37th of a series

Five Years Later: Three Weeks That Changed Their Lives

“He recognized something essential about moving water, which is not merely a conveyance but an equalizer – an urbanizing force on the prairie and a rural belt in the city.”
- Ben McGrath, Riverman: An American Odyssey

On July 7th, 2007, 12 high-school students set off from Belleayre Ski Resort in the Catskill Mountains on the journey of a lifetime. Three weeks later, exhausted, exhilarated, and malodorous, they walked into New York City’s Central Park to the applause of families, city officials, and startled onlookers.

They had hiked and paddled over 200 miles, through wooded wilderness, open water, and paved suburb, following the route of the city’s water from its sources in the Catskill Mountains to the reservoir in the center of Manhattan, from Mountaintop to Tap.

Five years later, we set out to find them and to ask them what impact the trek had had on their lives.

TREKKERS

Asha Armstrong, New York Harbor School

Asha in 2007

I am currently a senior enrolled in the semester-by-the-sea program at Stony Brook Southampton. I am also an environmental studies major with a marine science minor. I am engulfed in trek memories. The trek perked my interest in environmental studies. Before the trek, my goal in life was to become an oceanographer; I have changed my focus to environmental science with a focus on marine science. In addition, I would like to pursue a career in environmental education, primarily with youth, instead of oceanography.

Leydi Basilio, New York Harbor School

Leydi in 2007

I recently graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a bachelor’s in communications. The trek changed my perspective about NYC water completely. So many families lost everything for us to have water, and I think that, out of respect, the least we can do is conserve that precious resource before it disappears. I am thinking about going into education now, and for life after City Year, I will be applying to NYC Teaching Fellows and Teach for America.

Natalie Bloomfield, New York Harbor School

Natalie in 2007

I am currently a junior at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. My most memorable moment on the trek was the view of the valley from the top of Slide Mountain. It was breathtaking. I will also never forget Margaret Smith Dolan and the horrors she lived through as a child, as her home and those of other members of the Neversink Valley were taken by eminent domain to create a reservoir to supply NYC with clean drinking water. After five years, I still remember the early morning hikes and Asha’s huge heart! Every morning she started us off with a song to lift our spirits. Before this trek, I never once questioned where the water I drink came from; but after learning what so many people gave up in order for New Yorkers to have clean drinking water, I am so conscious of preserving water.

Robert Loibl, Sidney High School

Rob in 2007

Sometimes I catch myself thinking back and wondering, “Did I really do all that?” It’s just surreal. The trip definitely helped shape my opinions about the connection between both major parts of New York state. It also solidified my views on the environment and its conservation. One recommendation I would give to anyone reading this is to go out and experience where you live. I lived in upstate New York for most of my life, but I didn’t really experience it until I went to the Catskills to hike the mountains and to the Hudson to row down the river. . . .

Marissa Morton, Sidney High School

Marissa in 2007

My favorite memory was when we sat in the middle of the forest by ourselves, with no clocks or cell phones, and were asked to reflect on how we felt. I remember feeling so relaxed, and I knew right then that I was where I wanted to be. The thing that stands out the most, after five years, is the friendship I built with Leydi. It is amazing that two people who grew up in completely opposite environments can have so much in common. I will always carry a special bond with my fellow trekkers. The trek honestly changed my life. I still tell stories about when I got home and went to the doctor, both my feet were broken from the impact of walking on pavement and about how we got stuck in the pouring rain rowing down the Hudson, and I brag about how we were able to walk down into the old aqueducts.

Sarah Pate, Sidney High School

Sarah in 2007

I am currently studying psychology and neuroscience at SUNY Albany, working on my undergraduate thesis in psychology to graduate with honors. Quiet times hiking or resting at night caused me to notice the little things — to notice what the world has besides shopping malls and highways paved through the forests.

Sarah Place, Sidney High School

Sarah in 2007

I am currently living in New Jersey and am almost finished with my B.S. in psychology. I remember most vividly hiking through the mountains in both cold misty rain and dreaded heat, having our tent flooded by a passing rainstorm while we slept, sailing down the Hudson feeling so incredible and free, staying the night by a shipyard and listening to the students at West Point chant from the other side of the river, making the most ridiculous concoctions for dinner and actually liking it, walking down abandoned train tracks, singing folk songs with Molly Mason and Jay Ungar, staying in the basement of a giant old house in the Bronx and swearing it was haunted, and finally arriving in Central Park where all our families and friends were waiting to see us. I can say with confidence that the trek changed my life. It taught me so much — from perseverance to teamwork to not taking myself too seriously. Now I have more courage to challenge myself and my limits, and if I ever have doubt, I many times find myself saying in my mind, “Hey, I climbed three mountains and rowed 40 miles; I can do this.”

Jeriel Stafford, New York Harbor School

Jeriel in 2007

Right now, I am in my senior year of college, pursuing a double major in applied math and statistics and economics. What stands out to me the most was that I got to experience a whole different world from what I was used to. Coming from the island of Grenada to living in the city of New York to living in the woods, all are different worlds, and I got to experience them all.

Trek Partners and Organizers: Stroud Water Research Center; New York Harbor School; Catskill Center for Conservation and Development; Riverkeeper; Catskill Mountainkeeper; New York City Department of Environmental Protection; New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation.