Date: 2003-06-17
From: Hudson River, Bear Mtn Bridge 

To: Chapman Rd 
Miles today: 9.1

Aloha! How are you? I'm great myself. It's been an absolutely lovely day of hiking. Monya and I are practicing to the utmost the art of meandering. Better than that, we're in the rambling stage. (Rambling is the English version of hiking without the exertion or sweat!)   It's a good day in my world for sure!   We started our day with another tasty egg and cheese bagel. That place is getting to know me now. It was during breakfast that I decided to not wait until 10a to hike the blazes through the zoo. You can count on it that I will be back to walk those blazes before I arrive back in Virginia but for now I will accept the secondary white blazes and move on.   Besides, I may actually then see a bear and we certainly wouldn't want that to happen now would we! With my decision made, the hotel proprietor was kind enough to shuttle us to the Bear Mountain Bridge where I left off yesterday. Very kind of him.   Saved us a 1.5-mile hike.   The Bear Mountain Bridge was built in 1923-24 at a cost of a mere 45 million and crosses the Hudson River. When Earl Shaffer arrived at the bridge in 1948 he had to pay a nickel to cross it. Today, only vehicles must pay. We strutted our stuff and waved at the "stuck in traffic" folks all the way across it.   (tee hee!)   We really did meander and ramble today. Slowly UP the mountain and slowly back down the other side. It was truly delightful walking for a short, resting for a bit, walking a bit more, and then resting for even longer. We may not have gotten very far in the end but we enjoyed ourselves to the utmost.   In our meanderings we met up with several other hikers along the way. Here was Hmmm, a southbound gal that gained her name by only being able to say Hmmm when talked to at the beginning of the hike, and Caddis whom I met two nights earlier. We also met Sparky, another south bounder.   As always it was fun chatting with the new faces. Each with a tale to tell.   What Monya and I both find funny is that each south bounder talks to the north bounders of the mountains to climb as if they've not already walked 1400 miles across them. It's entertaining actually. Can't wait to get further north where the majority of the south bounders are now.   I understand they start telling the north bounders (at 1800 miles) what kind of gear they should carry! This will be fun.   Our lunch break was at the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center (formerly Graymoor Monastery). The Center is the home of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and the birthplace of the Christian Unity movement. Thru-hikers have been welcomed to stay overnight there for decades.   The brothers have kindly offered their ball field as a campsite and shelter and included water, cold showers, a privy, and a covered picnic pavilion. In July and August, any hiker in residence by a certain time is treated to dinner. In our case we found fresh KFC chicken, homemade hot wings, green beans with onions, and rolls awaiting us.   Very tasty! If I keep this up I'll never get rid of all this pack weight! It was a peaceful place to have lunch and greatly appreciated.   Near the end of hike, Monya and I were standing in a road debating asking home if we could camp in a tucked away corner of their yard or humping the next mountain to a vista and hope for a camping spot. While we were debating our choices along came ...Barbie!   Our best trail angel ever.   Barbie not only offered us a lovely place to set up our tents in her perfectly landscaped yard but brought out glasses of wine, had us join the family on the deck by the pool, and served grilled salmon and chicken with a fresh salad for dinner. Followed with coffee of course.   At no time would she accept our offer to help with anything. This woman is a saint! She'll never really know how grateful these two hikers are of her hospitality. She, and the family, were awesome! Mahalo Camp Barbie!   That's really about all there is to tell about today's hike. I'm absolutely stuffed to the gills, am as happy as can be, and it's beginning to rain. It's the perfect way to end today's entry. I don't know but I'm betting that you're wishing you were me about now.   I know I am!BSandTs: not when meandering!AandPs: nopeMandGs: you gotta be kidding!Critter count: 1x tiny toad, 5x chipmunks, 1x black snake (3-3.5'), 1x turkey, 1x deer (from the deck overlooking the pool and lawn.. ahhhh)