Date: 2013-08-27
From: Tiorati Circle (Arden Valley Rd)

To: NY 17 
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: overcast clouds

A walk in the park: Part DeuxUp at 6:00, I was sleepy last night and went to bed around 8 PM after a mediocre dinner of terrible pizza (hey, what the hell New York?!?!) Tony's Pizza in Highland Falls just stinks! I won't belabor the issue, just a warning-don't go there! Anyway, woke up and it was still raining- which was a downer (and drowner) since I was thinking about all those rock faces that seem to stretch through New York along the trail. I was already dreading how slippery it would be. Still, I wanted to finish the hike, even if it meant slow going. We left the hotel (a nice, albeit old hotel in Highland Falls)and drove back to Tiorati Lake/Circle where I left off yesterday. Spoke to a very nice, helpful ranger at the station there who gave M permission to pass through a "closed" road which linked Tiorati to Elk Pen. So off I went into the woods again. Today was a much better day terrain wise. It was not raining but the earlier rain clung to the leaves and anytime the wind blew, it would start a temporary shower in the forest. I was right, there was a lot of slick rock today, I slid all over various mountains- Fingerboard Mtn, Surebridge Mtn, Island Pond but the trail and surrounding forest was magical this morning. Crickets provided the background score to a visual feast, the summer appears to have been kind here in NY- deep, lush green grass and trees, flowers of purple, yellow, red blue and white could be found during the stretch. I saw four hikers today 3 heading north and one south. Also saw two more deer, one not far from Fingerboard Shelter- just lying in the tall grass and another near Island Pond just grazing at the foot of Green Mtn.I stopped to look at manmade rock spillways and what looked to be old mines. There was a little more water along this section of trail than yesterday. While I did not stop to see Fingerboard Shelter, I did see the roof as I passed by on the trail above it. The stone building looked beautiful, but the duct tape around the chimneys seems to indicate it is in need of repair. I stopped for a short break at Island Pond, a beautiful location that would be fun to tent next to and take advantage of a swim or two. There is a gravel road that extends from Arden Valley Road to the pond that is accessible by permission only, I suspect that's what keeps the pond looking so nice. The highlight of the day was the Lemon Squeezer. I got to a point in the trail where a sign was nailed to the tree: "EASY WAY".... Remembering that it had rained and the rocks were quite slick, I looked at the hard way and evaluated my risk of falling from the steep section. I am not tall enough to get a footing on the rock above and the rock below. I decided that the risk was to great and as I was there on my own, I was not taking it. Just for clarification, the "EASY WAY" should really be called "THE EASIER WAY", for it also was strewn with rocks/boulders to negotiate and a large tree trunk which had fallen across the path at an odd angle. I did however get around that and then go through the narrow section of "the squeeze" and even I as a petite person found it very tight. I was happy to get through.The last climb over Green Mtn and down the other side provided more rocks to be negotiated, but otherwise was unremarkable. I arrived at the periphery of Elk Pen and snapped a few photos across the field before meeting M at the parking lot. All that remained was a short jaunt from Elk Pen to Rt 17 at Arden Valley Road which brought me to the end of my NY AT hike. Another state behind me! More photos of the trip can be seen at: 2000Miler_NY Completion Hike