Date: 2013-07-27
From: Stealth camp at Bear Mountain

To: Stealth camp near stream
Miles today: 15.4

I slept well last night. I headed out by 8:00 a.m. The sun was bright and high in the sky, but the horizon was hazy and the City was blocked out. I was glad I was to see it last night. The trail down the mountain was beautifully built and maintained, but there were about a thousand steps. Even though it was early in the day, my knees were killing me by the time I got down to Lake Hessian. I had never heard of the lake before, but I imagined it would be similar to all the others. I was wrong. It was a major tourist destination. It was barely 9:00 a.m., and it was swarming with people, with more pouring in from the parking lot. The picnic tables were all claimed, covered with table cloths food and music. I had hoped to get breakfast, but none of the concessions opened until 11. I wasn't willing to wait that long. So I worked my way through the crowds. It was a true cultural melting pot. I got to the zoo, but it was still closed. It opened at 10 a.m., so I bought a ice cream from the vending machine and sat down on a bench right outside the gates. Other tourists would come up and ask me questions about the zoo. Suddenly I realized, they thought I worked there and was waiting for the cue to unlock the gates. I told them, no, I was a visitor just like the rest of them. Finally, the gates opened, and I walked through. It made me a little sad. Animals in cages typically do. Some of the animals had been raised in captivity, some had been brought there injured and unable to be released into the wild, and some were able-bodied zoo animals plain and simple. I walked through all the exhibits and stood at the bears' den. Two big bears seemed unaffected by the visitors but were genuinely annoyed by the crowd of vultures and huddled on their rocks. I didn't blame them for being annoyed.The trail crossed the brown waters of the Hudson river, and on the other side was the 1400 mile mark. Woohoo! I was saddened by the amount of garbage tucked into ever location but garbage receptacles. You could tell the area was heavily trafficked by people who weren't used to being laden for long with their own waste. It was disappointing. I also found that the trail wasn't very well marked, especially given its popularity. I took a wrong turn and walked up an unnecessary hill. I didn't like that too much. Fortunately, the trail soon made it up to me.I found myself of deli alley. For the next day or so the trail would cross roads with delis either right at the crossing or very close by. My first deli: Appalachian Market. It was right at an AT crossing. I dropped my pack at a picnic table out front and walked into paradise. To the general motorists, they see a convenience store with a deli. To the thru-hiker, you see paradise. I ordered a Monte Cristo wrap, and then it took every ounce of will-power I had NOT to grab the three over-cooked, greasy hot-dogs rolling on the roller grill. They looked soooooo good. Ridiculously good. Will power. There were a few high top tables inside, so I asked if it was okay to bring my pack inside. She said, no problem. So for the next 2 hours, I sat in the air conditioning eating. It was awesome.A little before 3 pm, I set off again. Even with the big, hearty lunch I felt sluggish and tired. Maybe it was the turkey. I don't know. But I didn't move as fast as I thought I would. The gnats came out in swarms. There were more of them than I've seen to date. There was a constant hum of them buzzing around my ears. Absolutely maddening. I would stop occasionally to kill as many as I could, but there were always more. Also, the large Sawyer water sleeve sprang a leak. So now I'm down to the two smaller ones. It's not a catastrophe, but I'll need to order some back-ups as soon as I can.I found a nice flat spot across a stream. There was a hornet's nest to have to sneak by to get here, but it's a nice flat spot, the flattest I've head in a while. Also, Stuff showed up as I was setting up camp, so I have company tonight. And that's nice. There are small planes flying over-head. Crickets and frogs are croaking. An owl occasionally hoots in the distance. I'm pretty pooped, and I'm looking forward to some zzzzzz....