more convenient than driving. Industry needs to invest in longterm upgrades and cleaner technology. Most importantly, the public needs to demand change. 

The Utah Physicians for Healthy Environment highlight key issues. Are you on board?

Update 29 Jan. 2013: Governor Herbert and transportation officials met today to discuss the air quality issue. Read more. 

Adventure Friday: Marcia's Mile & Glenclyffe Loop

On St. Patrick's Day, while New York City streets teemed with green-clad revelers, some friends and I chose a different means of celebration. We went where the green greets the spring—on our first self-planned day hike.

It took a bit of effort. We were looking for a trail easily accessible by train or bus. While many trails are advertised as public transit accessible, hikers often have to walk a few miles on roads before even getting to the trailhead.

Finally, my friend zeroed in on the area around Cold Spring, N.Y., and I found a simple hike called Marcia's Mile, just 75 minutes north of New York City by train.

Take the MetroNorth Hudson Line train from Grand Central to Garrison station, just outside of Philipstown, N.Y. A trailhead sits right at the southeastern corner of the train station parking lot. I don't think you can get much closer than that.

Highlights of the hike?

We found a small pond of loudly singing frogs.

We paused to swing on a rope.

 

We stumbled upon thickly growing bamboo jungles.

We had a picnic lunch on the river.

Best of all, our bodies enjoyed every moment of sun and exercise.

Since we were feeling ambitious, we decided to combine the Marcia's Mile and Arden Point hike (2.2 miles) with the Glenclyffe loop (1.6 miles), as suggested by the Open Space Institute. While the added distance made for a satisfying hike, the Glenclyffe loop seemed slightly disappointing in comparison to  Marcia's Mile.

Marcia's Mile, with its dry leafy trail and second-growth forest, seemed typical for a southern New York hike. The trail was well-worn, but the area was quiet and picturesque on this early spring day.

The vegetation of the Glenclyffe Loop created greater challenges, particularly for new hikers. It was here where we saw long lines of thickly growing bamboo. In some places, the bamboo allowed only a very narrow passage. A bright green creeping plant—perhaps wooded sorrel—stretched across long portions of the trail, obliterating any previous sign of a path, and a few large downed trees forced us off the trail. Mostly, I was disappointed by the frequent reminders of human presence: old tires, broken fences, and abandoned buildings.

Recommendation: 
Stick to Marcia's Mile and Arden Point for a leisurely day hike. Add the Glenclyffe Loop for a better challenge, but make sure you can read trails and blazes. These trails are relatively quiet now, in early spring, but they will likely get crowded in the summer months—if the rope swing by the river is any indication.

Resources:
Since I'm still a novice, I always rely on two types of hiking information.

1. Narrative hiking directions (i.e. "continue straight on the red blaze trail past an old stone wall..."), like those on this Philipstown map or the Open Space Institute website.
2. Official trail conference maps (for more reliable trail orientation), like this NY-NJ Trail Conference East Hudson set of three. These maps, and others, are available in-store at Paragon Sports.

Frog and bamboo photos courtesy of Dan Cabrera.

Survival Monday: How to protect yourself against ticks

"Dan, there's a spider on your hat."

Dan threw his baseball cap to the ground, and Katie bent down to pick it up. There, on the underside of the brim, was a small black-and-red bug. It wasn't a spider. It was a deer tick.

For all my outdoor adventuring on the east coast, I never encountered a tick until I spent a week in Shenandoah National Park last summer. In one day, we brushed a lone-star tick off my hiking pants and pulled a deer tick off of ARA's shin. 

Now, on this St. Patrick's Day hike near Garrison, N.Y., my friends and I suddenly realized that we should be checking for ticks. In fact, we should do this after spending time in any wooded or grassy area, as ticks have been reported in many Manhattan and outer borough parks. 

Only deer ticks (picture) are known to carry the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease, but lone-star (picture) and dog ticks (picture) can pose other health risks.

To protect yourself against ticks, the New York Department of Health recommends the following:

• Wear light-colored clothing with a tight weave to spot ticks easily.
• Wear enclosed shoes, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Tuck pant legs into socks or boots and shirt into pants.
• Check clothes and any exposed skin frequently for ticks while outdoors and check again once indoors.
• Consider using insect repellent. Follow label directions.
• Stay on cleared, well-traveled trails. Avoid contacting vegetation.
• Avoid sitting directly on the ground or on stone walls.
• Keep long hair tied back, especially when gardening.
• Bathe or shower as soon as possible after going indoors (preferably within two hours) to wash off and more easily find ticks that may be on you.
• Do a final, full-body tick check at the end of the day (of yourself, children, and pets), and remove ticks promptly.

If you find a tick, don't panic. Do familiarize yourself with the tips in the graphic at the top of this post.

Resisting Winter: How to go hiking in Queens

You may have been shivering in your boots last night, but don't let November fool you. Winter hasn't arrived yet. This weekend, temperatures may reach the mid-50s and mid-60s — so get outside for a New York City hike while we still have leaves on the trees and sun on our backs!

Quick tips for your November day hike:

1. Bring water and a small snack. Nothing ruins a hike like an empty stomach
2. Carry extra layers: hat, gloves, and an extra sweater to wear under your coat 
3. Give yourself enough time. In New York, everything takes longer than it should, and hikes are no exception.

My hiking buddy lives in Queens, so we choose Forest Park for our most recent adventure. The park has an amazing 5.1 miles of hiking trails in its northeast section.

Forest Park, Queens

Each trail is marked with a "blaze," or paint on the tree bark that points you in the right direction!

Blue trail

Blaze or no blaze, it would be hard to get lost in Forest Park. The trails are beautiful, but they're not very rugged.

We encountered dog-walkers, couples, and even someone on horseback!

I learned a huge lesson in trip planning. Always make your day hike just that: a day. I tried to squeeze in our adventure before catching a 4:30 train to visit my family. Of course, it just didn't work out. I took two subways to get to Queens; then my friend and I took another subway and a bus to get to Forest Park! Much to our surprise, the bus also stopped half a mile from the hiking trails. After all that transportation, we only had about 20 minutes for hiking — and I was still an hour late for visiting my family.

Plan your trip carefully (using a combination of nycparks.gov, HopStop, and Google Maps). If you give yourself enough time for a true day hike, the excursion will be well worth your time.