Bruised Morale

Day 101

Before we left the shelter in the morning Nepsis found some ribbon hanging on a nail in the shelter and used it to tie around my broken shoe. It really helped me not to trip as we hiked the mild terrain. After a few miles we could see in the distance a monument that looked like the Washington Monument. After awhile we climbed a small wooden tower with some good views of the monument. After we climbed down, we decided to take a side trail down to a beach where there were concessions. They were a bit late to open and way overpriced, but a nice treat. There were loads of people at the beach and as we were leaving a man talked to us for a bit and gave us a couple of sodas. We got back to the Trail and continued on the flat path for several miles before turning left on Loft Rd to go to the small town of Unionville. There was a small store where we resupplied before walking across the street to a pizza joint for some rest and pizza. After we'd had enough of the pizza and the Spanish soap opera on TV, we got back on the Trail for another several miles of easy hiking and up one small hill at the end to Pochuck Mountain Shelter where we spent the night.

Miles hiked today: 19.6 Total AT miles completed: 1346.4 Total AT miles left to hike: 838.9

Day 102

We woke up and were on our way, across the mountain and down to a swamp where a boardwalk over a half-mile long was built to safely allow our passage. After the swamp, we stopped by Heaven Hill Farm where we bought a blueberry pie and ate most of it, sharing a slice with A german thruhiker named Simba. After the pie, we hiked up Wawayanda Mountain and across a ridge for a few miles. It started to get very rocky as we made our way over the cliffs until we reached a point where a sign was painted in the middle of a rock we were walking across, indicating the border into New York. After a bit more cliff-walking my right shoe began flapping again. The ribbon had worn down and snapped off. At that moment we found a shoelace on the ground and Nepsis tied that around my shoe, but that only lasted a few minutes before it untied itself and fell off without me noticing it until I started tripping on my shoe again. We had to walk across more rocks and at one point we even had to climb a ladder they installed in order to get over a particularly large rock. After a few more miles the rocks faded behind us and we were in the woods where we could hear music being pumped out below us from speedboats cruising around Greenwood Lake just to our east. At last, we reached NY 17A where we turned left to go to a Hot Dog Stand that wasn't too far away. It was closed, but just beyond that was Bellvale Farms which was a homemade ice cream parlor in the mountains with views of the surrounding area and obviously popular with tourists in the summer. The place was packed and streams of people kept arriving in their polo shirts and tank tops. We sat at a picnic table enjoying some ice cream and homemade bottled sodas, both pooped from the day. With the lack of sleep from last night, my flapping shoe, and the bottoms of Nepsis' feet beginning to hurt, a stay in a hotel sounded real good to us. Unfortunately, it was Saturday and we were definitely in a touristy area. There were four hotels/motels in the area and I called each of them. One was booked, one was extremely expensive, one couldn't have a room ready for us until nine o'clock at night because they were all out for the evening, and the last I couldn't understand a word he said to me. This was almost too much for Nepsis to bear since she had high hopes for a comforting night so we stayed at the picnic table for a long while, sulking. Many couples and families came over to talk to us, legends of the Trail that we are, and each time Nepsis changed her disposition immediately and cheerfully answered their questions while also conveying our tales of woe in not finding a place to stay the night. She had high hopes, but no one bit. One family did snap a group photo with us though. After a chocolate milkshake and giving up on our hope, we pulled on our packs and hiked the last couple of miles to Wildcat Shelter. It was this night that we fully realized the major horror that comes with summer: the unrelenting hordes of mosquitos. A couple of section hikers gave us two citronella candles,  but these seemed to only make matters worse. We fell asleep after awhile despite the pesks hovering above us.  

Miles hiked today: 23.6 Total AT miles completed: 1370 Total AT miles left to hike: 815.3

Day 103

We began the day with a few small ups and downs to a pond where a lot of day-hikers were milling about, including a few large groups of Asians, some in full sweatsuits and gloves. And it was super hot.  I could not imagine. Joined by Simba, we came to the Lemon Squeezer which was a small path between two large rocks we had to squeeze ourselves through. After this obstacle, we had to take off our packs and throw them up on a ledge, while we held on to a tree and had to swing ourselves up. From here we crossed jagged terrain across Fingerboard Mountain and several miles further to Black Mountain. From here we could just make out the tall skyscrapers in New York City fading into the distance about thirty-five miles away. Our spirits still weren't the highest, especially considering Nepsis' feet still hurt, but we pressed on nonetheless. When we got to the Palisades Parkway we felt like just a cold soda from the vending machine at the visitor center almost a half mile away would be well worth the detour. When we arrived, we found the visitor center wasn't one like we were used to, but a small building that was closed and locked. The vending machines were inside. Disappointed, we walked back to the Trail and down the path to a footbridge across the Beechy Bottom Brook. We could see a few hikers had set up just beyond the brook and as we crossed the footbridge we heard a familiar voice yell down at us, "Hesychast! Nepsis!" It was North Star! We were very excited to see him and we sat catching up as he gave us some of his plentiful food to eat for dinner. He had spent a few days in New York City, which allowed for us to catch up to him. After laughing a lot and deciding to hike a short day tomorrow and stay at a hotel because Nepsis discovered bruises on the bottoms of both her feet, we set up our tent and went to sleep, our spirits lifted by seeing an old friend again.

Miles hiked today: 21.8 Total AT miles completed: 1392 Total AT miles left to hike: 793.3

Day 104

We woke up earlier than North Star and started the day by hiking up West Mountain. We went very slowly because Nepsis' feet were killing her and she had to hike by trying to place her weight on the sides of her feet to relieve some pressure from the bruises in the middle of her feet. Of course the sides of her feet began to hurt shortly after this method since the sides of her feet were not used to the pressure either. We walked across the ridge, down and back up stone steps Nepsis was delighted to see to Bear Mountain where there was a tower and several tourists despite the fact that it was still pretty early. We visited the vending machines and had to wait for  workers to fill them before enjoying two cold drinks each. After the rest, we continued slowly down the mountain that was also a well maintained wide path with stone steps. We passed several groups of tourists on the way up, including a large group of Orthodox Jew schoolboys who stared at us. At the bottom we walked around Hessian Lake, stopping by a kiosk to buy a couple of soft pretzels to enjoy as the Trail led us to a small zoo. At the entrance we bought ice cream bars from a vending machine and went through the zoo, stopping in a small building to see some of the local reptiles and at a statue of Walt Whitman. They also had a single black bear lying in his small exhibit. The situation was a little sad and we took the Trail out of the zoo and instead of taking the AT across the bridge, we took a side trail to Fort Montgomery. When we reached the historic Revolutionary War fort, we were disappointed to find there were only a few rocks left of it. We were expecting something much different. At this point North Star caught up with us and we walked the rest of the way down the road to a Holiday Inn Express where we got a room together, despite the fact that it only had a single king size bed. North Star set up his sleeping pad on the floor. After showers and lunch at Barnstormer BBQ we went back to the room to relax and watch the Germany v. Algeria match with some beer North Star bought. In the evening, North Star ordered pizzas and walked a long way to pick them up and bring them back for us. We figured Nepsis' feet were probably bruising because the bottoms of her shoes had just worn down too much from hiking. For the rest of the evening we just relaxed in the room and all fell asleep pretty early from exhaustion.              

Miles hiked today: 7.7 Total AT miles completed: 1399.7 Total AT miles left to hike: 785.6

Day 105

We woke up in no hurry to leave our nice hotel room. We enjoyed a nice continental breakfast where I consumed five tasty cinnamon rolls and went for a swim in the indoor pool with North Star. After the swim and showers we stayed in the room as late as we possibly could before checking out. Just outside the hotel, as we passed a gas station, a man offered to give us a ride back to the Trail. We gladly accepted and he drove down a different road, telling us this would lead us back to the Trail as well. We thought he must of known what he was doing until we passed the visitor center we had gone to a couple days earlier and told him he was going in the opposite direction. He found his way back and dropped us off at the bridge, still probably sooner than if we had walked. North Star pushed ahead as we filled up our water bottles at the zoo since we forgot to at the hotel. We crossed the long and windy Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River and along a road for a bit before heading up a steep, but short mountain. We hiked the few miles across the ridge and down the mountain to a gas station where we met back up with North Star. Just over a half mile beyond this we entered the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center where the monks allowed hikers to camp in a large field with a pavilion, port-a-potties, outdoor shower, trash cans and picnic tables. After setting up our tent and meeting Soho, a German section hiker, and Simon, a New Zealander out hiking for a week, the five of us decided to walk just under a mile down a road to a sports bar that was listed in the guide with no further information. We didn't expect much, but it was a really nice place and we watched the USA v. Belgium match on a large screen accompanied with great beer and food. After the match we walked back to the gas station and back to the field where we stayed up late talking and drinking beer. North Star had a little too much and stumbled back to his hammock as Nepsis and I went to sleep in our tent. We decided to hike such a short day because there was a nearby train station we could hike to tomorrow to take us into New York City where we could visit friends, celebrate the 4th of July, and where Nepsis could rest her feet for a couple of days and buy a new pair of shoes. 

Miles hiked today: 6.4 Total AT miles completed: 1406.1 Total AT miles left to hike: 779.2