Date: 2003-01-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

On Saturday 1/11 I went for a hike. Out with my dads friend from work, named Rick. He and his wife hiked the whole Trail in 99' under the names Cook N' Clean. We hiked 4.4 miles on the AT in Harriman state park. We wanted to start from Orange Turnpike but were unable to because of the deep snow against the shoulder of the road where we parked last time. This meant shooting up to NY17. This means there is still a mile and a half section I haven't hiked yet. Although now I have hiked the whole section from ny17a to the bear mountain bridge, and most of the NY AT. I do plan however to re-hike these miles during my thru-hike. I've hiked about 300 miles on the AT, all of which I will hike again.    The day was absolutely gorgeous (sp?-im only an english major its ok :) Sunny, about 25 degrees. The snow was a couple of inches deep. I had a 30 pound pack on. Basically all my gear minus food, which should be another 8 pounds or so. I have to say 30 pounds felt like very little. Much praise to my Gregory Forrester Pack. That thing rocks. It was slow going. We started up a series of short but steep hills that got the heart racing. I was slipping and sliding through the snow and ice. The scenary was absolutely amazing. The woods take on a whole different character when covered in white dust and lacking foliage.    We approached the famous lemon squeezer. This is known on the Trail as a landmark of sorts. Its a large rock formation that is very narrow and tight. The Trail traverses right through some boulders. The snow made it interesting, and I had a hard time shimmying through with my mattress almost getting stuck. But at the end I prevailed. Clicked a couple photos I hope come out. After that we followed the old AT instead of following the new blazes around a rock formation. There was an incredibly difficult climb over 8 foot rocks. Rick was able to pull himself up, and I then handed him my pack. I tried and tried to pull myself up. The rocks were glazed in ice. At one point I was almost up and fell backwards and down about 10 feet. It was a close call.(Mom don't read this :)) Finally I found a new spot to grab onto and locked my boots into. With all my might I pulled myself up. Once we were over this mamoth rock we noticed the new AT that was blazed right around it. Well it was fun!   The tracks we had followed had dissapeared and we now had to break snow. Rick was apointed snow breaker because he didn't have a pack on. Even so, it was very difficult walking. I put my feet in the holes he made, and sometimes sunk through the snow making my own holes. The snow was half a foot deep or more in some places. Our speed decreased, but it wasn't important. I was in a trance.    All I could think about was starting my own hike. The setting was too good too be true. As it approached 4 pm the sun lowered in the sky and the woods began to take on a new hue. We marched along a beautiful ridgeline and soaked in the sun and surrounding. We expected to see the shelter for awhile and started to wonder which hill is was on. We passed the intersection for the Long Path. This is a new trail being built which connects Ny City and the Adirondacks. It starts on the G.W. Bridge in Manhattan and stretches for 300 miles so far. So Cool, and it intersects the good ole' AT. This new sign will definately get thru-hikers attentions and I'm sure the Trail will grow in popularity once the thru-hikers catch wave of it. Rick had me snap a pic of him next to the sign as he will tackle it in the upcoming years.    We finally spotted the shelter and approached it from behind. We noticed smoke coming from the shelter and soon saw a couple of guys. There were three gentelman at the shelter with tons of equiptment and food. Down the hill were 12-15 more guys with a fire and tents set up. They were part of some Mens Group. Whatever that is. They were attempting to build a sweatlodge. They were dragging sleds with firewood up the Trail. Very interesting but weird. It was a little disturbing to see such overuse to the Trail. Can't people use the other billion acres of woods besides the AT! Anyway, they were nice and showed much interest in my upcoming trip. One of the guys maintains the Trail and shelters in NY. We hiked down a side trail down to Seven Lakes Drive. Started hiking down a road back to the car and stuck our thumbs out. A fellow in a jeep stopped suddenly and picked us up. What luck! It was getting dark and VERY cold. This was not apart of the AT so all we were doing was skipping unoffical road walking. We returned safely to the car. Thank you whoever you are for the ride. Such nice people out there.    Counting the days until Georgia