Teaneck local Dan Chazin’s recently released book, Hike of the Week: A Year of Hikes in the New York Metro Area, has 52 hikes in the NY-NJ area, but he has hiked much, much more than that. “I got involved in hiking when I became a Scoutmaster, which was about 35 years ago,” Chazin said.

Chazin was never involved in the Scouts before becoming a Scoutmaster and, prior to that time, he liked hiking but didn’t do much of it. His new position and the hikes and backpacking trips with his scouts, Troop 226—the only Shomer Shabbos troop in Bergen and Passaic Counties—motivated him to become a hiking expert with “an encyclopedic knowledge of all the hikes he’s ever done.” Each of the hikes in his book includes a detailed description of the hike, including distances covered, times for each hike, and directions to get to the trailhead by car and by public transportation where possible.

There are sidebars describing fascinating historical or other aspects of each hike. Twenty of these were written by Chazin and 32 by others. Chazin indicated that he found particularly interesting a sidebar written by a retired New York Times writer and photo editor who searched its archives for an 1865 account of a visit to the Mount Hope Mines. Other sidebars include a description of Old Croton Aqueduct, which brought fresh water to NYC until 1955 and is still being used to supply water to some villages today, and an historical account of Pollepel Island, home to a castle-like structure formerly used for munitions storage.

Chazin commented that people looking for more of a wilderness experience should head to the Catskills—and be careful to bring a flashlight if there’s any chance of hiking after dark. Chazin was once with a friend, Steve Dundorf, who wanted to hike all the peaks of the Catskills in one winter and had eight left and just one day in which to do them. They planned a 15-mile hike over eight peaks, four of which were without trails, on a day when the ground was covered in snow and ice and the temperature hovered around 20 degrees. Dundorf’s brother came along and separated from them halfway through because he was concerned they wouldn’t finish before dark. Chazin and Dundorf agreed to be back by 9 p.m., but didn’t make it back until 1 a.m. of the next day, at which point the brother had already called the police who were poised to begin a search at dawn. The two only had one headlamp between them, which made the experience more difficult, so Chazin always recommends carrying a flashlight or headlamp. (He actually had one on the eight-peak hike, but the battery died after the first hour). Otherwise, he’s a minimalist when it comes to equipment: “The one thing that’s essential is a good piece of footwear,” Chazin said. “If it doesn’t fit right, that’s a major problem.”

Hike of the Week can be purchased on Amazon.com or on the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference website, www.nynjtc.org. Chazin can be reached at DChazin_aol.com.

By Aliza Chasan