After Woodstock was over I was left with this wow affect. It was a magical time and I never really got over it. A friend, who also went on this adventure with our group, Brian who become my closest friend, embarked on this journey that would last in my mind forever.

 

Before I go any further, let me explain what Rosendale NY, was like back in 1970. You remember me telling you about the woods in back of my house? The woods were our own town for all who indulged in extra curricular activity, (the pot smokers). We basically lived in the woods. We had trails everywhere; they crossed like you would see on city streets. There were tree forts and camp sites and even garden spots. We threw seeds everywhere and they grew. It was quite a site to see. You would be walking down a trail and suddenly find yourself standing in front of about 20 or 30 plants that stood 6 feet tall with buds the size of your fist. This is not an exaggeration, this was common place. We would take those plants and hang them upside down in the trees to dry and come across them at another time. After a while this would become quite a lucrative business for us but for now we were just heads and we lived in a fantasy world.

 

One day the group of guys that I hung around with the most, went into the woods with chain saws, axes, hatchets, tool boxes and enough food to feed an army. About 2 miles into the hills we went until we found the perfect place.  Guess what? We had a good old fashioned barn raising. We chopped and sawed and nailed until we built the most perfect cabin. We designed the perfect A-Frame cabin complete with a front porch.

 

The cabin was everyone’s home. If you had some problems at home you just brought your bedroll and supplies and you had a place to stay. We were very careful as to who we brought to the cabin as not everyone was as open and free as we were. You would have to know these woods pretty good to be able to find our retreat.

 

Here is some information about this area in the Catskill Mountains.

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

The Catskill Mountains (also known as simply the Catskills), a natural area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau. They are sometimes considered an extension of the Appalachian Mountains into Upstate New York, although they are not geologically related. The Catskills are west of the Hudson River and lie within the bounds of six counties (Otsego, Delaware, Sullivan, Schoharie, Greene, and Ulster). The Catskill Mountains are also considered a physiographic section of the larger Appalachian Plateau province, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian physiographic division.

As you can see we’re talking about a pretty big area and to this day this area is unpopulated.

 

By this time I was getting into some really deep artists for example I could relate to Neil Young. He was a country boy and would write about things I could relate to. As a matter of fact his style of acoustic guitar playing helped me to learn to play. I can remember sitting around a camp fire with an acoustic guitar and playing songs like Old Man and Don’t Let It Bring You Down. I found two great samples for you to see. By the way, I went to see him do an acoustical set and it blew me away.

I will leave you at this point. Come back for the next entry. It gets interesting from here.

 

Until Next Time.

Your post made me smile. I grew up in the 70's as well, in Queens, NY. What you describe as your 'cabin' in the woods, readily available for all, was akin to my parents 'garage'!
...Those were the days...
Thanks for reminding me...