To contribute to the medieval troubadour atmosphere established in the press release HERE. We incorporated two processional moments in our walk. These were done at confirmed coyote sighting areas in the Manhattan- the loop around Hallett Sanctuary and later as we passed through the campus of Columbia University. Here we attempted to create small parades in which a racket was made with the various noisemakers shown above. These were also ostensibly on hand in case we needed to frighten away vicious animals...

Melissa our blogger friend exited at the top of Central Park. All of the first day walkers made it a lot farther than I thought they would. Tassy even informed me that her feet didn't hurt after 15 miles of walking. We took the Westside Greenway all the way through Manhattan and got lunch at the fanciest grocery store I have ever been in- Fairway in Harlem. As coyotes find ways to take advantage of their man made surroundings, so do we.

There are a few sections of the greenway that seem difficult for coyotes to get through, paricularly the section b/w 129th and 158th streets. For the most part though, it was plausible that the animal could have come down this way. I can see why most people, including parks commisioner Adrian Benepe, beleive this to be the trajectory of coyotes coming into the city.

At the top of the island, the last stand of original forestland in Manhattan - Inwood Hill Park. Unfortunately the pedestrian path on the Henry Hudson Bridge is closed (and has been closed for three years, scheduled to re-open in June 2010. General Public- don’t let them renege on that!). We had to make a detour. Instead of continuing through forested areas, and into Riverdale, we used the Broadway bridge and cut through a few blocks of Marble Hill and Kingsbridge.

Happily this did allow us to see a coyote monument erected in 1998 to a female coyote killed on the Major Deegan in 1995. Why is the coyote so instinctively fascinating to us? Could it be that it is so similar to "man's best friend" and yet still wild, playful yet not to be trusted? Carl Jung references anthropologist Paul Radin's book "The Trickster" in his writings on hero archetypes. The coyote is identified as a trickster figure in Native American lore. I read Radin's book and was impressed with the outrageously profane nature of the character. The coyote has a connection with the Greek figure of Hermes. He is seen as a culture hero, but trouble maker, a creator who is also a problem to have around; someone who "infects eternity with time" as Lewis Hyde says- comparing the trickster to John Cage or Marcel Duchamp.

Tassy and Kerry left exited here at 242nd street. The end of the 1 train. They went to go get margaritas. The rest of us went into the park.

We took a flooded Putnam trail north. There was an amazing trail runner running straight up the middle of it, splattering mud with abandon. There was something mystical about that trail runner. He... well we can tell you more in person. Switching from the Putnam trail to the John Muir trail we got lost. Because, as it is constructed, there is no intersection. There is an elaborate line of fences that separate the two trails and the golf course. We had to climb through a couple holes in chain link fences, then dart out of sight of a golf official. Apparently these holes had been created by others who had the same issue we did, an easement (get to that later). This obstacle was fine because we, as kindred spirits to Hal, are wont to transgress boundaries. Van Cortlandt Park feels like the wilderness at the edge of the city.



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