START LOCATION: West Mountain Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: Near US-9/NY-403
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 11.6
TRIP MILEAGE: 1,399.1
MILES TO GO: 780.0
It was a nice crisp, cool, breezy night. I had the lights and glow of
New York City off to my left and a nice sunrise off to my right. As I
laid there in bright sunshine at 5:50AM, I decided that this was my
favorite campsite I've had on the AT thus far.
I packed up, ate a cold breakfast and headed towards El Rio Hudson.
First was a stop atop Bear Mountain's Perkins Tower. It's a 1930's
vintage 4 story observation tower that overlooks most of the
Palisades, New York City and the Hudson River Valley. It was a great
little scenic spot and a very well kept observation tower.
The trail down to Bear Mountain, NY was steep but very smooth. I
pulled into BMNY at 11AM and talked to The Smoke on the teley... They
were 2 hours late due to a family emergency the night before. Totally
cool. I needed time to charge my phone and grab a bite.
The only place I could find an outlet and have food was at the Bear
Mountain Merry Go Round. It is a semi-indoor concession stand/merry go
round for the kids. It was awkward to be the mulleted bearded guy
hanging out by the Merry Go Round for 2 hours, but what could I do? I
hope my pack lent me some credibility. Anyway, I gorged on Nathan's
hot dogs (aka... "Natedogs"... the official hotdogs of this thru-hike)
and ice cream. I planned upcoming resupplies and my upcoming meet-up
with my family in Vermont. It was a good time to update my progress
and a refresher on what is coming up.
I met up with Panda and Smoke around 1PM and we headed to Peekskill,
NY for resupply. After trial and erroring a few slapcheese groceries,
Panda caught wind of a Super Stop and Shop nearby... Resupply heaven.
Panda dropped us at BMNY and Smoke and I headed across Bear Mountain
Bridge... Our crossing over the Hudson River. At 124' elevation, it is
the lowest point of the Appalachian trail.
As we crossed, thru-hikers Turtle, Mellow Yellow, Mimi and Fredo were
ahead of us. They had just come out of nearby Fort Montgomery. We
caught up on goings-on over the last week and other hiker news.
As we reached US-9/NY-403, a beautiful light shone above us... It was
the heavens heralding our arrival to a convenience store right on the
AT.. The Appalachian Market. We loaded up on ice cream, hot dogs and
other delicious hiker fare. It was perfect like trail magic.
We had an epiphany as we ate our dinner out front... We were within
1/2 mile of our intended camping spot for the night. If we hiked only
a short distance from this road crossing, we could hit the place again
in the morning and get... say it with me... Breakfast sandwiches. I
loved this idea. It would also mean I could save a hiker dinner and
breakfast for a nice push past Kent, CT where we'll be meeting Panda
again. Who knew a little convenience store could have such positive
implications for some long distance hikers. We're easy to please, no
doubt.
The four others pushed on to the Friary Pavilion where thy could
cowboy camp without worry. Smoke and I are excitedly camped near the
road awaiting breakfast. It'll be heaven, albeit microwave cooked.
It's great to have Smoke back on the trail. I also want to give Panda
another thanks for her trail angelic support!
-natedog
No comments:
Post a Comment