Date: 2006-06-18
From: William Brien Memorial Shelter

To: US9/NY403 Peekskill NY
Miles today: 14.7

My definition of a ¢Purist¢ is someone who hikes the entire AT continuously in one direction (without ¢leaving¢ the Trail) with a full pack on¢¦making sure he/she walks every inch of the footpath from Springer to Kahtadin or visa versa. I emphasize this is my definition.The absolute ridiculous extreme would be someone who does it barefoot in a loin cloth (made from an animal personally killed with a spear¢¦(spearhead being an arrowhead carved from a rock from Springer) living off the land (hunts and fishes)¢¦sleeping on the bare ground or in caves¢¦and uses no modern conveniences like down sleeping bags and water treatment. Town visits are limited to only the ones directly on the AT¢¦and here, you are only permitted to stop to take a short break. You are allowed to talk to others, but cannot call home. Money is forbidden and all purchases including food must be bartered¢¦most likely from animals killed along the way. (eg a bear rug).Why do I bring this up at this time? Well, you may have noticed that I¢ve been swaying a bit in the other direction lately¢¦dining out a lot...and staying in motels with AC¢¦like tonight. I¢m not apologizing¢¦the Golden Rule out here is ¢Hike Your Own Hike.¢The ten mile hike into Bear Mountain NY was already hot and sweaty even though I got up and left at daybreak. Being Sunday, the park there was filled with hundreds of family picnickers. How can I say this without being racist and insensitive¢¦"uhh, you could count the number of white people there on Max Cleland's fingers.¢ I now understand why everything is in two languages these days. In ¢03 a Trail Angel was there to greet us and shuttle us around town to the restaurant, motel and the coin laundry¢¦not today. I stopped at the concession stand and spent an hour or so relaxing in the shade and eating very expensive food and drinks. There was free entertainment¢¦one fellow was trying to return a box of eight sandwiches because there was no lettuce and tomato on one of his $5 chicken sandwiches¢¦understandably they would not take it back and the argument was still going on when I left a half hour later.The Inn at Bear Mountain was still under renovation (been going on for several years?) or I would have stopped there for the day. I didn¢t feel like hitching into Fort Montgomery where I stayed in ¢03.After crossing The Hudson River, the eight hundred feet or so climb was not pretty¢¦sweat was pouring off me in buckets. The heat was sweltering today¢¦more so than yesterday as it had been building everyday for the past few days. Hence today was filled with many breaks. Buttercup said he was planning to stay up the Trail fifteen miles or so at the Graymoor Friary athletic field where free cold showers are provided. Starting out, I honestly had planned to do the same.   But, when I got to where the Trail crosses US9, I said to myself, if I get a ride right away I¢ll go into Peekskill and get a room. My rationalization was I did not visit the town in ¢03 and it would be a new experience¢¦yeah right.I did get a ride immediately from this cool dude about my age named Dick in an old beat up pick-up truck labeled ¢Sanford and Son.¢ Dick politely offered me a cold beer (he was only on his second one) as he patiently shuttled me around the town of Peekskill. I declined as I was already extremely dehydrated but politely returned the favor when I warned him of a police car up ahead. ¢No, Thank YOU Dick.¢The only place we found was the Peekskill Inn¢¦and it was expensive¢¦I stayed anyway.   The soda machine was out of order so I got a two dollar Coke from the bar. When I went to eat in the dining room, they asked me to come back in a half hour as they were busy, not with a lot of customers, but a private party taking up all of two tables. I went back to my room and ordered out Chinese which turned out to be an outstanding decision.(Note my camera batteries have died and the pictures posted the next few days are from earlier days this section. Notice that the picture today is from my last stealth tent site reminding you I do tent in the wilderness from time to time)