(217) 8/8,9,10/2025
New York Long Path rehabilitation
on Tallman Mountain - Final Weekend

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This will be our final weekend on this Tallman project
and the forecast is for perfect weather

First move these big rocks
down to the staging area

This rock is very big,
it will take teamwork to move it

Using rock bars as rails and a lot of muscle power,
the rock slowly crosses the road

Muscle power movie

At the worksite,
the same rock bars are used to place it into position

The next rock is so big,
we'll use two tubs to move it

Without the tubs, it would be extremely difficult
to manually move these big rocks

At the opposite end of the new wall,
smaller big rocks, taper the end

New trail is almost complete,
only few more steps to go

This one has to come out,
and be given a backward slope

Back at the rock pile, Jim and Marty
continued to split big rocks

Dr. Dave measures twice, he wants to be sure
this one will fit where he needs it

A bit smaller, but without the tub
it would still be difficult to move by hand

Now that's one big flat rock,
17 sets of feathers and wedges in that BFR

With a little patience (about 20 min.),
we get a nice clean break

Here's another big rock needing two tubs to move

Moving big rocks using two tubs sounds easy,
but rarely is

By the end of the day the wall is looking much better

But there's still much more to do

And the final few steps
still need a little more work

We are making great progress,
but I don't believe we will use all of these rocks

End of day crew meeting
and yes today the weather was perfect

Saturday morning and the crew slowly assembles

Tools of our trade, awaiting action

Marty swings a 12 pound sledge to split this big rock

Noah using the rock bar
to set an anchor rock into place

This crush behind the wall
will help with stability and drainage

We carved out the bedrock
to make room for these steps

Build a base, set the step, make it level,
then crush it in

At the top of the steps,
big anchor rocks are added

Anchor and shingle rocks are also added to the stairs

Looks like Howie might be the new Erik

Dr. Dave has the next wall rock selected

Connected to the highline and two belay lines,
the rock will be gently moved into position

One sturdy wall rock now in position

Back at the rock pile,
Fred has the next big rock ready to go

Pulling the tub from the side,
makes it much easier to move big rocks

Muscling it into place

OK, it's level now chock it in with crush
to keep it that way

Safety break, and another beautiful day

After break, more big rocks are moved into position

This one will make a great trail side gargoyle

Park Manager Clarke arrives
with a truckload of debris logs

These and other logs will be placed
alongside the new trail to help control erosion and
to encourage hikers to stay on the path

The next big wall rock is on its way,
but where it has to go is not under the highline,
so we will have to pull it closer by hand

Eight strong volunteers pulled it into position

Noah guides a debris log down the hillside

The dirt that is removed while building new steps

Is used to cover the crush
added behind the new wall

Special guest today, Casey Kelbaugh. A longtime
contributing photographer for the New York Times

At the end of the day,
another load of debris logs arrived

Sunday morning, more debris logs have been delivered

This big rock will be our last step

Stephanie keeps a watchful eye on the belay,
as a large debris log goes down the hill

While triple D guides it safely down the trail

Safety Break
Last one for this project

Not done yet, still one more step

Pulling and pushing it into position

Marty digs out more dirt to make the base deeper

Looks good let's take the sling off

Now all it needs is a little lift,
a little jiggle and a little push

And there it is, nice and level

What a beautiful finish to this multi-year project

We're done using the highline.
so it's time to roll up the cable

Bob heads back up the ladder for the last time.
Taking down the blocks and removing the sling

Final crew meeting for this project

A new sign post (x) will direct hikers down this path

Today's crew. Wow 19 Volunteers
A big THANK YOU to All the volunteers
who made this project a success.

8/10/2025 Time lapse video (3 min)



© Marty Costello 2013 - 2026