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Published: June 27th 2008
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Goodbye NJ, Hello NY
We were very excited to see the New Jersey New York state line. June 18
We stayed the previous night at a church hostel in Vernon, NJ. We had all-you-can-eat pizza, bought some groceries, and watched the Celtics win the NBA championship. In the morning, we were able to quickly type a blog entry before we had to leave (the church was having a preschool graduation ceremony and didn't want any dirty hikers hanging around). A local trail angel showed up to take us back to the trail. We all loaded into his van, anxious to get back on the trail. Some of the others had to run errands, though, so we got a little bit of a late start. The day started with a steep climb of almost 1,000 feet, but we have our legs under us now, so it felt okay. There was a big group of us hiking around each other today. It was the two of us, Daisy, Cuda, Willie Boy, Root, and Chief Daddy (who always seems to appear just when we think we've lost him for good). We all stopped at a shelter around noon for lunch, and it started to sprinkle a bit. We put our pack covers on, but, confident that it wasn't going to
ICE Cream
Honeymoon, Daisy and Cuda at the Bellvale Creamery, where we enjoyed our ice cream soaked to the bone. Then soon decided it would be nice to sleep dry and in a bed. rain much, left our ponchos in the pack. The hiking that afternoon was slow going--after we crossed the border into New York, the trail began climbing in and out of the forest, with lots of bare rock faces at the tops of the ridges. With the rain, these uncovered ridges became very slick; we both fell a couple of times. And of course, it did not ever stop raining like we thought it would. After several hours of this challenging hike, with our feet soaking wet and aching, we hit a highway. We knew that just 0.2 miles west there was an ice cream parlor (which the trail angel from Vernon had recommended to us). When we got there, we saw three packs lined up against the wall, and Daisy, Willie Boy, and Cuda were there. After gorging ourselves, Cuda made some remark about how nice it would be to sleep in a warm, dry room with a shower. After that, nobody could shake the idea. So he called a nearby hotel, got us a room and a ride, and we stayed at "Anton's on the Lake." Getting out of the wet weather was great (though of course it stopped
Wet But Happy
Short Stick and Honeymoon at the Bellvale Creamery after hiking in the rain for three hours. raining the moment we arrived). We had Chinese for dinner and slept in real beds.
June 19
Willie Boy was up at the crack of dawn this morning, but the rest of us slept in. The hotel manager (who had picked us up the night before) gave us a wonderful breakfast of muffins, cereal, yogurt, juice, and milk, and then gave us a ride back to the trail. Actually, he gave us a ride back to the creamery, where we loaded up on ice cream before hitting the trail. The hiking was similar to the day before--lots of challenging rock slopes, but at least it wasn't wet. The steep ups and downs made for slow progress, and it was late by the time we made it into Harriman State Park. As if the rest of the day hadn't been difficult enough, we hit the Lemon Squeezer right at dusk, and that was followed up by a cliff nearly impossible to scale. Cuda made it up somehow (barely) and then gave Daisy and Honeymoon a hand up. Honeymoon then pulled Short Stick up. Everyone received bruises and scrapes. After being joined by Willie Boy and Chief Daddy,
Willie Boy At Anton's On the Lake
Anton's on the Lake was a wonderful place where the management took great care of us. we hiked the last couple miles in the twilight, and by the time we got to the shelter it was dark. We cooked by the light of our headlamps and then hung out for a while. As we were almost ready to hit the sack, a small bat flew into the shelter, swooped around in several circles just above our heads, and then flew out again. It was quite a startling, but fun, little experience.
June 20
We slept in again this morning (of course, everything is relative--8:30 now feels like sleeping in late). As we were eating breakfast, something dropped on Honeymoon's leg. He glanced down and saw what looked suspiciously like a tiny turd. Sure enough, he glanced up and saw the bat from the previous night creeping around between two beams in the shelter roof. This guy was clearly trying to send us a message. We set off with Daisy and Cuda, and we hiked with them for the rest of the day. The scenery was beautiful today, as we hiked up and then down two significant peaks. We stopped for lunch on the first peak, where we looked across the valley at
More Ice Cream
Daisy, Cuda and Honeymoon eat their second round of ice cream at the Bellvale Creamery. It was a lovely day and the view was wonderful. Bear Mountain. We also looked in the sky and saw storm clouds gathering. Sure enough, once we descended, crossed the valley, and began our ascent of Bear Mountain, it had begun to rain steadily. The view from Bear Mountain was fantastic, but we couldn't get any pictures because of the rain. Still, the descent was fun because we managed not to fall. When we got to the bottom, we found the Outlook Lodge on the shores of Hessian Lake (a spring-fed mountain lake with a shimmering, glass-like surface). We also found Willie Boy. So we again decided to split a hotel room, order some pasta and beer to be delivered, and relax for the night. As it turned out, this was our last night on the trail, but we spent it with good company in a beautiful area.
June 21
After rising in the morning, we debated what to do. When could hike another seven miles along the trail, and then hike 4.5 miles along a highway to get to Peekskill, NY, where there was a train station. Or we could hang out for a little while, tour the trailside zoo and nature park with friends,
Angry Black Snake
This big guy was sitting in the middle of the trail. When Honeymoon poked him with a trekking pole he was not too happy. and then try to catch a bus to NYC sometime the next day. We opted for the latter. As the Appalachian Trail leaves Bear Mountain State Park, it goes through a small nature preserve. The cool thing about it is that it only contains wildlife and plants that appear naturally in the area, and they make an effort to have the experience be informative and educational. We spent about an hour wandering around, and then we said goodbye to Daisy and Cuda (Willie Boy had already left). It was a little sad, because we had finally found a group that we thoroughly enjoyed hiking with.
We had located a sign that read, "Trail to Fort Montgomery," where we knew there was a hotel we could stay in. We wandered over to the trailhead, where we stumbled, all of a sudden, upon the Hudson River. So we sat down in a patch of shade and had some lunch. After pondering our various accomplishments--a full month on the trail, nearly 400 miles hiked, from the Potomac to the Hudson--we wandered around in the park for a few more minutes and then returned to the trailhead. Here we shouldered our packs for
Short Stick and a Waterfall
This was the most beautiful and possibly the only true waterfall we saw. the final time. The trail led down a steep incline to the edge of the river, where we took a footbridge across the Hudson. This led to a highway, which led us about two miles into the town of Fort Montgomery. We got a room at the Bear Mountain Bridge Motel, ate a big dinner at a BBQ place, and went to bed.
June 22
The owner of the motel gave us a ride back to Bear Mountain state park, where he assured us a Shortline bus would soon arrive to take us to New York City. After two hours of waiting, we began to get a little suspicious. Honeymoon began wandering around asking people if they knew anything about the bus. Nobody did, but he was finally directed to the administration office. Here, we experienced another bit of trail magic. While enquiring about the bus, Honeymoon ran into an older guy who had been hiking with his son. As it turned out, this guy lived on Long Island, was a former A.T. hiker, and offered to give us a ride into the city. We graciously accepted. They gave us directions into Brooklyn (the "old neighborhood"),
Short Stick in the Entrance to the Lemon Squeezer
It was getting dark when we got here, so most of our pictures were all right, but could have been better. Short Stick loves this one anyway. we took the subway there, and then hiked into Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York, looking like a couple of dirty hikers.
Beyond
We have been having a blast over the past few days in both New York City and Boston. Special thanks to Megan Talley for the floor space to sleep on, Max and Mary Talley for a wonderful dinner and their hospitality, and Sean Navin for lodging and a tour of Boston. If possible, we will follow up with an entry including pictures of our more urban adventures. We're ready to come home, but there's some more traveling still left to do. Hope everyone has enjoyed reading, and check back over the next week or so to see if we've got more stuff.
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Cheryl
non-member comment
Congratulations!
You guys did good - really good!! I'm so proud of you. It sounds like you had a really good trip with some challenges that you managed to overcome. I'm really looking forward to seeing you in a week or so. Be safe!!!