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:: urban access FALL As summer ambles into fall on the East Coast. the area around the big apple offers a multitude of outdoor activities specific to this magical season. TEXT: TASHA EICHEN HAUSER NEW YORK CITY FORAGE THE CITY And you thought places like Central Park were just for respite and recreation. "Wildman" Steve Brill has made a career out of eating New York City's parks. Since 1982, Brill has led hungry children and adults on treks looking for and sampling the hundreds of edible species of roots, berries, leaves, nuts, seeds and aquatic plants that grow wild in and around New York City. His tours include delicious trivia on the history, mythology, geology and ecology of edib le plants. An energetic personality, an eccentric expertise and a crazy history, which Includes an arrest in 1986 for eating a dandelion in Central Park, have made Brill a legend. The Wildman leads about 100 tours a year in various parks throughout the five boroughs. Donation: $10. Register by calling 718-291-8625, email him at wild- mansteverabigfoot.com or visit his website at wwwaccesshub.net/-wildmansteve/. RUN WITH THE HASH HOUSE HARRIERS They call themselves "beer drinkers with a running problem" and their four-to-five-mile cross-country runs often culminate at a local pub. Traditional hashing is following a trail marked with flour and chalk arrows that disappears in sections, forcing you to run around In circles until you find it again. The act ivity brings together people from every walk of urban life and every corner of the globe. Hashing began in 1938 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and now eX ists In nearly every major city in the world. New York City alone has SIX running clubs, and events include full-moon hashes. For a schedule of runs, go to wwwhashhouseharriers.com, or call the hash hotline at 212-HASH NYC [212-427-46921. With 32 miles of national seashore and laws that prohibit motor vehi- cles, Fire Island is the closest thing to backcountry you'll find on Long Island. The Otis Pike Fire Island Wilderness, on the eastern end, is actually the only federally-recognized wilderness in New York. This area is one hour east of the city by train [Long Island Rail Road, 631- 231-5477, www.lirr.org/lirr, $5.25-$10.75 one wayl plus a 3D-minute ferry ride from near the Patchogue train station. The Watch Hill Ferry [631-475-1665, www.fireislandferries.com. $5.50 one wayl takes you to Watch Hill Campground [631-597-66331 from May 15-0ctober 8. From here you can make your way eight miles east on foot through the dune- like, scrub-brush and beach scenery. Take a train to Mastic-Shirley then a cab to the backcountry permit office [631-281-30101 at the east- ern entrance to the park. A permit allows you to camp anywhere in the wilderness area north of the Fire Island Wilderness Trail. Fire Island is a birder's paradise, with more than 350 species stopping by or calling the island home. For more information about the Fire Island National Seashore, call 631-289-4810 or go to www.nps.gov/fiis/. 74 PADDLE THE MOOSE RIVER, NY This river in the Adirondacks is the perfect venue for lackadaisical class I floating as well as strenuous and thrilling class V kayaking. The river, calmly meanders past cedar and spruce trees, lowland marshes and sandy beaches, running from Big Moose Lake down the 11-mile north branch to progressively harder segments, eventually progressing Into class V whitewater, with features such as the drop at Fowlersville Falls, a 50-foot slide at about a 60-degree angle. The bottom section of the Moose is one of the most challenging rivers in the east. Based out of Old Forge, Mountainman Outdoor Supply [315-369-6672, www.moun- tainmanoutdoors.coml gives day kayaking tours of the north branch [$24-$341 and offers beginning as well as advanced classes [$119-$1691. Whitewater Challengers, [800-443-7238, wwwwcrafting.coml offers lessons and rafting trips down the middle and lower sections [$28-$941. Camp at the Moose River Recreation Area on the south branch of the river, about 12 miles from Old Forge. Call the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for more information [518-402-94281. On the third weekend in October the foliage is spectac- ular and American Whitewater [866-262-8429, wwwamericanwhitewa- ter.orgl will host the annual Moose River Festival and races on the bot- tom section of the river