Date: 2005-07-18
From: William Brien Memorial Shelter

To: Graymoor Friary
Miles today: 15.2

7:19pm - The Bear Went Over the MountainAs has been the pattern for the last few days, today started with the trail serving me my pride on a platter. Again, the humidity was brutal. For several miles, my only relief was picking out landmarks from the adventure race. This section of the trail is where Rob and I followed the trail after checkpoint two; that spot in the valley was the start/finish. One trail crossing in particular was quite memorable. It marked the spot where the three of us realized we had carried our bikes 3 miles uphill in the wrong direction. It was a turning point for all of us.After what seemed far too much time I reached the top of Bear Mountain. Despite the trail's multiple efforts to lead me astray, I arrived at and toured the very cool Perkins Tower, which commemorated the man behind the Palisades Parkway. What is it about towers on high points?On my way down the hill, I had my closest wildlife encounter. A lumbering beast slowly stepped out of a blueberry bush. This monster put Grendel to shame. It advanced on me; I responded by holding my ground, either through terror or shock. It started by molesting my trekking poles, and then moved in for my legs. Frozen, I didn't move. To my great surprise, the beast only licked me. I lived to see another day and marvelled how some creatures have no fear of humans these days. I gave it a quick thump on the rump to remind the monster who was boss, gathered up my courage, and slowly hiked off. The tiny fawn steadily watched as I faded away into the distance.When I reached Bear Mountain Inn, a gentleman approached me and asked if I knew were Gozar was. It turned out to be his father. He called for his wife and I chatted with them for a bit. Apparently Gozar had mentioned me a few times so they were quite pleased to meet me. They had come up to meet their son for the afternoon; he'll take the rest of the day off to visit with them and either get back on tomorrow or go into New York City for a few days to visit friends. We talked for a while before I took off, but not without some brownies and homemade banana bread that they gave me. Thank you, Gozarians!I made my way through the Bear Mountain Zoo, which is right on the trail, and proceeded to cross the Bear Mountain Bridge. I then lumbered up the next climb, again being humbled by the humidity. I took a break for lunch at the top, and of course it started to rain. I scarfed down lunch and was packing up when Wilderness Bob walked up. We ended up hiking together for the rest of the afternoon. Like most people on the trail, Bob's a good guy and quite interesting to talk to. The miles rolled by and we were at the door of the Graymoor Friary before we knew it.We settled into the pavilion by their softball field. I took a quick, cold shower. The skies then turned and it began pouring buckets of rain. We waited around for the friar who was supposed to come by at 4:30. Graymoor has a history of feeding hikers and I was curious to meet the brothers. I envisioned sitting down with robed monks at a long, wooden table in a rustic chapel. My vision was shattered by reality. Brother Leo showed up in a pickup, wearing slacks and a plaid dress shirt. Dinner was served in the cafeteria of a large, blocky building. Few friars were even present at dinner, and we were sequestered in our own corner. Still, the burgers were a nice break from the normal and we were quite grateful. Though "free," almost all of us left donations for the order.The rains had let up but the damage was done - the pavilion had open sides and heavy winds blew in the rain, soaking the floor. We relocated to the second pavilion Brother Leo told us about that was better sheltered, and we laced up clotheslines and bearbags until it felt like home. It looks like we'll be sleeping on table tops tonight - Wilderness Bob, Buffalo Bob, the Mad Chapper, Ramblin' Man, Corporal, and me. I'm hoping against hope that the mosquitos will be manageable, but the early signs aren't favorable. Did I mention that I hate humidity?