Date: 2012-06-26
From: Fingerboard Shelter

To: Fort Montgomery, NY
Miles today: 15.6

i knew today was going to be a town day, even if i wasn't sure where I was going to be. But very much like christmas morning for kids, my internal clock knew it was a big day and woke me up early. i was packed up and on the trail before 7. there were a lot of very pretty forest meadows, continuing the trend in wonderful, soul reviving landscapes. and i had a very special moment in one of them when i happened to look to my right and saw a young buck settled into the grass, chewing his cud and watching me. only 30 ft away, he showed no fear and sort of watched me with idle curiosity as i whipped out my camera andy started taking pictures. his fur was so red and he still had fuzzy antlers. there was another impressive 6 pointer behind him just visible over a log. he lifted his head to look at me too. so cool.by the time I'd done a few miles, I could really feel all the built up weariness and brokenness in my body and pretty much decided i would try to find a hotel where i could use some free nights points and take a zero tomorrow. with that carrot dangling ahead of me, the next few big climbs were easier to take. At the top of one of these was a fantastic view of the NYC skyline, large in the distance, it's towers clearly distinguishable. I sat here for a long while soaking in the strange contradiction of being surrounded by apparent wilderness with such a major urban center so close. A few more big mountains were all that stood between my and the comforts of town, the last was Bear mountain. it was a climb, but I've had worse and toward the top we hit the heavily trafficked tourist area so the trail became manicured, wide, with big steps and graded slopes. ahhh this is nice. I will give NY credit for being an incredibly hiker friendly state. so many people will honk at you in their cars giving you thumbs up and at the top of this climb random strangers would call out things like, "yeah AT hiker! keep going, all the way to Maine". "you go girl!" ha, it made me smile. the new trill down the other side was a set of granite staircases that must have taken an incredible amount of time and effort to build. So impressive trail volunteers! It felt weird going down the steps though, my muscles simply are not used to the repetitive even motion of them. I was moving quite quickly though as I wanted as much town time as I could tonight. the trail let out on a very populated park area with a pond and swimming pool. i was getting some strange looks down here as this was apparently something they don't see every day. the trail winds through bear mountain zoo which was.....depressing. normally I love zoo, understand their purpose and goals. but this one. having been in the woods for the last few months seeing most of the creatures here free and wild, living as they were intended to live and comparing that with the small, cages, and trapped behavior of the animals was upsetting. the porcupines were pacing back and forth along their small 6 by 6 cage right next to the bored coyotes and fox, all in small enclosures of slab concrete and chain link fence. in fact you could see all the animals because every one of their habitats were designed to give them no where to escape to or hide, no peace from the tapping children and crowds. I walked as quickly as I could through the park as it was simply way too weird and depressing. Hotel tonight, clean body, clean clothes, and hopefully a recharged mind. ahhh the magical moving picture box is mesmerizing. Naps, naps are a wonderful thing.