Date: 2014-07-10
From: Telephone Pioneers Shelter

To: Clarence Fahenstock State Park
Miles today: 21.8

2014 ¢ Day 9 (07/10/2014) Telephone Pioneers Shelter to Clarence Fahenstock State ParkDaily Mileage: 21.8 miles on AT + 0.6 mile road walk to deli for lunch + 0.5 miles to campsite in state parkHours on trail: 6:15 AM to 8:00 PM = 13:45 hoursSpeed including breaks: 1.67 mphWeather: Mostly sunny, hot, occasional breezeI slept well. No rain during the night.I decided that I needed to get off the trail at Bear Mountain Bridge, rather than continuing another 110 miles to Delaware Watergap. The blisters on the bottom of my left foot have healed nicely, but the bottom of the right foot is in tough shape. The blister is very deep and is beneath the 1/16-in. thick callous just behind the second toe. The thick callous has come off. The underlying skin is red and painful. Eventhough I¢m protecting it with padding and tape at the beginning of each day, it will not get better if I keep walking on it. Thus, I¢ll make arrangements to get off the trail from Fort Montgomery, NY.I was up at 4:30 AM and on the trail at 6:15 AM. As I was eating breakfast, the sun was rising. It was very peaceful. It was also great to be out on the trail in the early morning with comfortable temperatures. This is my favorite time of day. Not long after getting on the trail there was a viewpoint looking east back into the valley.The trail was easy. It went by Nuclear Lake which was beautiful in the morning light. Not long after crossing Rt. 55 in West Pauling, NY I began to hear booming off in the distance. I encountered a nobo hiker who has heard the same booming since crossing the Bear Mountain Bridge. What could this be? Could this be live fire exercises at West Point? Great blackberries just south of Morgan Stewart Shelter. There was an abandoned tent at the shelter???? Later I passed two hikers who said they were sobos but were hiking back north to retrieve their tent. The logic lead to this hiking plan escapes me.I crossed I-84. The trail paralleled this interstate and then the Taconic State Parkway for many miles, so traffic noise was annoyingly in the background. I stopped for lunch at the Mountaintop Deli 0.3 miles from where the trail crosses Rt. 52 near Storm Mountain. I had a turkey sub. It was outstanding. I highly recommend the short detour to this deli. On the way I passed a batch plant where Quikrete and related products are blended. In total the lunch break and detour took an hour, but it was well worth it. Gravity was also at the deli. He is also getting off the trail for a few days because of his feet.Several miles of the afternoon walk was on a steep sidehill that required a lot of rock scrambling. By late afternoon I cross the Taconic State Parkway and shortly thereafter, passed the RPH Shelter. Gravity was going to stay here for the night and the shelter looked excellent, however, I decided to press on. In total it was a 1,000 ft climb from the shelter to the top of Shenandoah Mountain where I was treated to some fine views. After this it was relatively easy hiking to Clarence Fahenstock State Park. At 7:30 PM, I arrived at the turnoff for the green blazed trail that would take me to the park. The early part of this sidetrail was not all that well marked, but soon joined a section that is being completely rebuilt. When done, this will be a superhighway (or at least a super-trail) into the park. The trail took me to the beach. This end of the lake had a lot of aquatic plant growth - kind of yucky. No selfrespecting Mainer would swim in such a lake, but I guess that New Yorkers have to take what they can get.If I had been one minute earlier I could have flagged down a maintenance truck for directions to the campsite, but the truck speed off just before I emerged from the woods. I wandered around a little and I couldn¢t even figure out how to get off the deserted beach. So I hoped for a cell signal ¢ yes, a strong cell signal! I called the park office. The ranger gave me directions off the beach. This brought me to a four-corner intersection. It appeared to be straight ahead for the campground, but to be sure I called the office again. Straight ahead was the right track and this brought me to the free AT campsites. Two were open. All three abutted the Taconic State Parkway, so there was no getting away from traffic noises. In total, the campsite must have been 0.5 mile or more from the trail. At this point I was truly beat. The bottom of both my feet hurt from being pounded on for nearly 23 miles. The payoff was a hot shower. This sure felt great.After a quick dinner, I went to sleep in my tent. Oh yes, one more step ¢ I put in earplugs to deaden the traffic noise. No rain today.