Date: 2016-05-30
From: William Brien Memorial Shelter

To: Tarrytown, NY, via US 9 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Rained hard last night, but with the new roof on the shelter, everything stayed pretty dry. The morning was foggy though, as I got up and putzed around trying to make as little noise as possible for the three other section hikers who weren't up by 7:30 as I was. I got a later start today because I had set up a meeting time of 11 o'clock on top of Bear Mtn with Ali and my dad! The trail did not let up on me as I passed my way over to the Hudson: still some serious ups and down, lots of craggy views across back to Harriman State Park and over to the cloudy summit of Bear Mountain. I hurried over the last few miles to the mountain because my father and Ali had been a little faster than planned, and I met them at the first crossing with Perkins drive, which climbs up and around the side of the mountain. I was so happy to see them and they both gave me hugs despite the fact that I was absolutely drenched in sweat. They kindly brought me water and snacks, too, and I unloaded some of my weight into the car so I could fly over the next miles without having to force them to wait for me too much. Bear mountain is an astounding piece of trail engineering, and the staircases going up and down are crazy impressive! I can't even fathom the amount of work it took to make them. I met up with dad and Ali again at the top of the mountain where we climbed the observation tower. Then Ali and I headed off together down the descent to the Hudson! It was the first time she's been on the AT with me! We climbed down the staircases, passing lots of families climbing up from the picnic area, which we descended towards, tortured by the smell of cooking burgers. The sun came out! We pulled through the playground and the picnic areas, which were absolutely packed with families all cooking together and hanging out, celebrating the holiday. My dad had found parking at the Bear Mountain Inn, so we stopped in for lunch there! We all got chicken parm sandwiches. My dad had just met and offered supplies and help to a section hiker who seems to have gotten a bad case of heat exhaustion and could barely walk anymore, and was getting out. Yeesh. Ali and I said goodbye to my dad again while he drove across the river. We made our way through the zoo that the AT peculiarly walks right through before crossing the Hudson. I enjoyed the fact that the Reptile Room closed at 4:20. Right as we started crossing the bridge, dad came up from the other side. It was hot and exposed up on the bridge and we went over pretty quick, but still got the necessary pictures. We made our way over to the car, where I left Ali and dad to go do some more miles. They met me about a third of the way through with a Dunkin smoothie, which hit the spot on the hot hot day. They then picked me up at Route 9 in Graymoor, and we all went down to Tarrytown, where we were met my by mom and my aunt and cousin Isaac! I showered and put in a load of laundry. We all headed out for a lovely dinner, and Ali and I hung out for a while before she had to go back to Connecticut with my mom. (She has school tomorrow.) My dad and I got ready for bed and made plans for the morning. Another hot night to follow the hot day.