Date: 2015-10-03
From: Coming down Shenandoah Mtn.

To: US 9 ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Peekskill
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Last day of a hike is always sad. This one was worse because, after raining all night, there was rain off & on all morning. And nearly 50 degrees colder than when I hiked the next part of NY a month ago. I started out in my usual hiking outfit: shorts & T-shirt, plus a light jacket. Usually, that's enough: once I get warmed up, I take the jacket off. Not today. About 1:00, I stopped at to get water at Dennytown Road, where a big sign-board provided some shelter. I put on my rain pants, the hoody that I usually wear for sleeping, plus the sweater I reserve for extra cold nights. With the windbreaker, that worked pretty well for a half hour or so. Then the wind decreased, the rain was finally done, & the temperature must have gotten a little warmer. I had to stop to take the sweater off. This would have been a good day to have had my 2-pounds-heavier jacket ¢ warmer, with pockets besides [neither piece of outer clothing today had any]. I had been thinking about trail magic ¢ how nobody thinks about that this time of year, when only about one hiker a day is going past. Also, I certainly shouldn't expect any in such miserable weather. While I was changing my clothes, a couple drove up in a luxury car to go for a short hike in their very expensive-looking hiking clothes. They asked about my hike & whether I had enough food. I said I did, but they gave me a blueberry turnover & 2 apples anyway. Nice!Up & down a lot of hills again today. Of course they are not as high as most I've done previously, so my attitude is different: it's all just part of getting there.   For a distance, whoever does the blaze painting was also painting rocks thought to be particulary dangerous. Might be helpful, but where do you stop with that? I'd rather have him or her painting more blazes in some other section.I actually had my pack hit by a falling acorn, & one landed next to my foot. The main problem with them, however, is when they are like walking on ball bearings!Poison ivy!!! Ever since I entered NY, that has been a major feature of the landscape ¢ even in some of the more mature forest areas. It lurks under some of the taller weeds along the Trail & while you are watching those, it reaches out at face height from vines on trees! It's pretty easy to spot now because it's changing color: yellow or pink, but not quite as bright as Virginia Creeper. Still, its ubiquity reminds me of Georgia.I wanted to spend the night at the Graymoor Franciscan Center, but first I had to do the additional 3/4 mile down US 9 to complete the section. Of course, then I stopped at the Appalachian Market to get a sandwich for supper & some stuff for breakfast. Then back up thru the poison ivy to the ball field where they let hikers camp.No one was there, so I set up my tent in the picnic shelter [not wanting it to get wet just before traveling]. The wind helped dry it off from this morning, but that made it seem like a very cold night. I even prepared to use the space blanket. Graymoor is one of only a few places that I have stopped at 3 times on 3 different hikes: 2001, 2013. & 2015 [The only others I can think of are Pleasant Pond & Hall Mtn Lean-tos in Maine & Stony Brook Shelter in Vermont].