Date: 2008-06-06
From: Graymoor Spiritual Life Center

To: NY Route 52/A-Train's House-Brooklyn, NY
Miles today: 23.9

Today started out as any other day. I quickly learned to not make any attempt at a rational plan. Your about to learn why.I was on trail at my usual 6-6:30AM this morning. Some thunder and lightening passed by as I was packing up, so I was cautious about my expectations for today.About an hours into the march another round of storms rolled through. I quickly went into storm mode then continued walking north.Let me get this out of the way, there was only one spot were a view might have been possible, but not on this day.The rain gave a surreal feeling to the forest the trail wove through. It was as if someone took a piece of the Amazon and place in on the AT in NY, just for me to see.The trail took me across an interesting stone wall. I was perplexed as to what it could have been used for back in the day, Cookie said it was most likely connected to some mining operation. I was inclined to agree seeing as I have no conception of the history of the region.The trail was quite slick today, which inevitably makes for tricky navigation at times.By lunch I had marched 14 miles, and it was a hard 14 miles. There were pointless ups and downs, so lunch was well earned in my opinion.After lunch the trail gradually took us up Shenandoah Mountain, which did have a view of the immediate area. On a clear day, I am willing to bet there is an amazing view of the surrounding ridge lines.I then tumbled down to RPH Shelter. There was trail magic here in the form of freeze dried meals, which was nice.Cookie and I determined it would be in our best interest to put in a few more miles, which would make tomorrow a shorter day into the trail station. We decided to stealth camp at NY 52, where we could walk .4 to a deli for ice cream and some soda.At least that was the plan.As I was marching out of the gap the shelter sat in, I heard a noise that sounded like the ring tone for my phone. It turns out my phone was on and that A-Train was calling. He told me that he was on his way from upstate NY and that he could bring Cookie and me int NYC tonight and that he could bring us back to the trail Sunday. After talking about it with Cookie we took him up on the offer.The trail leading to the road felt like a whole lot of uphill. It just never ended, the person who plotted this section of trail as a cruel and unusual sense of humor.I also called a friend back home, who informed me I made the honor roll for the final trimester of the school year, which is the trimester I did all the work ahead of time on. This was a huge relief.At NY 52, A-Train picked us up and gave each of us a Gatorade and a banana, both of which were quite good.Onto Brooklyn we went. Once we hit the city, A-Train showed us some of the highlights of Manhattan as we sped down the highway. These included Trump Towers, the financial district, the Manhattan Bridge, and the Brooklyn bridge.Going from the trail to NYC is a mind boggling experience of epic proportions. Everything and everyone move so fast. I began wondering where everyone was going in such a hurry on a Friday afternoon.After driving across the Brooklyn Bridge and driving a little more, we rolled into la casa de A-Train. After meeting his parents(wonderfully nice people) he showed us our headquarters for our stay.A-Train and his parents teated us to Italian food for dinner, which was awefully nice of them.Exaustation sets sets in.And that's the way it was.Kirby