Date: 2004-07-10
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: William Brien Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: broken clouds

Lemon SqueezerMileage Countdown: -811.3Remember the Fat Man Squeeze just north of Damascus and the Guillotine on Apple Orchard Mountain? Today I went through the third in this set, the Lemon Squeezer. I knew it was coming up, so when I went through a narrow passage partially blocked by a downed tree, and didn't even have to take off my pack, I thought 'What a piece of cake!'. Then I glanced to my left and saw the real Lemon Squeezer. On my right was a sheer wall about 10' high and 25' long. To its left was another sheer wall about 6' high. They started out around 3' apart, but at the end were closer to 2'. Furthermore, right in the middle of this passage was a rock about 3' high, sitting at an awkward angle.I charged ahead, determined to get through without even removing my pack. But by the time I got to the central rock, my pack was scraping both sides, and I found I didn't have the strength to fight the friction and get over the rock. So I backed out, removed my pack, carried it in over my head, and gently tossed it on top the 6' wall. Then I found my poles weren't any help, so tossed them on top with my pack. Even so divested, it was still difficult to climb up on the central rock in such narrow confines. But I finally did, and scrambled up on the 6' wall.After putting on my pack and picking up my sticks, I said 'That wasn't too bad, after all.'. Then I turned around. 50' up the Trail was what looked like a sheer wall 10' tall, with a white blaze indicating the Trail went over that wall. There looked like two possible routes over the wall: a narrow crevass to the right with some stones leading up to it that I could step in; and a passage to the left with one big step, but where I would need to support myself just by my 2 arms (with full pack on) for a couple of seconds in order to give my feet a new purchase. I tried the right side first, but found I couldn't get a good enough grasp to pull myself up to the top. So I tried the left, with one arm wrapped around a tree, the other on a big rock. The couple seconds I was hanging and repositioning myself seemed a lot longer, and I earned a raspberry on my elbow from the tree, but I finally pulled myself up to the top thinking 'They shouldn't make a 65 year old like me go through something like this!'. As I stood up and brushed myself off, I noticed a trail going around the whole structure that was not even as steep as many other Trail stretches I had done today.Water is scarce in NY. More so than in PA. Since getting into the state I have only gotten water from two natural sources, both early this morning. We have been very fortunate that several 'trail angels' have been leaving fresh water in gallon jugs near many trailheads. One group in particular, the Tuxedo Trail Angels, left lots of water and identified themselves. Thanks Tuxedo and you other trail angels. We would be in serious trouble without you.Nobody told us about the hills of NY, like we were warned about the rocks of Pennsylvania. The guys who maintain the Trail in NY must be using the same trail maintenance manual that the guys in GA use, the one missing the page that describes Switchback. They seem to think that the way to have a hiker go over a mountain is to find the steepest slope on the mountain, lead the hiker to the bottom of the slope, and point them straight up hill. We crossed over 10 mountains today. Most only had a climb of about 500'. But almost every one had a rock scramble segment that was reminiscent of the climb out of Lehigh Gap, or steeper. Today was less than 20 mi, but was just as tough as the two 23.5 mile days I did back in PA.The one respite was at Lake Tiorati Circle, a state park swimming beach. Water at today's shelters was unreliable or non-existent, so I planned to stop at the Circle to take on water before going on to the Brien Shelter for the night. I was sure glad I did. They had not only water, but restrooms, vending machines and picnic tables. And as soon as I sat down I realized how tired I was from the day's walk, so what started as a 20 minute water stop turned into a 2 hr dinner break. I was refreshed enough so that the last 4 miles weren't all that tough, and I sure appreciated being able to go to bed soon after I arrived, without having to fuss over food.Tomorrow, lunch with Miki.