Date: 2006-10-04
From: Fort Montgomery, NY

To: S. of Arden Valley Rd, NY
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: few clouds

13.2 miles todayTentingS of Arden Valley Rd, NYThis was another great day. :-)))I woke up and Yolanda had coffee made already. She is a good hiking partner.I drank that, then got ready and went downstairs to the continental breakfast at the motel.I wanted to use the computer, but a guy was already using it, so I took a couple cups of coffee back to the room and finished writing a few emails.I repacked all my stuff and found another pebble in my pack. I'm not sure how they are all getting in there. I'm sure Yolanda would never be that mean to me.When I went back downstairs, the computer room was empty, so I uploaded two journal entries and checked my other email.It was nice not being in a hurry to leave. I wanted to eat lunch on the way back to the Trail, so I watched the Weather Channel while Yolanda did laundry.It was getting near noon, so we checked out and stopped at a very good deli. I got some soup and couple hotdogs for lunch. I also ordered a roast beef hoagie to pack out for dinner. That hoagie must have weighed a couple pounds...it was loaded with roast beef.We walked out of town and started climbing Bear Mountain after walking by the lake.Bear Mountain was 1,000 of climbing. When we got up there, I was wet from sweating, so we sat down on a bench to dry off.Yolanda called Marsha, but lost service before they were done talking.It's a warm, humid day, but tomorrow isn't supposed to be more than 60 degrees. :-)))We headed on down that mountain, then climbed West Mountain. I was soaked again when we got to that summit, so we sat on the edge of the cliff and let the wind dry us off for about 20 minutes. We could see Palisades Parkway below.We walked down West Mountain. I found a nice little stream about half way down and drank lots of water and packed out 3 litres. It's a drier area that we're walking through, so I figured it's easier just to carry my water.We finished walking down the mountain, crossed Beechy Bottom Brook, then made our way safely across Palisades Parkway. It was rush hour and lots of speeding cars were leaving NY City.We had another short, but steep climb up Black Mountain.I saw a couple deer that hopped off just 30 yards away, then watched us walk by.We got to William Brien Memorial Shelter and sat down to eat dinner. Yolanda had a ham sandwich and I ate that whole roast beef sandwich. It took me a while, but I ate the whole thing. :-)))Yolanda has been watching for ticks because we've had a few on us. She checked the back of my legs out and found one imbedded. She got a Q-Tip out and dabbed it with soap and went in a counter clockwise, circular motion until the bugger let loose.Yolanda told me that Mrs Moosie had just told her about that trick. Thanks to both of you....that might just have saved me from getting Lyme again.We walked on and crossed Seven Lakes Dr, then from Arden Valley Rd, we walked down to Tiorati Circle. There was a coke machine there, but even though it was still hooked up, it was empty. :-(((They just re-did the restrooms and there's hot water, so we both took bandana baths before walking on.That felt great because of all the sweating I did today.It started sprinkling and was already dark out, so we walked by the water tower, but didn't see enough room for a couple tents. I walked on up to the summit of a small hill and found some spots.I could see a couple eyes staring back at me from the woods when I shined my light over that way. A couple deer were wondering what we were doing out at night. :-)))We set up in lite rain. It's supposed to rain tonight and get cooler tomorrow....I'm ready for that!!The leaves are getting lots of color to them now. It looks like some trees are on fire when you walk by.I forgot to mention in yesterday's journal about walking along and seeing a snake in the middle of the Trail. At first glance, he looked like someone had crushed his head, but it turned out he was eating a frog and just about had it all in his mouth.I got my camera out and took a picture of it. It started to regurgitate, so I figured I'd seen all I wanted to and I walked on.I'm at 107 in THE LEAF CATCHING GAME!! Way ahead of anyone else. :-))) I may have only caught one leaf today, but I was only in the woods for half a day.Goosebump The Snow Princess, my good friend, heard that my transcriber flew the coop for a couple weeks, so she said she'd be happy to take over for now....thanks Goosebump The Snow Princess!!! I'll give you one free leaf catch for each journal entry you upload. :-)))