Date: 2018-06-24
From: Stealth in Harriman State Park mile 1387.4

To: Stealth near Palisades Parkway mile 1397.2
Miles today: 9.8

AT - 6/24 Day 54. Dangerous Road Crossings More on road crossings in a minute. We woke this morning to heavy fog. We figured out it wasn¢t rain last night but fog moving in and condensing on the leaves of trees then falling lightly on our tarps. It went on all night. Now I understand the tundra. It must be foggy here most evenings up above the lake. Everything felt damp; not wet but damp. That¢s the way it is on the trail. You learn to live with what you are given. A cool morning hike before the sun broke through. Our first water of the day was a a lake picnic area called Tiorati Circle. It was about 3 miles on the trail and we had another source later in the day. That was a relief to know water wasn¢t going to be that bad. We made it to Tiorati Circle by 10:00. The app says they have a picnic area with restrooms, a snack bar, beach, showers and water spigots. Sounded great. When we got there, they were holding a bicycle race and cars were pour into the picnic grounds like it was Disneyworld. We found out the concessions and showers weren¢t open until 11. We decided to use the picnic area to make a snack and just wash up in the restrooms. This area is still within the Harriman State Park. I¢m not sure just how much of the park has the AT in it¢s boundaries; but you can kind of tell the trail is just a bit nicer. Our second stop for water was at a visitor center on the Palisades Parkway. It was described as being in the median of the parkway and it has a water spigot, restrooms, and vending machines. Well we get to the road and have to cross 2 lanes of speeding cars headed Southbound to get to the median. Then we had to walk a half a mile along the median to get to what most of us would call a roadside rest. There is a map of New York showing you where you are. This Palisades Parkway is also known as the New York Through Way. So the AT crosses 2 lanes of speeding New Yorkers heading South and then crosses 2 more lanes of speeding New Yorkers heading North. This is Sunday late afternoon, so I don¢t know what it looks like any other day or time. We spent a long time watching cars whiz by to get the timing of a break in traffic in order to cross the first 2 lanes of traffic. What is crazy is they don¢t see the danger. There are multiple hiking paths that cross this road. In the median we met a couple of young men who had a map of local hiking trails and we discussed where the Visitors Center might be. And hiking along the median a car honked at us like we were crazy walking along the road. I don¢t think anyone knows there are hiking trails that cross the road. And when you get to the Visitor Center there was a sign on the door saying the restroom was out of order. So many people pulled in there just for the restroom. They were all pretty mad. Well we made it across the Parkway in one piece. When we cross roads like that we always say, ¢Turtles crossing the road .¢ I¢m sure that is what we look like. You can¢t run very fast with a backpack on. Stealth camping again tonight. We got dinner done and got in bed in the nick of time. A thunderstorm broke out just as we settled in. We got caught in a small thunderstorm earlier in the afternoon. I thought that was all we would get; but as I type this report the rain is coming down hard. Tomorrow we will make it to Fort Montgomery to pick up another mailed box. It will be 5 days since our last motel stay. We will get there early enough to get laundry done and have a nice dinner. I love the hotel stays. Ascent Descent PS: Near where we were camping there was an outdoor event center hosting an event. They blasted techno-dance club music until midnight or 1 am. Didn¢t get much sleep last night. ~ Desert Rose