u/shiva14b

Can anyone recommend a solid but not-too-strenuous (like im not trying to walk straight up a mountain from the trailhead) trail to get started with? I've been hiking around Harriman, Sterling, and Ringwood for 40 years, but I'm newish to this part of HV and not familiar with the trails, and concerned about my ability level; I was side-lined by an injury for about a year and a half and am finally starting to get back to regular activities, but being stuck sedentary for so long cost me all my muscle mass and stamina, not to mention a 30lb weight-gain.

I've done the Madam Brett/Dennings walk a few times and its lovely, but I'm ready to have my life back and get on an actual woods-trail. Sterling is my fallback since its easy and I'm pretty familiar, but I'd rather do something new and explore this area. Thank you in advance!

ETA: ideally something that'll take a few hours, like 5-7 miles. I'm ready to push myself a little on distance

TL;DR: Can anyone recommend something i can put at the bottom of the tank to help our Reeves Turtle scratch her belly? Like a scratchy water-safe mat?

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A feisty 35yo+ and permanently lacking the use of one of her rear legs, poor Mr.Turtle can't swim or easily rub herself against her platform. She's recovering from a fungal infection and overgrown schutes that are finally starting to loosen, and this girl is ITCHY (she gets wild tippy-tappys when she sees me walk by and literally rolls over on her back or side so i can scratch her belly with a toothbrush). Her dad doesn't like using gravel for fear she'll eat it, and sand gets her fancy filter all clogged up, so all she has is the glass-bottom of the tank that she just slips and slides on. We did install a suction-cup brush (that constantly comes un-suctioned) on the side of the tank, but what she really needs is something she can just drag herself against on the bottom of the tank. I did some quick googling and saw coconut fiber mats for tortoises and geckos, but I didnt know how well they'd hold up under water.

Any suggestions?

Local hikes for someone recovering from injury?

Scratch pad for turtle?