Date: 2003-06-26
From: Bear Mtn Bridge Ft Montgomery NY

To: Ft Montgomery NY Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Day 105 Avg Mls/Day 13.2Weather: Hazy, hot and humid. Temp near 100. Reason for taking a zero today...heat indexes reported to be well over 100 with air quality warnings around NYC.Last night on TV all they could talk about was how hot and humid it was going to be today...much more than yesterday. To me, the only thing worse for a hiker than soaking rains is the sweltering heat. I tend to generate considerable body heat anyway, even on cool days, and dehydrate easily when it gets warm. Since they are also predicting moderating temperatures Saturday and I am still on schedule to finish by the end of August, taking advantage of a zero day seemed the thing to do.I still got up before 6 and ate breakfast at the Bagel Shop across the road. Came back to the room and watched some morning shows, business news and weather.The motel manager's wife ran me into town after 10 where I got a haircut and spent several hours at the library on the internet. About 1:30 I went down the street to a chinese restaurant for an AYCE buffet. It was good and the best part was the soft serve ice cream. After eating I went back to the library until around 4. I then walked several blocks to the super market and drug store. It was hot but I walked about a mile and a half back to the motel. Just before I got to the room bought a 32 ounce gatorade at the gasmart.At about 6:30 I went to the motel office to settle up for today and got a real shock. There was Hotfoot coming out of a motel room, catching a ride home. He said he was leaving the Trail...going home. He said he has had enough. He was losing weight and couldn't eat enough to stop the weight loss. It sounded like his spirit had been broken by the heat. It just wasn't fun anymore. I can see how that could happen. The day before yesterday, I wasn't having a lot of fun. Some days it can be a lot of work and when you're out of energy it can get to you. Hotfoot had hiked over 1400 miles...still quite an accomplishment anyway you look at it. I wish him only the best and enjoyed the time we had together around Duncannon. Since then, he and Bearly had pulled ahead of me. Still I am sad to see him go.Tomorrow could be warm but I'm taking off anyway. The cooler air is supposed to reach here tomorrow night. If it gets too hot, I'll stop at a tenting site after 15 miles or so. I won't reach the next town (Wingdale NY or Kent CN) until Sunday or Monday.One of the interesting things I've noticed along the Trail that I haven't mentioned thus far is the number of "stone row fences." along the way. There were many in VA and dozens in NJ and NY. They are 3 feet high and just as wide at the base...made up of large rocks and boulders. I wonder what kind of effort went into their construction. Were they constructed as boundary markers or just to clear the land for farming? It must have taken mules and/or horses to drag the boulders and put them in place. Digging them up must have been a lot of work. The whole thing had to be quite a project back then. Today, the forrest has grown up around them and the AT crosses one after another.Thought for the Day: I guess heat, like everything else, is relative.