Date: 2004-04-27
From: Bear Mountain Bridge @ 8:00 a.m.

To: N. South Highland Rd
Miles today: 12.0

Date: 4/27/04 Day 1Start: Bear Mountain Bridge @ 8:00 a.m.; Stop 0.2 mi. N. South Highland Rd. @ 3:00Mileage on Trail: 12.0; cumulative: 0; off trail 0Weather: Sunny, warm, partly cloudy in afternoonMajor landmarks: Bear Mountain BridgeMajor Milestones: On the trail again.What a beautiful day to start a long distance hike. The sun was out; the sky was clear; fog filled the lowlands and clouds clung to the mountains, but the sun soon drove them away. Some different from the drive down from Williston yesterday¢rainy, cold, dreary.        Nancy and I drove down I-87, getting off at Newburg, NY, then heading south to Bear Mt. We made a stop at West Point, hoping to just drive through but you can¢t do that anymore. So, we spent a little time in their museum and then drove to Bear Mt. State Park, where we sat in the car and ate our sandwiches. While eating lunch, we noticed two hikers coming down off Bear Mt. in the rain and wondered where they were heading. The park was some different from the way it was when I arrived two years ago on my section hike. It was mid-July and the place was teeming with people, groups of kids in camp were all screaming, and the place was a dump with trash everywhere. Yesterday everything was clean and being prepared for this year¢s onslaught.        After lunch we drove over the Bear Mt. Bridge and drove back north to Hyde Park. We passed the CIA (that¢s the culinary institute) with its parking lots filled with cars and many new buildings going up. Then we toured Franklin Delano Roosevelt¢s homestead and presidential library and museum. Then it was off to the Eveready Diner for my final dinner before hitting the trail.        This morning we drove back down to the Bear Mt. Bridge and Nancy let me off on the East side of the Hudson. After saying our goodbyes, I started up the trail, making a steep ascent of the first mountain. I must say I was uncommonly nervous this morning, unsure of my capabilities and myself and a little concerned about the challenge ahead. But once I got going, that all disappeared and I was focused on what I was doing. I made pretty good time and, after about 3 hours, reached the road to Graymoor, priory home of many Franciscan monks about 6 miles from the bridge. Some of the buildings looked like huge dormitories looking up from the trail. (It was here that I met one of the hikers I had seen yesterday. A short time later I met up with his brother on the trail. This was their third day on the trail and they¢re heading to the NY/CT state line.) In the AT book, the priory advertised that during July and August they supplied dinner and a place to pitch a tent to the first 14 hikers to arrive each day. After I walked by the buildings, the trail became covered with flower petals, including rose petals, for about 12 mile. I came to a sign that read, ¢shrine¢ so I hiked up the path to a small wooden shed with glass doors honoring the Virgin Mary. Wild flower bouquets and the ground covered in rose petals indicated that there must have been a procession earlier in the day.        I soon began to tire and, though the trail was not that difficult, I found myself struggling up the hills. I had hoped to get in 14 miles today, although my original plan was to do a little over 8, I had moved up my start date a day to accommodate wedding plans and last night I realized that would put me into my first mail drop, Kent, CT, on Sunday. So I need to try to make up a day over the next four to get there Saturday morning. Anyway, I¢ve stopped early for the night, bone weary and sore. Here¢s hoping the legs hold up tomorrow.