double lost

over 4 miles
1.5 hours
Leon Levy Preserve, Lewisboro

I got badly lost trying to find this preserve from the Whole Foods in Darien. I just wanted to go up Route 123, but I headed east instead of north. I knew it was wrong, but several more wrong turns got me hopelessly tangled. I couldn’t remember the name of the preserve so I had no specific destination, but my phone GPS was not keeping up with my location anyway. After a lot of driving, I finally got onto 123 going north and at last stumbled upon the sign at the parking lot.

I walked a double figure eight on the blue trail to the yellow trail to the purple trail to daring off-trail hiking. There was a light rain at times and a bit of snow in places. Very gloomy skies and not a soul, but warm and quite open.

Doubled back on the yellow trail until I came to the gorge, where I explored a little. Crossed back to take the white trail to the parking lot and then I lost the markers. I retraced my steps several times trying to find the trail, but finally just struck out in the direction I thought I should go. I got lost again. Many mental escapades ensued. If I just kept the busy highway noise to my right and hiked “up” from where I was, I should intersect with something familiar. Plan B was to hike through the back yard of a mansion to the busy road, with “hands up, don’t shoot.” Luckily I didn’t have to use Plan B. My sense of direction came through and I reconnected with the white trail after some stumbling over rock walls, down steep hillsides, and through bushes, probably tick-ridden.

At home I found a bright green beetle on my pants the size of a pumpkin seed. I thought it was a burr or a seed and grabbed it. Scared the hell out of me when it wriggled.

ruins

rustic bridge

overlooking upper gorge

pipsissewa