Date: 2004-07-04
From: Fingerboard Shelter

To: Camp Smith Trail (Anthony's Nose)
Miles today: 15.4

I made breakfast and broke camp by about 8:30AM. First on the agenda was a stop at Lake Tiorati where there are restrooms and vending machines. Even though we arrived early the parking lot was full and there were hoards of people cooking and partying. It was a mob scene I am not used to seeing. I changed my mind about taking a swim and settled for an ice cream and soda and the use of the restroom. We loaded up with water since it was already hot and water has been in short supply. After a short break at the William Brien Mem. Shelter we climbed to the vista on Black Mountain. From there you could clearly see the NYC skyline. It was impressive. Next came a series of ups and downs that were starting to wear us out. After descending from Black Mountain we had to cross the Palisades Interstate Parkway. With the Fourth of July traffic leaving NYC that was no easy task. I had to wait about ten minutes for an opening in traffic and then had to run as best I could with my pack bouncing behind me. I'm sure it was quite a sight to the unsuspecting drivers. I think they need a bridge there. After a couple of hard climbs we arrived at the summit of Bear Mountain where I climbed to the top of the Perkins Tower. It provided a nice view of NYC and the Hudson River. We started our climb down from the summit and soon we heard it. A sound that quickly grew in volume until it was louder than all the cicadas between here and Georgia. It was the noise of thousands and thousands of people with boom boxes literally blanketing Bear Mountain State Park. They covered the park like rocks cover the trail in PA. It was slow going just to pass through all these cotton people - and they kept looking at me and Pez like we were the strange ones. Some of these nature lovers had more gear than could fit into my garage. Fancy stove things and coolers with truck tires. Playpens and even some full size tents - just for a picnic. The amount of trash blowing around was driving me batty - I'm used to picking up along the trail but this would require ten thousand of me to clean up the mess. After paying $1.50 for a can of Coke we decided to hightail it out of there. We fought our way through the crowd until we arrived at the entrance to the zoo (the real one). It was locked. We had to fight our way back and take the alternate trail to the Bear Mountain Bridge. We walked on the highway dodging traffic rather than trying to get through the mob at Hessian Lake. It was rather ironic that everybody here was celebrating the Fourth of July - a purely American holiday. Yet I think English was the only language I did not hear. I was wondering if I made a wrong turn coming down from that mountain. Anyway, we were very happy to cross the Hudson River and get back into the woods. We were so anxious that we abandoned our plans to get to a deli to buy hotdogs for our celebration. We met Slips, Fits, Biscuit, and Slim on the east side of the river and arranged to meet them at Anthony's Nose where we will camp out tonight. We figured we would be able to see some fireworks from the cliffs overlooking the Hudson River. We cooked dinner and set up tents and then found a nice rocky cliff with a great view of West Point. Some locals showed up and joined us. These were very nice people who climbed all that way carrying all kinds of goodies - and brought the whole family. I don't envy them the hike back over those rocks in the dark. They shared their food with us and before departing gave us all kinds of goodies - including some cheese that smelled like Slip's dirty socks. We headed back to the tents and devoured it all in minutes - includung the stinky cheese (which I enjoyed the most). And the fireworks were great. It was fun hearing the youngsters cheer them. Anyway, it is now very late and between the wine and the Margarita I am feeling a little sleepy. Tomorrow I want a restful day. Goodnight,Lwop