Date: 2007-07-09
From: Bear Mountain

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 27.8
Weather: clear sky

Well, it was a hot and sticky kind of day today. I'm going to admit that it was not all that fun today. There were times when all I was thinking about was being at camp by the lake or down by the coast. Instead I was slugging out the mileage in unbearable temperatures. But I always knew there would be days like these past couple and all you can do is just grin and bear it. Last night I decided at the last moment to hang my hammock. I figured that if it rained it would be easier to throw my rainfly on then to have to find to trees and then hang it and get wet in the process. Of course it did rain a little so I felt pretty good about my judgement. I had an awful nights sleep though. It was muggy and I just couldn't get comfortable. I was staring up at the light, polluted sky from NYC all night until it started to rain. It was just one of those nights. I got up at 6:30 and was on the move 15 minutes later. I cruised down the mountain to the Bear Mountain park by Hessian Lake and it was trashed. There was trash all over the place. It was gross. I contemplated going to the bathroom there until I saw the fly and stink infested thing. It was not pretty at all. Then I went to Fort Montgomery for a few soft drinks and then crossed the Hudson over the Bear Mountain Bridge. From there it was a steep little climb up onto a ridge and then it was pretty decent walking for a while. I stopped by the Graymoor Friary which is a church type commune that offers a free shelter to stay with water and a cold shower. I cooled off in the shower and was cold enough to take my breath away. It really rejuvenated me. It was a short lived sensation because I was immediately reduced to a wash of sweat shortly there after. From there it was a lot of ups and downs but not as bad as the day before. The heat was bad though. I had one woman stop me when she was in her car and she said " Hey, It's hot out". I replied " Yeah, it is" as I was visibly drenched in sweat. Then she said be careful which was kind of her, but it was an odd little conversation.   The water situation was a lot better today. There were a few spigots along the way to fill up at and I even found a spring coming from under a rock. It was hard to get at but boy was it cool and refreshing. It was 3:00 when I stopped for water at a spigot by Dennytown road when I decided to go 11 more to the shelter. The first 5 miles or so were kind of the same but the last 6 or so had some nice flat parts which was actually quite shocking. I didn't think NY had any for a while. The last three after Shenandoah Mtn. were particularly nice and I was wishing that I had my mountain bike to ride on it because it was basically a buff single track for a while. The shelter was a sight for sore eyes. It has a water pump and everything and it is actually kind of cabin like with bunk beds. Tommorrow I will probably try and do big miles again with the possibility of maybe going so far as to make it to Conneticutt. That would be real nice. I'm just hoping that it cools off a little bit. I have no desire to deal with this heat for three days in a row. I guess it could be worse though. Well, I'm absolutely bushed so it's sleepy time.