Call me, The Traveler.

Day 82 - 7/8/10
Woke up around 6, had a nice sleep up there on the mountain. I was
woken up in the middle of the night at one point by a scratching sound
on the outside of my tent, and unfortunately when I woke up I found
some holes in the bottom of it. Not sure if that was the scratching I
heard, but I imagine it was. That bothered me a bit, although I had
some duct tape to do a patch job.

I began hiking at seven, and as soon as I did I started seeing deer
everywhere. Probably saw 10 today at least. I hiked down from Black
Mountain and crossed a crazy fast highway, which was a bit scary, and
saw a sign saying NYC was only 34 miles away. Kind of surprising how
close that is. Then I went straight up a steep incline to West
Mountain, and on the way down met a thru hiker from '91 (trail name -
Owl) just out for the day. He was really cool, and I talked with him
for a good 10 minutes. Also did the PCT two years after his AT hike.
He mentioned some trail magic going on at a shelter tomorrow,
something he's helping out with, so I'm going to try and catch that if
I can.

The next climb was Bear Mountain, not as bad as the first one. When I
made it up and over that as I was going down I saw a doe and three
fawns. Really cute little ones covered in white dots along the backs.
They weren't timid either, just stayed put as I passed. The north side
of Bear Mountain was amazing. Owl had told me about how new trail had
just been opened up there this year, but it was way more impressive
than even he made it seem. I guess since it's a very popular area,
being so close to NYC and all, it has heavy foot traffic, so they
decided to put in a stone staircase that would essentially last
forever. It took them 4 years to finish it, which sounds like a long
time, but after seeing the stonework I can see why. It was such a
pleasant downhill, the best I've hiked yet. I met a nice older guy
named Vladimir (Vlad) going down, and chatted with him. He's training
for some hike out in Colorado, so the stone stairway is what he trains
on.

When I made it down to the bottom I found myself in a park with lots
of little kids running around, people grilling, biking, etc. One group
of kids saw me and started wondering what I was, and as I passed by
one asked, "Are you a traveler?" I laughed inside, said sort of, but
it was tough trying to explain to them what I was doing. They were
only 5, if that. I like the traveler thing though, I'm going to
consider myself that from now on. A somewhat weary one at this point.

I walked through there, bypassed the zoo so I could walk into Fort
Montgomery to pick up a maildrop I had at the PO. Got that, sorted
through it, and also was able to send back my shoes I recently bought.
They can't refund my money, buy they are crediting me the price of the
shoes. Hopefully I'll find something I like online when I'm back home
and off the trail. I said I'd come back to the shoe/boot debate later
on, and so here it is. I'm a boot hiker. I suppose it's good I tried
the shoes, because at least I now know I don't like them. Getting that
done and out of the way made me really happy, and when I was on a bit
of a high from that Owl drives up in his car! I'd told him I had the
maildrop, so he came by to see if I needed a ride back to the trail.
Awesome! I took the ride and it was less then 2 minutes, but still it
beats walking back. Really nice of him.

I got back hiking around 2:45ish, and this time I went through the
Trailside Museum & Zoo. It was basically exhibits of local animals and
plants. One book describes the walk as "can be emotional", and I see
why. The animals are all in very small cages, and it's sad to see them
contained like that. They don't look too healthy either, the bears
especially. Their fur was all tufty and strange. Immediately after the
zoo I crossed the Hudson on a big bridge. Had a bit of Vertigo on
there with the wind whipping around me. I thought this was amusing
too. On the railings there were signs saying "Life is worth living"
and then a 24 hour hotline number. I've just never seen anything like
that on a bridge. I guess they found it necessary.

The next few miles were tough, the heat was up there, but around 6:30
I came to a road where there's a store right next to the trail called
Appalachian Market. Got a Dr. Pepper, and while I sat there and drank
it some others showed up. The Crusher, Ichabod (who I just met the
other day) and a few others. We sat and enjoyed the convenience of the
store. It was less then a mile to where we all planned to go, the
Graymoor Spiritual Life Center, so it was a quick walk to it. 15
minutes maybe. It's a place you can camp, they have a cold shower, and
a spigot. Apparently they used to let hikers stay in the monastery,
and give them a meal, but not anymore. But I can't complain, even what
they offer now is still awesome.

I cooked, set up, cleaned up, hung out, then got into bed. Been a
really nice day, felt like I saw and acomplished a lot, and it wasn't
as hot as it has been the last three days. Tomorrow let's hope it gets
even cooler.

One last thing. Happy Birthday Far Far! 89 and still rockin'! Hope you
had a good one. Love Dan.

Total miles: 1399.7