Date: 2009-10-22
From: 17 (Southfields)

To: Arden Valley Road
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up at 5:30 and dressed and ate and was out the door of my motel room walking in the dark with my headlamp for a block or so to a gas station and food mart. The cars were zipping along on the highway and I really did not want to walk in the dark on the edge of the road and risk being a statistic. I bought some orange juice at the food mart and drank it while eyeing the customers. It is illegal to hitch hike in New York but I hoped that did not apply to asking for rides in the store. The third or maybe it was the fourth person I asked consented to give me a ride up the hill for two miles to the trail. Thank you, trail angel. I never got your name but you surely have my thanks. So, I was on the trail at 6:55 and very happy not to have walked the road walk. Actually the trail was a road walk briefly and I took a picture of cars with their headlights on zooming under me as I walked over the interstate. It was cold to begin with and I wore my gloves although not my jacket. I was sure climbing up a few hundred feet of mountain would warm my core and it did. The dark lightened into daylight to reveal a golden yellow forest. I thought my hike in Virginia and West Verginia and Maryland was beautiful last fall but the leaves are even more gorgeous here in New York. This week, this day, must be close to the peak of color. There are accents of green in a few trees slow to change or in evergreen Hemlocks. But many places not even that broke the view of yellow, especially in the early morning. I went up and down the mountains of the morning: Green Pond Mountain, Island Pond Mountain, Surebridge Mountain and Fingerboard Mountain. This section contains the Lemon Squeezer, a narrow cleft in the rock. My day pack even bumped the sides. A full pack usually has to be taken off. Interesting. One amazing thing to me that I had not expected in New York is the number of lakes. It seems like there are nearly as many lakes as Maine. Perhaps I have seen more as I have also driven around a bit with Sara and the boys as well as hiking. But even on yesterday and today's hike I passed 6. I was going to use the facilities to do my business at Fingerboard shelter but there were none. That seems strange for a place near to such popultion centers. Although I saw only one hiker early in the day, there are quite a few hikers here. I can't be the only one who has to dispose of human waste while hiking. At any rate I dug my hole in the woods and made my deposit, knowing that the rest rooms at Tiorati Circle had already been closed for the winter. Today was anything but winter, probably the last really warm day of the year but it was a beauty, up to 70 degrees. Fingerboard mountain had a different color scheme that Green Pond Mountain and Island Mountain. It was covered mainly with oaks (dun colored leaves) although one bright red Maple stood out in beauty. But the ground cover was Barberry, I think. And it was a dark red that sparkled in the sun. This was my last hike on the AT for the year and mother nature surely had outdone herself with glorious color. I reached the road, said goodby to the AT and headed down to Tiorati Circle. Sara and the boys met me there for a picnic. Four year old William delighted in the rocks to climb by our picnic table, Two and a half year old Matthew found sticks in the forest to play with and Baby Nathan raised his teething cookie in a fist in a baby power salute to the day. Sara and I enjoyed the boys and the day. It was a lovely end to my hike. So now this year's PCT and AT hikes are completed. Next year I plan to do Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts in the spring and Northern California in the late summer/fall. I will sneak in another 100 miles or so in Oregon in July. I am so grateful I continue to be able to hike, even if slowly. What a joy it is to be able to be on the trail. And life is VERY GOOD!