Date: 2023-07-13
From: Church of the Mountain, Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Graymoor Friary
Miles today: 120.2

Google Photos Photo AlbumDay 29Church of the Mountain to Tentsite at Mile 1310.6AT miles 13.7Mikes hiked 16.1I slept in this morning since I had to wait for the outfitters to open at 9:30. I forgot to buy a fuel canister at Wal-mart yesterday so now I need to pay a little extra in terms of time and cash for that oversight.While packing up I developed a taste for a donut and chocolate milk. So, I stowed my gear at the church and went off foraging for donuts and milk. Ah, the thrill of outdoor adventure. On the way I saw Cheesecake and Hooty Hoo who were enjoying coffee and a danish at a coffee shop. We chatted a bit then I headed to my destination. I found the Dunkin' Donuts just past the outfitters and timed my purchase and consumption to coincide with the opening of the outfitters. I was a bit early so I helped them roll the life jacket racks out while I waited. Fuel canister in hand it was off to the church. I checked my bank account, paid my bills and was about to head out when I saw Roadrunner had returned. His poison ivy rash was among the worst I've ever seen. He was feeling a little feverish so returned to town in case he needed to see a doctor.He told me about some of the upcoming trail then we said our "see you up the trails". I shouldered my pack and headed north. A couple of locals wished me "happy trails¢ as I headed out of town. The hike crosses over the Delaware River on a bridge made of concrete and steel. You just never realize the flexibility of those structures until you're bouncing up and down while walking across the bridge. About half way across is the PA/NJ border. My fifth state!Pennsylvania - New Jersey BorderAfter crossing the bridge I hiked through a park and past trailheads of several trails. I found the AT and was quickly heading uphill (big surprise there) It seems there must be a huge population of bears in the Garden State given the proliferation of bear warning signs as soon as I crossed the border.Soon enough the rocks returned. It wasn't long before I arrived at Sunfish Pond. This pond was created when the glaciers receded. The water is so acidic that only sunfish and perch live there. The water was crystal clear and seemed very shallow.Sunfish PondThe trail was a jumble of rocks following the shoreline. Not an easy hike but definitely a pretty hike. After passing around the pond the trail turned back into Rocksylvania on steroids. Back in the day, cartographers took the easy way out and used the Delaware River as the boundary between the states. Geographically, they were a little over 40 miles off.There were nice views along the way as I climbed up the trail, eventually topping out on Racoon Ridge where there were eye popping views in nearly every direction. Too soon, that view was behind me.  I was running low on fluids and stopped at Yard¢s Creek near a forest road. After getting water and walking up to the road I saw a sign to the Mohican Outdoor Center. As I was climbing up to the road I saw a hen turkey walking up the forest road. I went into stealth photographer mode so as not to scare her off and snapped a few photos. After the photo shoot it was time to get going. I was amazed that she didn't run off in fear. I quietly put my camera away and started past her. She just looked at me as if to say, "Hey" then went back to eating bugs. There was a sign that said "Food/Drinks" so I figured I could grab a snack and something cold to drink. I headed up the gravel road to the outdoor center, which seemed farther away than I thought. Soon I got to the point where my mind wrestled with the age old question of, ¢Should I turn around or have I gone so far that I should keep going?¢ The lure of a cold soda kept pushing me forward towards the outdoor center.  When I finally arrived I was surprised to see Cheesecake and Hooty Hoo there. They were waiting for a mail drop. They had been there for an hour or so. Hooty Hoo asked if the turkey was still down there. Wow. Must be the center's mascot. Two cold root beers and peanut butter cookies later I felt refreshed and ready to start hiking again. There were some nice views along Kittatinny Ridge as I hiked towards my destination for the day, a campsite just past Rattlesnake Spring. Two hours later the trail intersected with a gravel road. Rattlesnake Spring was a trickle coming out of the hillside next to the road. Across the road was a swamp. I followed the road/AT to the nearby campsites until I saw what seemed like a surprising number of hikers. It turns out it was an Outward Bound group from Philly. They were much friendlier than the group I encountered in Maryland.I gave them some space, found a nice campsite, did the camp setup routine, ate, hung the food bag, and crawled into bed. I texted Robin then fell asleep. The next thing I know it's almost 2 hours later and I was awakened by what sounded like a bugle. It was. Somebody was playing Tattoo (A military bugle call that it's time for lights out and to get ready for bed. I didn't hear Taps but if they played it, it was drowned out by the Whippoorwills over my tent. I rolled over to go back to sleep when I was shocked fully awake by the sound of raindrops on the tent. I dropped the flaps and this time was out for the rest of the night.Day 30Tentsite at Mile 1310.6 to Gren Anderson ShelterAT miles 18.0Miles hiked 18.6One month on the trail!I woke up early this morning hoping to get in a 20 miler. Off to the east looked like a nice orange sunrise through the trees. The birds were singing cheerfully so I just knew it was going to be an awesome day. Then, as I was getting my food bag down an old rhyme my dad taught me way back started playing in my mind: "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning¢¦" Nah, look how nice it is. I fixed my Carnation Instant Breakfast and 3 packs of oatmeal and was looking at the Far Out App to plan my day. Just as I put that last spoonful of apple cinnamon oatmeal in my mouth I felt the first raindrops. I got everything I could, including myself in the tent and started packing up figuring this was just a passing shower. (Another weather rhyme from dad, "Rain before 7 ends before 11" Hope that one is also accurate.) Then it turned 9 o'clock at night dark followed immediately by a big flash of lightning that was almost simultaneous with an earth shaking boom. Then, like Uncle Sy (Duck Dynasty) would say, "It was on like Donkey Kong."I didn¢t know it could rain so hard. It was raining hard enough to push in the sides of my tent. I also realized that the perfect flat place I found to pitch my tent was actually a depression in the ground. I sat in my tent turned ark watching the water rise outside hoping the water wouldn't make it over the gunwales. Soon I was sitting in a growing puddle of water inside the tent wondering if I forgot to seam seal the floor of the tent.  Heavy rainThe storm finally stopped after about 30 minutes as suddenly as it started. I packed up the muddy mess the best I could and set off to wade up the trail with hopes of a sunny day to dry things out.  A little over a mile into my hike I crossed a road and saw a parking lot full of cars. Why would so many people be out hiking in that mess? Turns out it was the Hunterdon Hiking Club offering trail magic as a way to welcome hikers to New Jersey. They had burgers, dogs (the hot variety), veggies, fruit, cookies, chips, candy and soda. There was already one hiker there and we were soon joined by my hiking friends Cheesecake and Hooty Hoo. It also turns out one of the trail angels was named Bob and years ago he had to have an emergency root canal on his bike trip across America.Trail Angels from Belly full and spirits high, I was off hiking. Bob gave me a beer to drink later as I was heading out. The sky was getting lighter which made me believe this was going to be an awesome day despite the constant ominous rumble of thunder. The hiking was pretty nice and I eventually came to a rock outcrop with some less than usual overcast. I checked for snakes then set up my tent and hung my clothes in a bush and sat down for a rest and a snack.  Soon enough, with a little help from a brief appearance by the sun, the tent was dry and my clothes were now only damp so it was time to pack up and move out.  What a day! Trail magic and now sunshine. I was cruising along making good miles enjoying the day despite the constant rumble of thunder. I crossed over Rattlesnake Mountain and despite its name, I didn¢t see any snakes at all. The trail mostly rolled along a ridgeline with some minor ups and downs carrying me over Blue Mountain on to the Acropolis. The trail was well marked until the top of the ridge before the Acropolis. The trail was predominantly rocks that looked like they were tilted on their sides with these long grooves. Most of the blazes were painted in the grooves. This is where life got miserable for a while.Even though it was only about 5:00 it suddenly turned dark as nighttime. Then the trail seemed to just disappear. It was white blaze. Walk a little further. White blaze. Then no more blazes. I would backtrack to the last blaze, turn around and hike forward and nothing. I did this a couple of times then the temperature dropped and it started to rain and the thunder was much closer. Further off in the distance I was what appeared to be a trail and guessing the maintainers figured any dummy could see that trail so why waste paint marking it. I started walking down that path and the rain was really coming down now. The path ended at a cell tower. Expletive deleted. I put on my rain jacket and put my phone and camera in ziplocs then turned around and waded back to the last blaze. No sooner than I turned back around to look for the trail again when there was what looked, sounded, and felt like an explosion very near that path I had just come from. Nothing to do but get off that ridge. I pretty much ran down into the woods and stood there for about 45 minutes feeling like I was being sprayed with a fire hose. The storm finally passed so I could resume my game of find the trail. It took awhile but after using a grid search I found the ¢missing¢ blaze. The trail was very clearly marked if you knew where to look. I was hiking in one strip of rocks and the next blaze was painted in a groove a couple of strips of rocks over from where I was hiking. I was tempted to go into town and buy some white paint to do the job right. As I hiked towards the road crossing I could hear the sirens from emergency vehicles coming and going from both directions.The sky looked like things were clearing up and I still had at least 2 hours of hiking ahead of me. The trail came out on a road in Branchville, NJ. I could see a gas station just down the road so I turned left and headed that way hoping for a snack. Once there I found the only thing they sold was gas. Bummer. While on the road I continued to hear sirens everywhere and the fire department closed a road intersecting the road where I was walking. This was the road to the trail. Turns out there was a tree down across the road. I came to the trailhead parking lot where there was a paved forest road that looked to be going the same direction as the AT was going. I was tempted to just walk that road but the thoughts of possibly being wrong made me stick to the true trail.Oh well. Back to hiking.  The going was muddy, rocky, and in places overgrown with vegetation. It was very dark, and the going was very slow. Visibility was made worse by my headlamp reflecting off the mist like when you drive with your headlights on in the fog. I didn't make it to camp until around 10:30 that night. There was one person sleeping in the shelter but I had no interest in sleeping there anyway. I put my food bag in the bear box, set up my tent and was out like a light. Until I was rudely awakened by yet another thunderstorm. Oh well, nothing to do but hope I stay dry. Day 31Anderson Shelter to Town Park, Unionville, NYAT Miles 19.8Miles hiked 20.3Ahhh, morning time. The rain stopped sometime in the night and all my stuff was still dry. Hallelujah!  I got my food bag out of the bear box and noticed the other hiker had already left. For some reason ramen sounded good for breakfast so I cooked some up. It met all my expectations. As I was enjoying my soup and planning my day I caught something moving out of the corner of my eye. Yikes! A bear. Yogi was trying to join me for breakfast. Morning visitor at Gren Anderson shelterHis nose was in the air twitching about a hundred miles an hour. I yelled at him to go away and he turned like he was leaving then looked back over his shoulder and gave me that, "Are you sure?" look. I yelled at him again and he started to walk away then looked back one more time and decided to come back. You know how when somebody cusses you out in a foreign language you have no idea what they just said but you know it wasn't good? Yeah, works with bears too. And he seemed to get the message. I threw a rock at him for good measure and he took the hint and ran off. After he got about 100 yards away he sat down and started licking himself like a big old dog then started walking away. I took a couple of pics and some video and figured that's that and went back to eating. About five minutes later he came sauntering up another path like a happy puppy dog looking for love. So I more vociferously expressed my objection to his presence which seemed to hurt his feelings. Not taking the hint that I wasn¢t willing to share breakfast with him he turned back around and started towards the picnic table again. So, I launched another rock at him. He ran faster and farther this time. After he left I took stock of my supply of rocks suitable for throwing at bears and noticed that I was low on ammunition. Hopefully he left for good this time.Despite his departure, I kept an eye out as I packed up and sure enough he came in again through the back part of camp. Once again I told him to leave and once again he begrudgingly left. I couldn't help but laugh as I thought about how similar he was to Yogi Bear in the cartoons. Ranger Smith is not going to be very happy Yogi.Soon after hiking out I came upon a deer off to the side of the trail eating. As I often do when I come upon animals I started talking to the deer in a quiet, calm voice. It looked at me then started walking along beside me. After about 50 feet I shooed it off not wanting to end up being like one of those Instagram idiots trying to bond with the wildlife.Soon and unexpectedly the trail turned from rocky to smooth which made for some fast hiking. The sun came out and it was a glorious day for hiking. There was a nice view on the climb up Sunrise Mountain. At the summit of the mountain was a very nice stone pavilion. I stopped here for a break to take in the views and enjoy a snack.Once again, water sources were farther apart than my thirst and I was starting to get a bit worried. As I came to Mashipacong Shelter there was a water cache on the bear box. Score! I filled up and was wanting to take another break but there was no shade at the shelter so I decided to move on. Just past the shelter was a bear moseying through the woods. I took a couple of pics but I don't know if he even saw me.Soon I crossed the road and there was a guy standing by his truck looking in my direction. As I entered the parking lot he asked if I saw the bear. I told him I had and showed him the pics. Turns out he (the guy, not the bear) was there offering trail magic. He had just put the snacks away when the bear came through the parking lot. He is 5th generation in his family living in the area and we had a great conversation about his local roots, the area history, and stories behind the names of places. He's been hiking in that area since he was a little kid and was describing the trail like he was describing the inside of his house. He also told me that as soon as he retires he's hiking the AT. Yep, his name is also Bob. He gave me his number and said if I needed anything between there and Bear Mountain, NY to call and either he or his wife would be happy to help me out.  The hike took me along a ridgeline with exposed slabs of granite providing great views towards the east. I eventually came to High Point State Park. The visitor center was still open so I took advantage of the restrooms and bought some snacks. The ranger at the visitor center encouraged me to go to the beach where I could enjoy a swim. I was tempted but still a good way to go to reach Unionville, NY. I was hoping to make it there before the town closed because I heard there was good food there.Not long after leaving the park the rain started again. At least it was not a hard rain but more of a drizzle. Just enough to be annoying. I passed an observation tower but the cloud cover and rain obscured any potential views so I passed it up and kept on hiking.  FieldSome of the trail went through fields and the trail was still very wet and muddy in places. Climbing over a stone field wall I startled a roosted turkey which exploded from a tree scaring me half to death. As I approached a pond I was startled again when a wood duck took off from almost under my feet.  PondThe rain stopped for a bit but I was already wet so it didn¢t really matter. A few miles of slogging later I was supposed to come to the trail to the Secret Shelter. This is a small cabin that the property owner allows hikers to stay in. Due to health issues of the owner the place is overgrown so hikers have been avoiding it. The trail was so flooded and in places overgrown that I never did see the trail to the cabin so it really is a secret.  A branch of the Appalachian "Creek"By now it was nearing dark and the rain resumed and the trail came to a swamp crossing. Nailed to a tree right before the trail entered the swamp was not one but two signs warning hikers to take the walk around trail rather than risk hiking through the swamp. Under the current set of weather circumstances I decided to walk around rather than through the swamp. Later on Pizza Handz would tell me that the swamp had a lot of mosquitoes and there were some sketchy board bridges but he was able to make it through. Still much later on I learned that Crocstar lost his phone in the swamp.The walk around trail seemed a bit long but it was partially on a road so that made for some faster walking. The trail reentered the woods and it was dark enough I had to put on my headlamp. So much for an early arrival. I started seeing houses through the woods so knew I must be getting close to town but this kept up for quite some time before I arrived at a road intersection. Not sure which way to go to get to town I pulled out my phone and it was basically useless. First, despite being in a ziploc, it was so wet I couldn¢t get it to let me log in. I finally got it dried off enough that I could get up Google Maps. The voice on the app told me to turn right despite it looking like I should turn left. As I approached a bridge I was told to turn around. Aha! I was right. Only to have my direction once again changed and I was heading back towards the bridge. Only to have the map narrator change her mind again. Enough. I looked to my right and it looked really dark. I looked to my left and it looked less dark. Left it is.It was about a mile walk into town. The roads were a bit flooded attesting to the amount of rain that had fallen the past few days. The next order of business was to figure out where the town park is located. Supposedly thru hikers are allowed to camp in the park. I continued walking to an intersection where two guys were standing by their cars in a parking lot. I asked them if they knew anything about camping in the park. They both did but said I needed a permit from the town clerk but that the clerk¢s office was closed. The older guy said he didn¢t think anybody would care but to make sure I stopped at Annabel¢s Pizzaria before going to the park. After I got directions I headed to the park and pizzeria. I got to the restaurant before closing. I was a wet, muddy mess so after ordering I told the owner I would eat outside on the porch. He insisted that I sit inside. I tried to charge my phone but it was so wet that it wouldn¢t work. The pizza was delicious beyond description. Undoubtedly the best food I¢d eaten since starting my hike.After eating I walked across the street to the park and set up my tent. There was one other hiker camped there. I was trying not to disturb him since it was late for a hiker but I did see him peek out under his tent once. Probably making sure I was a hiker and not a serial killer.  One of the perks of this place was a water hose the hikers could use so I cleaned all the mud off my legs before going to bed. Then there was a clean Porta-John as well. Nice. All the amenities of home.It sounded like there was a cookout or party going on somewhere in the neighborhood behind the park but I was so tired that once I got in my tent I pretty much just passed out. Until the dog started barking. Turns out the dog¢s name was Rascal. I learned this from the countless times that somebody yelled, ¢shut up Rascal.¢ Despite all that I managed to get some sleep. Sometime during the night it poured. Thankfully, I stayed dry.Day 32Unionville, NY to Wawayanda ShelterAT Miles 17.0Miles hiked 17.3This day was probably my most miserable day on the trail so far. Let me restate that - this day was definitely my most miserable day on trail so far.  I woke up around 6:30 and noticed the other hiker was already gone. Wow! He had packed up and left in the rain. Must be a hard core hiker.Since everything was wet from the rain last night I started dragging my stuff over to the gazebo to pack. There was a sign posting all the park¢s rules and one of the rules was no alcohol in the park. I wasn¢t worried about breaking any rules, particularly the alcohol rule until my backpack fell off a bench and I heard this strange hissing sound. Snake? I started looking around and didn¢t see a snake. Then it started to smell like a brewery. OH NO!!! I had forgotten about that beer that Bob gave me the other day. It was in the mesh pocket of my backpack and now it was spewing its contents all over the floor of the gazebo where alcohol was strictly forbidden. Not wanting to make things bad for future hikers, I got my stuff off the floor, tossed the beer can in the trash and drug the water hose over to the gazebo to give the floor a bath.  Finally packed up I really wanted breakfast before heading out and saw that the general store was open. Well, maybe I could at least get chocolate milk and a stale honey bun. When I got there, much to my surprise, Pizza Handz was already there. He was on the phone working on getting trekking poles sent to him on the trail. It didn't sound like it was going smoothly.I went in the store to see what I could find and much to my shock and joy they had fresh, just made, donuts! Big, greasy, sugar coated rings of delight. I ordered two. One was a yeast donut filled with apple filling like an apple pie donut. I would almost take a road trip back to that store just to eat another of those donuts. The other was your basic glazed. Oh, and a chocolate milk. Two of them. One for each donut.They had a nice porch with chairs, tables, books, and electric outlets. My phone was now dry enough to charge so I got comfortable and enjoyed breakfast and paged through one of the books. Pizza Handz finished his phone call. Turns out he was the other camper but his tent started leaking profusely because of a broken trekking pole. So, he grabbed everything and sat on the front porch of the store slapping mosquitoes until it opened. He was trying to find new trekking poles and ended up getting his mom to send him an old pair. This is easier said than done since he had to figure out where to send them to get them the quickest without having to wait around for a package.We discussed our hiking plans for the day and left for the trail together. The first part of the trail was a road walk to the trail. The actual trail was nasty. Muddy and wet and suddenly there were clouds of mosquitoes relentlessly attacking every piece of exposed flesh. Then, thankfully, we were back on a country road. Blessed relief from what we just experienced. Walking along I heard familiar voices yelling "trail magic!" Link and Daddy were sitting in a carport where a lady had snacks and sodas. Nice!Back on the road we soon came to the trail. It started out with a climb that was steep but at least not wet and muddy. Yet. The others decided to continue down the road to the next trail crossing. I took the trail. Then the rain returned. With a vengeance.The rest of the day was hiking in rivers of water pouring down the trail except where the trail was flat. There was no avoiding being soaked. The flat sections were huge ponds of water, some knee deep. In all fairness, there were occasional stretches of trail that didn't involve wading but with soaking wet socks and shoes that made that squishing sound, it didn't matter.Finally, mid-afternoon, the sky ran out of water. While the trail mostly sucked, at least it wasn't raining.  The downside of the rain stopping though was the mosquitoes got worse. The rest of the day involved awkward attempts at trying to hike while swatting at mosquitoes. Backpacks really impede your range of motion.Now, many of you astute readers are asking the obvious question: ¢Why don¢t you use bug spray.¢ Fair question. And though we don¢t have sense to come in out of the rain, hikers do possess a modicum of intelligence. Here is what we learned about insect repellant. OFF = On. Repel = Attract. In other words. Bug spray was ineffective against this particular strain of mosquitoes. They even bit through our clothing.It was starting to get dark but I could still hike without a headlamp. About a mile from camp, I turned at a trail intersection and came face to face with a bear about 10 feet away. I stopped and stared at him. He stopped and stared at me. Neither of us moved. I was running down all the things people are supposed to do when they encounter a bear in the woods. I suppose he was standing there running through the list of things bears are supposed to do when they encounter people in the woods. He must have reached the end of his list before I reached the end of mine because suddenly, he just about turned himself inside out turning around before he sprinted off.  I finally made it to camp at the Wawayanda shelter. There were several hikers there, most of whom I'd never seen before but all around my age. I fixed chili flavored ramen mixed with fajita flavored chicken for dinner. Very spicy but very good. It would have been nice to be able to savor that goodness. But the mosquitoes were relentless so I had to gulp my meal down so I could seek shelter in my tent. I quickly set up my tent and crawled into bed. Funny, my sleeping pad seemed under inflated. I aired it up again and soon found myself lying on hard ground. I figured out it was leaking from the valve. I messed with it some but was too tired to care so I just slept on the hard ground.It rained a bit during the night but more as a rubbing salt in a wound sort of gesture than serious rain.Day 33Wawayanda to Stealth Site at Mile 1381.6AT Miles 16.2Miles hiked 16.5I was up before all the other hikers for a change and quietly made my way to the privy. As I was exiting the privy I heard an exclamation of surprise as High Noon was reaching for the door handle at the same time I opened the door.  So, I do know somebody camped here.  And now that the morning quiet has been shattered, I'm sure the other hikers will be stirring about.I quickly packed up trying to evade the mosquitoes with plans of eating breakfast at the nearby state park HQ. I never saw the headquarters so I just kept on hiking. Someone later told me it was off the trail, back in the woods and you had to be looking for it to see it.I was soon pulling myself up over ledges and boulders instead of walking up a steep rocky trail. The trail here was way different than any I've hiked so far. I caught up with a hiker from NJ who had recently returned to the trail after a short break. He said he felt like his legs forgot what it felt like to hike. I just knew I felt like I was working much harder than usual.Once I was at the top of the mountain the trail followed along the flat, mostly smooth sections of rock with occasional climbs up and down. This would be incredibly fun in less humid conditions without a backpack. As it was, it was still pretty fun and a departure from just steady, constant walking.  It was on these rocks where I had my first fall. While trying to walk down one of these long, slanted sheets of granite I soon found myself sliding down the rock on one foot toward a jumble of rocks. This could have ended in one of three ways: One, my forward momentum is suddenly arrested and I pitch forward, face first into the rocks. Two, I stop suddenly, posed on one foot, perfectly balanced, throwing my arms in the air like an Olympic gymnast on a dismount. Or, my foot goes out from under me and I fall backwards with my backpack cushioning my landing. Fate chose the latter and after a moment to figure out what just happened, I got back up and continued my descent. This time in a more controlled fashion.After several miles of this the trail "settled down" and I began looking for a place to camp. I chose a nice stealth site for the evening. The ground was relatively rock free which suited my flat sleeping pad.  I was joined for dinner by a swarm of mosquitoes and gnats.The approaching darkness told me it was time to hang the food bag so off I went in search of a tree. Sadly, the best tree I saw was next to my tent. I found an old forest road and followed it until I found a good tree. The branch was kind of high but worth a try. I got the rope over on the first try but the branch was too springy and I couldn't pull the bag up. On to tree number two. It took a couple of throws but I finally got the rope over the branch. The rock was too light and wouldn't pull the rope down. New rock, good throw and much to my dismay, the rock spun around the branch and I couldn't get it down. MacGyver time. Back to camp to retrieve my knife and a piece of rope. Off in search of a long, straight branch to lash the knife to. I pulled the slack out of the rope and managed to cut the rope (not the easy feat you might imagine). Now, on to tree number three. I got a better rock, got it over on the first throw but again the rock was too light. I found a long forked stick and coaxed the rock down but now my rope was too short. I went back to camp to get a piece of extra tent rope and used a sheet bend to join my other piece of rope and finally got my food bag hung.I made it back to my tent after donating only a pint of blood to the local mosquito population. Despite my flat mattress I slept pretty good.Day 34Stealth Site at Mile 1381.6 to William Brien Memorial ShelterAT Miles 15.8Miles hiked 17.8Today's hike was pretty uneventful. It was a lot of putting one foot in front of the other, fording streams (both real and on sections of the trail). I did run into Jose who had taken a fall the day before so was slack packing southbound. We tried to have a conversation but the mosquitoes were too bad. We fist bumped, wished each other well. Nothing to do but keep hiking and swatting. Had it not been so wet I feel like I could have made really good time on this section of trail. At one creek crossing I passed a family that is hiking the trail together. I later learned they are from New Hampshire. (Queen of Hearts, Xena, and Habits)As I came to a stream where the water actually looked clear I stopped to filter some water.  The family caught up and joined me. They dumped their brown water in favor of this unusually clear water. We all ate a snack then took off. They were hiking faster than me so were soon out of sight.There were a couple of good rock climbing sections then it was back to nice trail again. Oh, and rain. Of course.As I entered Harriman State Park I passed the family again. I was off in Never Never Land while hiking on this wonderful forest road when it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't seen any white blazes in a while. Turns out like in almost a mile of a while. Yep. Love those bonus miles. Finally back on the actual AT and not my version of the AT, I was looking forward to the highlight of the day: The Lemon Squeezer. I've read about it and heard it mentioned on podcasts and now I was about to see if it lived up to the hype. But to get there required several steep climbs up and down some mountains. Sometimes I wondered if I was just doing the same mountain over and over. How big was this place anyway?Finally the trail led to an old mill race before the climb. I stopped to get water and admire the craftsmanship of the stone masons who built the mill race. Up on the hill was a big buck deer with a great rack. I tried to get some pics before heading up the trail. Xena passed me on the way up. We chatted a bit and she seemed unaware that she was about to encounter the Lemon Squeezer. The first thing you pass through is like a big cave and my thought was, "This isn't so special." Then I turned the corner and thought, "How am I going to fit through that?"Amazingly, Xena walked through with no problem. I got stuck. I had to laugh at my predicament as the first thought that went through my head was the Winnie the Pooh movie where Pooh got stuck trying to get Rabbit's honey. So, here I was, wedged between two wet rocks. I had to worm my way backwards, get my pack off, throw my trekking poles up on a ledge, push my pack through ahead of me until I got to where I could lift it over my head and throw it up on the ledge, then squeeze myself through and climb up on the ledge to gather my gear. Right after the Lemon Squeezer was a climb up a rock wall. Try as I might I couldn't figure out how to make the climb while wearing my pack without becoming an episode on Rescue 911. After a few unproductive tries and slips I took the blue blaze trail around. Though labeled the "Easy Trail," It was no piece of cake.I was on the way out of Harriman, near the big, blue water tank when a female hiker coming from the other direction stopped me and asked if I wanted any snacks. Sure! Seems she has made it her mission in life to fill her backpack with cold sodas and healthy snacks and hike them up to the shelter in Harriman Park to do trail magic. I happily accepted her offer of an apple and a root beer. She also interviews hikers for her AT Instagram page. When asked what my most memorable thing of the day was, I told her about Xena walking through the Lemon Squeezer without getting squoze. She liked that and wanted to use it as her quote of the day for her Instagram site. I thanked her for the snacks and told her I'm sure all hikers appreciate her kindness. She wished me well and we went our separate ways.I finally arrived at the William Brien shelter where I was stopping for the night. This was the saddest looking shelter area I've seen so far. The New Hampshire family and another hiker were also camped there. At least they had a new bear cable system and a spring. I cooked dinner, cleaned the mud off my legs, and hung my food bag. Then it was time for bed. I really missed my once inflatable sleep pad.Day 35Brien Shelter to Graymoor FriaryAT Miles 19.7Miles hiked 20.2This was a great hiking day. Despite the mosquitoes. The terrain was pretty nice, the trail was pretty smooth and relatively rock free. My only concern was what it would be like going up and over Bear Mountain. First, due to the severity of the storms, Bear Mountain State Park was closed. Approximately 9 inches of rain fell in three hours causing flash floods and road beds to wash away. According to Far Out, the trail through the park was now open to thru hikers. Second, given all the other ascents in NY, I wondered how difficult climbing their biggest mountain would be. On the plus side, word was that the vending machines were working so I was looking forward to a cold drink to go along with my lunch.  Entering the park were signs saying the trail was closed to everybody. But, according to the rumor mill, rangers had been telling hikers it was OK to hike through the park. Silver Back later told me that he was turned away from the park the day before so I feel lucky to have been able to hike through the park.The trail looked fine climbing up the trail entering the park from the south. I was waiting for disaster. It never happened. The Trail was very nice with some good views. There were also these rustic benches at the views dedicated to the memories of different people I reckon were somehow associated with the park. The approach to the summit was not a series of harrowing climbs. Instead, I found a marvel of carefully laid stone steps going up the mountain. I cannot imagine the labor that went into the construction of those steps.Once at the top of the mountain I saw the soda machines near a restroom being renovated. The only soda not sold out was Coke Zero. At first I decided to pass on the soda since I¢d not had a Coke in years and lost my taste for it. I went over near the tower looking for a good spot to eat lunch and found out I was not the only person in the park. The New Hampshire family was already there eating their lunch and we remarked how odd it felt to be the only people there. They asked if I¢d bought a soda and I told them I wasn¢t a fan of Coke Zero. Queen of Hearts said none of them are either but that it tasted incredible. So I decided to give it a try. The machine didn¢t like my dollar bills and gave me change in dollar coins. More pack weight. I tried my credit card and to my amazement, it worked!So I bought two and dropped one on the ground. A rock punctured the can so I had to shotgun that first Coke. They were right. It was amazing! I went back to my lunch spot to enjoy my lunch. The family took off after a few minutes hoping to come back the next day to see the zoo. Now I had the mountain all to myself. It was a bit surreal up there feeling like I was the only person in this usually bustling tourist attraction.  I finished lunch and started the walk down the mountain. Steps just like before but on this side of the mountain the ravages of the storm were evident as parts of the trail were completely washed away.The park has a museum and zoo that hikers like to visit as well as a good restaurant and food stands. All these were closed. The only other soul I saw on my way through the park was a guy mowing grass.Since the zoo was closed I had to take the blue trail out of the park. The trail wasn't well maintained so it kind of spoiled the mood. I spooked a deer which ran ahead a bit. As I rounded a corner, there he was again. Again he took off. I finally got off the trail onto a walkway to cross the Bear Mountain bridge into Connecticut.  The deer was still in front of me and sprinted into the enclosed bridge maintenance facility. I wonder what the bridge crew thought of that. Or the deer for that matter.It took a moment but I finally figured out where to cross the highway so I could cross the Hudson River. It was a nice, scenic walk with great views up the river. I really enjoyed watching the trains on the tracks near the river.After a short road walk I was soon on a trail that was supposed to go up to Mad Anthony's nose. The trail was so messed up I had a hard time following it. I somehow ended up almost at the top of the mountain before I realized I was not on any marked trail. Looking on Far Out it would be a steep climb back down to the official AT so I worked my way across the mountain to the AT and continued my ascent.After looking at Far Out I figured I could make the Appalachian Market for dinner and resupply then camp at the Graymoor Friary. The plan worked and a short while later I was crossing the road to the market. There were several hikers there. It¢s strange how you walk all day hardly seeing a soul then all of a sudden there are like 20 hikers in one place. Jose Frio was already there and he strongly recommended the chicken Quesadilla. Good suggestion. Jose got something else to eat and we shared my phone charger while we ate. After eating I bought three days of food and snacks, repacked my pack. Then Jose and I hiked to the friary.Since the early 70s the Friars have allowed through hikers to camp on the softball field there. There is also a picnic pavilion, cold shower, water spigot, and electric outlets. Jose and I set up our tents then I went over to experience the cold shower. I got in the shower with my hiking clothes and did laundry at the same time I took a shower. While a lot on the brisk side it was nice to scrub all the mud off me.I quickly dried off, put on dry clothes and sprinted to my tent hoping to outrun the mosquitoes. When I got to my tent I realized I was missing a sock. So much for diving into bed. Now I'm on a scavenger hunt looking for my sock in the dark trying not to disturb the sleeping hikers. I finally gave up and took my tired self to bed.The long grass of the outfield provided some nice cushioning in the absence of an inflatable air mattress.Hiking the Dream!Please email comments to:bobshike2023@gmail.com