Date: 2003-07-09
From: Little Dam Lake Campsite 750

To: Bear Mountain NY 155
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: mist

When I woke up this morning I knew we had a long hard day ahead of us. It sprinkled a bit and I got up at 6:00. I left camp at 7:20 with Sweet Ass, but we didn't hike together long. He left at Arden to get a maildrop and I entered Harriman State Park. Kind of an eerie place at times, saw lots of deer, and it was really quiet. I didn't see another person until I was one mile from leaving the park. I don't think there was a hill or rock pile I didn't climb. The AT hit them all. It was a challenging hike before the park and through it. I thought the park was beautiful.When I got to Arden Valley Road, Booble caught up and we walked down to Lake Tiorati for a shower and ice cream. We got ice cream from a vending machine. Never seen that before. There were a bunch of camp kids there and when they left the beach was empty. I took a long shower and we waited for Sweet Ass. When he got there we decided to hike 12 more miles to Bear Mountain. I had to work so hard to keep up with those two guys!We climbed two tough mountains in that last 12 mile stretch - Black Mtn and Bear Mtn. Both were tough but Black Mtn was a killer. We went from 830 feet to 1160 feet in 3.4 miles. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? It kicked my butt, but somehow I managed to keep up with the two of them. The three of us worked really hard on that last 12 miles and our train didn't derail once! We are so easily distracted. Bear Mtn has a tower on top which is where this picture was taken.We arrived in Bear Mountain, NY around 8:00 PM and were on a mission to find a hotel and restaurant. First we had to walk around Hessian Lake. This is a beautiful park with a lake and a great inn and sidewalks, a pavillion and lots of grass and picnic tables. The whole area was also covered with garbage - everywhere. There were actually two buzzards hanging around the park. I was so dismayed by all the garbage on the ground when there were so many trash cans around.After we walked around the lake, we started toward Fort Montgomery to get a hotel room and find a place to eat. We went to the Old Oak Inn first and it was as if we entered the twilight zone! The owner is Carl and he was a difficult man to communicate with. We had to find him in the bar, then we said we wanted one room for the three of us. He had no rooms with two double beds, so Sweet Ass said he would sleep on the floor. Carl showed Booble and I the room while Sweet Ass watched our packs. Then he said he could not put three of us in one room. He wasn't making any sense and was trying to get us to get two rooms, so instead of getting some money from us he got none. There was a guy named Ken in the bar who said he could drive us to a motel his friend owns. He was a bit odd. Sweet Ass went with him to check it out and Booble bought me a beer while we waited. They came back and Ken drove us to the Hacienda for dinner. All he wanted for payment was a beer. While we were eating,he said he had to leave to pick up his wife so we got his license plate number because our stuff was in his mini van! He came back with his wife, we finished dinner and drove us to this motel. He did not know the owner. We said we wanted a room with two double beds for three people and the owner said he didn't normally do that! What is with these people? He gave us the room for $50 and it was pretty decent. It had a pink bathroom, though. Everybody showered for the second time and we watched TV and went to bed around midnight. Oh yeah, we were about two miles from Fort Montgomery at this time and Ken-O said he would come get us the next morning and take us back to Bear Mountain. We had his phone number, but no real hope he would pick us up. He was loopy, but helpful at the time.Watching TV was great. We saw Seinfeld, That 70's Show, and Just Shoot Me. It was great! Goodnight Oscar.