Date: 2016-07-24
From: West Mountain Shelter

To: The Catskills
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up at 7:30 to views of New York City. The group of campers that were there from the night before were up early for the sunrise and we're kind of noisy. I did wake up at 5:15 and went back to bed. I finally got up and packed and on trail by 8am. I was meeting Lourdes at 10am on the summit of Bear Mt. She follows my journal on here as well as my Facebook page of "Moe Hikes the Appalachian Trail". I walked the .60 miles back to the AT and followed the ridge of West Mt to views of bear mountain. I descended down and across a road to begin the ascent of Bear Mt. The New York New Jersey Trail Conference had done a lot of work on the AT in Bear Mt putting in many stone steps to help prevent erosion. The stonework was beautiful as I began my ascent. At one point the AT followed the old auto road up the mountain that has been abandoned. It then branched off and began climbing via more stone steps. I reached several rock ledges with views south to West Mt. The trail crossed more rock ledges as it wound its way up to the summit. On top of Bear Mt there is a tower that gives great panoramic views. On the south side of the tower I met up with Lourdes and her husband and two other hikers. She brought me a turkey sub, fruit and angry orchard. Wohoooooo talk about a mini party on the summit. We sat and ate and talked about my adventures. After about an hour we all walked down from Bear Mt together to the parking area. I reloaded up on water the Lourdes had in the car and thanked and hugged her. It so wonderful to have all this support as I head north. After I parted ways Jeff and Doug were on their way to meet up with me. Cell service was spotty so we had a hard time communicating. The last text I received they said the parking lot for Bear Mt was full after I told them I was standing at the inn. I continued walking north but they had parked and walked to the inn. However our texts to one another were not going through. Finally Jeff was able to call and he said stay where you are and I will walk to you. At this point I was in the Bear Mt zoo and the trail walks right through the zoo. I sat on a bench and Jeff found me. Doug drove the car from the parking area and went over the Hudson River via the Bear Mt bridge and parked where the AT goes back into the woods. He walked towards us while Jeff and I walked over the bridge. I passed the lowest point on the AT. It was a super hot day at this point. We reached Doug's car and I swapped to my mini pack so I could slack pack while Jeff walked with me. Jeff and I walked up Anthony's nose while Doug moved the car ahead and walked in to meet us. Jeff and I walked up to the ridge and then took a side trail out to Anthony's nose which gave views of the bridge and the Hudson River. We headed back and meet up with Doug and walked back to the car. I decided to head home for the night and take a zero. I wanted to see family, the dogs and the two cats. I also wanted to head to LL Bean to swap out my pack which was definitely worn. We headed to the Catskills and had a BBQ at Jeff's parents house. Seeing the cats and Sandy was pretty emotional as it had been almost 4 months away. Dinner was fantastic and it was nice to relax. Monday's forecast was for heat index to be near 100 and severe thunderstorms so it was probably a good day to take a zero. Some updates on my trail family and familiar names you all know. Luigi and her clan have entered Pennsylvania and reached the 1/2 point and did the half gallon challenge recently. They are about to get into the heavy rock zone. The royal couple last I heard were in Branchville New Jersey at a pub. Dragon Head is currently only 3 miles behind me so I hope to catch up with him tomorrow. Gasket is back on trail after going home for 4th of July and is in Penn at Eckville shelter. Ompi is still at home in southwest Florida still figuring out health issues with his partner. Otter is also at home in Aiken SC doing physical therapy for his knee and back. I'm hoping to have more familiar faces catch up to me soon.