4 Strikes, but not out
September 9, 2007
It was the first time in Nature You that combined hiking with an additional event. We would hike easy 4 miles at Fahnestock State Park to Beaver Pond in the morning and sightsee Chuang Yen Temple in the afternoon. It turned out, I had a record high 83 people signed up.
How long it would take to ask 83 people signed on the registration form? It took me extra 30 minutes for 34 people to sign even I had 2 books signed at the same time in Flushing; Jessica spent more than 20 minutes for 12 people at Manhattan. I would have more than 20 people met at the trailhead that would be another 30 minutes to sign up. First strike: I had under estimated the paperwork for a group so big. People were waiting too long before the activity started. A group of 83 was really too big to handle. For the benefit of the group, I should limit the size within 60.
It turned out only 16 cars could reach the Fahnestock State Park but had spent extra 30 minutes to find the designated parking lot. The reason was my driving direction was not wrong but outdated! I led trip in this area last year and didn’t scout again before this trip. There was a newly constructed additional ramp to exit from Taconic Parkway. The new one made my direction of turn reversed so all drivers drove to the wrong side of the park and called for help. 15 cars drove back and forth a few times on 301 that had caused the rangers to come out to patrol the area. I had one car could not make it because he had got lost in the Bronx. The driving direction from Manhattan was also not wrong but not cleared enough. Second strike: I should have scouted the area to make sure driving directions were accurate and clear.
Since the group was so big, I decided to split the group into North team and South team. I would bring 9 cars and 44 people hiked heading south while Jessica would lead another 9 cars and 39 people hiked heading north. This setting supposed to make the team size smaller and pace faster. We intended to meet at the Beaver Pond. My plan then followed by leaders switching so Jessica and I could go back to the same parking lot to drive drivers to pick up their cars. It turned out the parking lot for North team was not suitable to park because of bad maintenance. In addition that all drivers had difficulty to locate the other trailhead, I had to merge two teams together to form the longest hiking team ever. Third strike: parking lot was also very important that must be scouted before. The condition and location of parking lot must be certain before assigning drivers to meet there.
Finally, we started hiking at 10:30am with 75 people on the trail. The trail was quite narrow so the team moving slowly. The trail was not difficult but we hiked in quite a quick pace because we had to meet the deadline of 1pm to be at Chuang Yen Temple to take the vegetarian lunch. We reached the Beaver Pond but there were not enough open space to sit or rest. We saw two Americans jumped into the Pond to swim while we also had someone walked to the Pond to cool down their feet. Since the team was so long, I brought the team going forward intended to find a circular trail to U-turn the team and back on the same trail. Moon helped me located an unmarked trail but our attempt was failed because the trail later turned into densely covered with thorny vegetation. The whole team had to turn back and walked on the same trail with no other choice. Fourth strike: it was not desirable to bring a big team, which with seniors and minors on unmarked trail unless in emergency. I was too aggressive and over-confidence on that day.
We finished the whole 4 miles in 2 hours that was a normal pace for flat terrain. The driving to Chuang Yen Temple was easy because most of our drivers had passed its entrance this morning during the time of lost. We were there before 1pm just in time because the big bus tourists were gone. The lunch box from the Temple was delicious so some of our friends had asked for refill. Jeffrey said he hadn’t asked for refill except going buffet in past 10 years. We enjoyed a very relax and leisure walk in the Temple until 4pm.
It was a lucky trip that the most drivers could make it under an outdated driving instruction. It was a good trip that most people did fast paced exercise and first visit of Chuang Yen Temple. It was a successful trial that to combine hiking with an additional event. It was a 4 strikes set but I am not out because I would not let it happen again.
