Because of the rain, the group hiking at Sen-Ki was made up of the core group of Westwood Community Trails hikers.
By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Westwood Community Trails is a DPW and Recreation Department financed program of guided hikes designed to allow town residents to “explore the town’s trails and learn more about their importance to the community.”
But while Westwood Community Trails is perfect for beginner or veteran hikers who may not be very familiar with the town’s various trails, may fear getting lost on lesser known or lee well marked ones, or may just want to meet likeminded people from around town, the group that travelled to Sen-Ki on Saturday morning, July 3, likely didn’t include many first-timers. That's because while Rich de Reyna saw a unique opportunity to see the greenery along the trail open up like it won’t in dry weather, most people just saw a constant downpour of rain.
At 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, Westwood Community Trails met at Sen-Ki Reservation to go on a two-hour, around-three-mile hike. The group meet the first Saturday of every month at a new trail, attempting to hike a different one every month. But while the group has been around for years, COVID-19 put a hold on the hiking - while many people hiked alone during lockdowns, Rich de Reyna took the example of the Green Mountain Club and stopped the group hikes out of an abundance of caution.
“I’ve been doing Saturday morning hikes since 2015, but Westwood Community Trails started back in 2018, I believe. When things shut down due to COVID, we had to close this as well, because we just didn’t want any transmission or to be encouraging people to be out, with or without masks on, so we stopped it. I kind of followed the example of the Green Mountain Club, which I’m a member of. They stopped all of the hikes along the Appalachian Trail during that time, so I sort of followed their example. But when they opened, I got an email from them, so I used the same guidelines as them for masks requirements, social distancing and also not lingering around before or after.”
The hikes began again around April, but while they’re free to the public and open to anyone, because of COVID-19, de Reyna asks that people shouldn’t come if they’ve recently travelled or have been sick.
But while COVID stopped the hikes, a little rain certainly won’t. In fact, de Reyna explained there are very few forms of bad weather that will stop the hikes.
“We do this rain or shine, all year long. In winter, we put our spokes or snowshoes on and hike through the snow. The only reason I will cancel it is because there’s so much snow that people would be in danger of getting into an accident coming here, or if there’s thunder and lightning, because I don’t want anyone struck by lightning or hit by a falling tree.”
As for this hike itself, de Reyna noted that this one was a bit special for him, because he lives near Sen-Ki and loves hiking it.
“I love Sen-Ki. I live a couple blocks away, so this is my backyard playground. It’s a three-mile hike. We loop through the twin pine area, as well as Sen-Ki. It takes about two hours and there are some great vista points. It’s a good hike.”
Whether the weather is better for the next Westwood Community Trails hike or not, Rich de Reyna will be there. But with all due respect to the Sen-Ki greenery, one suspects if it takes place during a sunny day, far more hikers will join him.
