Date: 2009-07-08
From: Vernon, NJ 

To: Wildcat Shelter, NEW YORK
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Cell goodOG notesIn the words of Billy Joel (almost),Some folks like to get away,Take a holiday from the neighborhood,Take a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood.I'm hiking the AT over the Hudson River,I'm in a New York State of mind."We hiked into our home state today; we'll be in NY about a week. In a few days we'll hike over the Hudson River on the Bear Mountain Bridge. We entered the state by climbing over a rock ridge. We spent a considerable amount of time hiking on rock ridges. Today they were fun and challanging, in 2006 I was in danger on them. The reason was today was hot and sunny. The rocks were dry and our boots had a lot of grip, the last time they were wet and slick. In 2006 I slipped and slide all over the place, and I fell a few times too. I had a lot of fun today.There were two places where we could see New York City. We're about 35 miles from there. What we were able to see was only the tallest buildings that stood above the mountain ridge in a distance.We have been enjoying retiring to our tent in the evenings. The mosquitos are one reason we like the tent and the privacy is the other. C6 reads her books and I listen to the radio.C6 notesClimbing the rocks today was fun. A mini version of rock climbing in some places. I say mini because the climbing stretches weren't long, but we did have to use our hands and actually climb the rocks in some places.We met some new folks today. They are faster hikers than we are, however, so we won't see them for long. At the shelter tonight are:"D.O.C." - He says it stands for Dude on Couch because he spent 7 months living on friend's couches before he started hiking the AT."Rocket" - A guy this time, but he got the trail name for the exact same reason one of the female Divas is called Rocket...they each do a lot of snot rockets."Brown Chicken" and "Brown Cow" - I don't know the meaning of their trail names."Seeker" - A female section hiker. She was thrilled to meet OG because she says his 2006 hike video was her inspiration to hike sections of the AT. She has watched the video MANY times, and it still brings tears to her eyes when she watches it. When she needs a pick me up, she watches the video. Cool! After she verified OG is the OG in that video, D.O.C. said he really likes the video, too. He didn't put 2 and 2 together before Seeker asked OG about the video. Today was an intense day because of the rock scrambles in the hot sun, but it was a very satisfying and fun day. I forgot to write about an experience we had yesterday when we were trying to get a ride into Vernon. A van pulled aside and stopped..usually a sign that the driver is willing to give us a ride. Something about this van seemed odd, so I cautiously approached the driver's window to ask if she had stopped to give us a ride into town. No...she had 4 teenaged girls with her who just wanted the woman to take a picture of them with us. We were standing in the rain, with our soaking wet ponchos on. The girls piled out of the van, giggling. They crowded next to us and held their thumbs out as if they were hitch hiking. The woman snapped a photo, then they all piled back in the van and drove off. We were not happy campers! Some strange things take place on the Appalachian Trail!Old Goat & Check Six