Date: 2004-04-30
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Palisades Interstate Parkway
Miles today: 21.7

Log entry 90Drafted 6/02/04, some details are a little fuzzy.I don't remember when exactly I got rolling but I know I was done at 16:10. That is 10 minutes late.The weather was wonderful, warm and sunny. Actually a little hot. I remember waking up out of the funk that I was in last night. I was excited to see my parents and that carried me all day. I walked as fast as I could, which was hard to do in my heavy boots. The rough part of the trail was down into NY17, Arden Valley Rd. The map calls it "Agony Grind". It was a wicked steep rocky downhill. The drop-offs off the rocks were nasty, but I made it down without incident.The trail then entered Harriman State Park, which was one of my favorite sections. Even looking back I still really enjoyed this part. The climb up wasn't too bad, it was graded for civilians and once you gained elevation the walking was through open forest on large sheets of bedrock. This is the kind of terrain my dad   loves so much and I couldn't help thinking about him and g etting to see him in a few hours.I kept pushing on and just before I got to Seven Lakes Rd, my left Leki trekking pole came apart. The bottom third dropped out of the pole. I tried to pop it back in but the mechanism was stripped and shot. So I lashed the broken pole to my pack and moved on.The first thing I realized was how depentant I am on my poles. Even on flat terrain I still need them to propel myself forward. And even on small climbs I noticed myself straining. I have become a slave to the Leki's. I met a dude named Anchor at William Brien shelter and we talked for a while but I moved on, anxious to meet mom and dad. I basically ran up and over Black Mtn, stopping for exactly 37 seconds to enjoy the view, then on down the mountain to the Parkway. Crossing the Palisades Parkway was a treat. It took about 4 minutes to finally get clearance from southbound traffic. Yikes, people were moving.Once I crossed the SOBO lane I headed north towards the visitor center where Mom and Dad were to be waiting. It was only about .4 of a mile and I think I saw out champagne colored Ford Windstar from about .3 away. I cruised in, feet battered and beaten, a sweaty, grimy mess, and thirsty. My folks weren't in the van so I carried on and met them coming around the corner of the visitors center with an armload of maps. "Benjamin!" my mom cried out, it's amazing how fast her eyes can fill with tears. It was SO good to see them, I remember that much. Even writting this a month later makes me long for June 20 when I see them again. We talked for a while standing there and then realized we could accomplish this sitting in the van, so we boogied. It was great to take off my boots and just sit, in OUR van, with, MY parents.From there we successfully negotiated the necessary traffic circles and soon found ourselves at the Bear Mountain Bridge Motel in Fort Montgomery. Its a tiny little place but it had a shower so I was happy.After a nice clean-up we headed into West Point and did laundry there. Mom and dad took a walk while my clothes swirled and I read some gear magazines they brought. I soon fell into conversation with a young man who was attending West Point Military Academy, Zack was his name. He would like to do the trail someday and was very interersted in my hike. His career goals include being a helicopter pilot. Either Apaches or Blackhawks. Its hard to say who was more jealous of who.I was in need of new boots and new poles and Zack advised the best place is the EMS in the Palisades Mall.   So thats where the minivan headed after laundry was done. It took some creative driving on our part, mainly because we kept turing off the highway too early. There are lots of malls in the area but this is a big one, huge.I can't remember the girl's name who helped me, but I have it on the business card which went home with Mom and Dad. She was great. For boots I went with Garmonts, I am not sure the exact model. They were the first pair I tried on back in January but I didn't want to go with the first pair I tried on. I should have stuck with these in the first place. Light and plenty of gortex and they fit like a glove. Socks were the Smartwool Adreniline. Thin but a great sock, I still love them 550 miles later. The poles were replaced (warranty) with 2 brand news ones. Mint. We caught some grub from the food mart and then headed back to the motel. I packed somethings up and mis Padres and I made plans for tomorrow.