Date: 2011-07-04
From: Arden Valley Rd / Newburgh, NY

To: Manitou Road / Newburgh, NY
Miles today: 16.8

instead of doing the switcheroo with the car and some of the group hiking south today we will all hike north and Flowers will get a lift from his parents to get the rental later. the hotel had a mediocre breakfast, but a breakfast none the less. the morning started off a bit wet with a few showers and a few slips and falls from Flowers and Tom. there was an abundance of tourists and day hikers throughout this section which were mostly foreign for some unapparent reason. today the path took us past a high point that promised views of New York City, unfortunately the cloudy poopness of the day limited our visability and all we could see was a lame power plant (not the super mario brothers kind of power plant). Tom took the opportunity here to take an important call from home, so the rest of us pushed on at a slower pace so that he could catch up. however, Tom was no where to be seen after a solid hour and less than a mile from where we left him. we were starting to get a bit concerned. the man posses an impressive military background so he should be able to fend for himself afterall. miraculously he appeared just as we were about to turn back and look for him. he wandered over in what used to be a full length t-shirt, but was now crudely ripped and torn exposing his lower torso. it looked like he had had a run in with a wild beast and barely escaped. my instict was to scan the rest of his clothing for signs of blood or bear vomit. no such indication was obvious. i then suggested that maybe he got the shirt caught on a tree branch and slipped or something. this was also not the case. since Tom had fallen behind with his phone call he didn't have a few essentials that Goldylocks had walked away with. poor Tom had to improvise by fashioning sections of his t-shirt into toilet paper since nature called at this most inopportune time for him. the kids were far more embarressed by this than he was. he was actually rather proud of the memento he had created in the t-shirt. we all enjoyed a good laugh at the situation and wondered why he opted to create a belly shirt instead of pulling off a sleeve. the cool and wet morning gave way to a hot and humid afternoon. we passed a strange religous ceremony taking place on a ridge. there was an older man who was not wearing a shirt chanting a song in a middle eastern language. the chorus was then sung by a little girl, a young man and a young woman. th little girl, who was about 10, had ash placed on her forehead. they were all facing a photograph of another woman with burning insence around the frame. the ceremony wasn't disturbing or creepy, meremly unfamiliar to anything i had seen. to each his own... we passed through without disturbing their ritual. we passed two section hikers who warned us about a massive rattlesnake on the trail just ahead. sweet... i picked up the pace with Flowers to ensure that we found it. sure enough just down the hill we happened upon a four foot timber rattlesnake crossing the trail. we didn't want to spook him so the approach was slow and steady. this allowed for numerous photos at a reasonablr proximity. i made a distinct promise to mum and Serena to not pick up any venomous snakes on the trail. i fully intended to keep that promise until now... besides, this snake had now moved slightly to the left of the trail and was displaying a very docile demeanor for a rattlesnake. i slowly approached with my trekking poles and gently lifted the snake a few times, moving his body position around. no problem. i gently reached for his lower body near the tail and successfully gripped without incident from the sharp end. with help / blocking defence from a trekking pole i was able to safely pick up the whole serpent and move him to a more manageable area on the trail. since i didn't actually do the "picking up" on he trail i was still not breaking he promise i had made. i was merely "continuing to hold" the dangerous snake on the trail. i realize that i may be relying on a technicality of the wording, but the photos that Flowers was taking should be quite kewl. all worth it even if a little explaing is required (mum, if this is how you find out about the rattlesnake-please consult Serena-all is well). after the snake, Flowers took off to meet his parents and sort out our car situation. we slowed down to allow Goldylocks to catch up. afterall, why should the birthday girl hike by herself. we got to the top of bear mountain where they had a memorial tower that the July fourthers were bombarding. this tower did make up for our lack of visability earlier. NYC skyline was blatantly obvious in the distance. we came across The Caped Crusader, Jesse, Amanda and Auto (Amanda's husband) on top of bear mountain. this section of the trail had been well maintained and exceptionally well graded for ease, since there were so many day hikers using this section on a daily basis. A.T. thru hikers make up a very small percentage of the foot traffic on this section, that was evident. we jogged down the next section dodging day hikers as we went. being the fourth of July there were heaps of people from the city who came out for a bbq and lake front action. there were swarms of people. the crowds were literally lining up in areas and blocking the progress of us on the A.T. these people were oblivious to the fact that they had just setup their bbq grill and gazebo between a white blazed tree. navigating this section of the trail was a lot harder than expected, and posed completely new obstacles and hinderances. poor tom manged to loose his bearings behind us as we waited for him on a park bench. we had to push our way through a crowded tunnel that crossed under the main road. the crowd was waiting in a queue for the public swimming pool and zoo. the A.T. actually travels through the zoo, so if one wants to travel this full section it must be done during the operating hours of the zoo. it was rather cool to see white blazes between animal exhibits and viewing platforms. the zoo was a small, local species education. the animals obtained are mostly rescued or injured apparently. the cages and enclosures are primitive and minimal which was a little depressing to see. the last few miles of the day took us across the Hudson river which was a far cry from the smelly, gangster body ridden Hudson of NYC. the river was rather picturesque with water skiing and tubing going on for the festivities. we came up on Amanda and Auto again. Auto was having a terribly hard time with the terrain and the weight of his pack. Auto was merely spending a few days with Amanda during her thru hike. he's been having a hard time keeping up and didn't want to be a burden. when we got to the car we offered to give Auto a ride to where Amanda, Jesse and Cape were camping for the night. we also slacked Amanda since she would be able to meet up with Auto shortly. dinner was some greasy cheese burgers near the hotel. we did get to see some fireworks, but nothing exciting.