“Starting from fish-shape Paumanok, where I was born / Well-begotten, and rais’d by a perfect mother,” begins the 1860 edition of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.” While Whitman would likely be horrified to visit the Walt Whitman Mall, one of the most ironically named places ever, one could easily imagine him strolling down the Paumanok Path, the 25th anniversary of which is this month, making poems out of the birds in the trees above.
Beginning Saturday and continuing for the next six weekends, the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society, in partnership with the town, and others, will lead hikes that break the length of the East Hampton Town portion of the trail into roughly eight-mile sections, starting in Wainscott and ending at Montauk Point.
The hikes are all point to point, no loops, so the society has coordinated with the Hampton Hopper bus service to provide transportation from the meeting place, where people will park their cars, to the starting point for each hike.
Rick Whalen, the vice president of trails planning for the society, is leading the first hike of the series, this Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The eight-mile walk winds across the northern section of Wainscott, across Route 114 and through the Miller’s Ground Preserve and up through the Grace Estate in Northwest Woods. Another group will set out on the eight-mile trek at 10:30, and a third will do a shorter four-mile hike at 11:30.
The Paumanok Path was conceived in the 1980s, but it wasn’t until the mid-’90s that the Long Island Greenbelt Conference called together the East Hampton and the Southampton Trails Preservation Societies for a meeting to discuss the South Fork portion of the trail. At that meeting, Mr. Whalen floated the name.
“One of the orders of business in that meeting was to come up with a name. I gave them two options: Sunrise Trail or the Paumanok Path. We settled on Paumanok Path,” he said last week.
“The word means ‘the island that pays tribute,’ referring to the island’s role as the main source of shells to make wampum,” said Eva Moore, the vice president of administration for the East Hampton trails group at an Oct. 3 East Hampton Town Board meeting. The trails society was in front of the board to ask the town to co-sponsor its events, for which it also needed special permits. The town board agreed to both matters.
The Paumanok Path starts in Rocky Point and spans 125 miles in total, with 45 of those miles in East Hampton Town. It was officially opened in 1998, in coordination with East Hampton’s 350th anniversary celebration. Carol Andrews spoke at the town board meeting about cutting the trails as a volunteer. “It was the most wonderful project we ever worked on,” she told the board. The winter of 1997 was a warm one, and no heavy snows hampered their work.
“Probably my favorite part of the job is working for our trails that go over town lands,” said Andy Drake, senior environmental analyst for the town’s Department of Land Acquisition and Management. “We have the best of the best out here, stunning scenery. I feel very lucky to help maintain that trail.” The Paumanok Path crosses 18 miles of town-owned land, which are maintained by Mr. Drake and Andy Gaites, a principal environmental analyst. Mr. Drake will be leading the second hike of the series, an eight-miler, on Oct. 21, that starts where Mr. Whalen’s ends in Northwest Woods, before kissing the southern tip of Three Mile Harbor, and then heading on to Stony Hill in Amagansett. Hikers will depart at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m., with a shorter hike of 3.5 miles setting out at 11:30 that day.
“We’re reprising what was done in 1998 for the 25th anniversary,” Mr. Whalen told the town board. In 1998, the whole trail was done in two weekends. “To do the whole trail in four days was a little daunting, so we scaled it back to six weekends.” All hikes will take place on Saturdays, with Sundays reserved for rain dates. There are three hikes each Saturday: two long ones, and for those not wanting to walk eight miles, a shortened version.
The Paumanok Path connects some of the jewels of the town. Mr. Whalen described each to the town board and gave brief history lessons about their acquisition.
“I’m happy to see the town’s seal on this, and I compliment you on all of your efforts,” said Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc. Councilman David Lys also complimented the trails society, not only for putting together the 25th anniversary schedule, but for opening many new trails over the years. “Congratulations on keeping the history of this alive and present for everyone,” he said.
“Without the Town of East Hampton, we would not have the Paumanok Path,” said Tom Ruhle, the former director of housing for the town. “It’s something we should all, as a community, celebrate by walking on it.”
Mr. Ruhle will lead the longest hike of the series, 10 miles through Montauk’s Hither Woods, on Nov. 4.
The final two hikes, on Nov. 11 and Nov. 18, will feature special events. The Nov. 11 hike terminates at Third House Nature Center in Montauk, where there will be an open house and food trucks, before State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. presents a proclamation to the trails society. Closing ceremonies and a final celebration with a guest speaker yet to be named will be held on Nov. 18 at Montauk Point.
Whitman likened Montauk Point to “some mighty eagle’s beak,” and he’d be happy to know it will never be home to a mall.
A full schedule of the hike series and pre-registration is at bit.ly/46LGEV0. Each hike is limited to 50 participants. There is a suggested donation of $10 to cover bus transportation.
People may still be able to join up on Saturday, without transportation, but should contact Mr. Whalen ahead of time at 631-275-8539 or [email protected] about the longer walk. Dai Dayton can be reached about the shorter one at [email protected] or 631-745-0689.
