"HIKE NEW YORK CITY," a six to eight-mile hike of Manhattan, midtown and downtown, with commentary on its history and folklore.

The property is not yet open to general use; a free five-hour, eight-mile hike is organized on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, and there is access without a guide on the first and third Sundays of the month.

The eight-mile hike to Gertrude's Nose and back should take six hours.

Starting out on our eight-mile hike to Kibo hut, we encountered lobelias and groundsels grown to giant toughness to cope with Kilimanjaro's stresses.

The eight-mile hike to the site is muddy - expect to get dirty - with many narrow ridges and steep rocky sections requiring scrambling.

A 12-mile guided walk on Saturday will burn off some of the puds you've consumed, as should Sunday's eight-mile hike.

A reservist, who had begun vomiting early in the eight-mile hike, wandered off after the hike's end, and expired of a "heat illness."

A moderately strenuous eight-mile hike along the Saugautuck River will start on Saturday at 9 A.M. and end around 2 P.M. Three guides will carpool with the hikers to the west branch of the river, trek over two great ledges and stop for lunch at an overlook of the Saugatuck Reservoir and valley.

Sunday at 11 a.m. "Hike New York City," a six- to eight-mile hike of Manhattan, Midtown and downtown, with commentary on its history and folklore, meeting at the visitors' entrance to the United Nations, First Avenue and 45th Street.

After our leisurely eight-mile hike, we returned to camp for a dinner of tortellini al pesto, cooked and eaten well away from the tents to prevent encounters with curious grizzly bears.