Date: 2016-08-16
From: Greymoor Spiritual Life Center

To: West Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: overcast clouds

August 16, 2016West Mountain Shelter   mile 792.9      13.2 miles hikedA new day! I got up early and was surprised to see Szamauri Blue already packed up and putting on his pack. He waved, I waved and off he went. I was excited about the prospect of going to the Appalachian Market just .5 miles from where I slept. I was there in no time, after I carefully made my way across traffic to get here. The roads lately are very busy and fast. The market has good resupply options and a good deli- specifically a breakfast sandwich, milk, coffee and 2 donuts. I sat at one of the high tables and watched CNN. Yesterday, I took a face plant. No reason, the trail was flat and soft, I just tripped over air and my cheek landed on the only pebble in the vicinity. I had a small bump and bruise last night but today It must look horrible. I say this because the people in the market looked at me in one of 2 ways, One: ¢Oh that poor dear has a mean boyfriend¢ or 2 ¢Don¢t mess with that lady, I don't want to see the other guy!¢ I write this in all honesty, this is not to make fun of either situation. Both are violent and I dislike that in any form. I wanted to comment on how people perceived me with what I imagined to be a significant black eye, based on how they interacted with me and their facial expressions. I looked in the mirror in the restroom and Yikes! I had a black eye, cheek and chin. Nothing hurt, it was so weird. CNN was a mistake. I just can't take being inundated with all of this information. Especially when some of it seems like a political joke gone horribly, horribly wrong. Crossing the Hudson River was so AWESOME! what a beautiful bridge. I lost the blazes after the bridge and had to retrace my steps twice, but I did find myself in the Zoo. There were mobs of people. Most of whom looked at me and quickly looked away. (my face!) Past the zoo was the state park on Hessian Lake, mobs of people here too. I did get trail magic from several groups of people- fresh fruit and ice tea. Most people just want to hear about the hike, and were super friendly. The hike up Bear Mountain was a breeze, Its a testament to every type of trail maintenance there is. It¢s a beautiful trail up to the monument on top. I hung out in the sun, enjoying the quiet and an orange soda from the vending machine. Last part of the day was a ridge walk with views of the Pallisades Parkway. I went to West Mountain Shelter and NO water. I retraced my steps to a big rock that had a big clean puddle and filtered that for 1 liter. I was joined by Kun, a young man from Norway. He was visiting his sister who had an internship in Washington DC. He wanted to be able to spend days in the woods without coming to a town. So he researched this section of the trail. Kun said that there just wasn't that kind of experience possible in his country. I did not know that. We could see NYC skyline far off, beautiful. The thunder started and I got a gallon zip lock bag out, ready¢¦.Kun was short on water and worried about tomorrow. It POURED! I caught a full gallon from the roof and filtered it for him. He was amazed and promptly took a long drink that he could now afford to have. We watched lightning strikes going to NYC. Kun remarked ¢Maybe that lightning hit Trump Towers!¢ (he-he) We had just had a very funny political discussion. If only you could vote Kun!I was around more people than I have been in months. I had a hard time getting to sleep.Insect SOBO 2016