Date: 2006-10-05
From: S. of Arden Valley Rd, NY

To: Mt Peter, NY
Miles today: 18.3

18.3 miles todayTentingMt Peter, NYThere was lots of rain and some thunder last night. I slept great, but the outside of my tent was wet this morning, so it got packed wet.I had 8 chocolate mini donuts and 10 chocolate expresso beans for breakfast.I was also a little later waking up this morning...about 6am and I didn't start walking until about 7:20am.It cooled down nicely overnight. The walk this morning started out at about 50 degrees and it probably never got much higher than that. It was mostly cloudy early, but turned to mostly sunny before long and stayed that way all day.Yolanda and I walked by the side trail to Fingerboard Shelter without stopping.There were lots of geese flying around making their honking noises. I actually got tired of hearing so many of them, but Yolanda reminded me that they were just happy to be heading south. :-)))The trees are getting very beautiful with mostly the yellows and bright, flame orange colors right now. Once in a while, I'll come across a tree with red leaves.We climbed Surebridge Mountain, then Island Pond Mountain.Yolanda had cell coverage, so I called Goosebump The Snow Princess to see if she could transcribe for me for a couple weeks (she offered in an email yeaterday). She said she would be glad to take care of me. :-)))We walked on and in a few minutes, we came to the Lemon Squeezer. That's a tight squeeze between some rocks to get through and for some reason, it seemed tighter this year. :-)))We descended that area, then climbed Green Pond Mountain before heading down to Arden Valley where we crossed the NY Thruway, then got to NY Rt 17.There's a payphone there, so I sent in a journal entry and put Goosebump The Snow Princess to work uploading it. :-)))From NY Rt 17, we climbed a steep area called Agony Grind up to Arden Mountain. That climb got me sweating even on a cool day like today.We passed by Orange Turnpike, then E Mombasha Rd, then climbed to the summit of Buchanan Mountain.I saw two deer take off through the forest. They didn't let me get any closer than about 60 yards.We walked by W Mombasha Rd, then climbed to Mombasha High Point. We took a break and ate lunch there. You are supposed to be able to see NY City from there, but I couldn't find it. We walked on after about 30 minutes.We had run into three girls out for a few days earlier, then we ran into three section hikers that are this far north on the Trail. They called their group, The Trekkers.They told us about a guy that said he saw five bears just ahead of where we were heading to for the night.We walked on and came to Fitzgerald Falls. They were flowing nicely this year. We got a few pictures, then climbed the next mountain up to where Wildcat Shelter is. We passed by that without stopping.My right heel was hurting again today, so I was concentrating more on Rt 17A and the ice cream at Bellvale Creamery. I needed comfort food. :-)))We walked over Cat Rocks, then Eastern Pinnacles before finally getting to Rt 17A.I showed Yolanda where the phone was on a telephone post. You can make local calls for free or long distance calls with a calling card from there.I checked email and see that Goosebump The Snow Princess is tied with Yolanda at one leaf apeice. :-)))We walked up to the creamery and we both ordered an ice cream sundae.I sat and looked through the hikers register that was there and saw lots of names I remember from past years...even Goosebump and Rainbow Slick's.It was nice and warm inside where we ate the ice cream at. When we walked outside, we were both shivering...I really do like the cooler weather.We got water and walked on another mile before finding a nice site to set up the tents.I ate a few snacks, but was ready to climb into my sleeping bag for the night.I didn't catch any leaves today. I was concentrating more on where I put my foot down, so I would make my heel any worse. I'm sure someone out there feels sorry for me....I don't get any sympathy from Yolanda. :-(((