Date: 2015-06-18
From: Telephone Pioneers Shelter

To: Schaghticoke Mountain Campsite
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Early this morning, we crossed a set of train tracks which could have led us to New York City... the call of civilization is strong, so difficult to resist. We hiked with determination as we were finishing NY today. The Trail was level and rockless; we breezed through a few fields and pastures. A few minutes after crossing a paved road, I realized that we had just missed our last opportunity to get food from a NY deli. Such disappointment!Apart from crossing into Connecticut, the rest of the day was really uneventful. The Trail was smooth and followed small tree-covered hills; the ground was at times covered in pine needles. In my naive mind, this is how I pictured what hiking would be: strolling along a neat trail, breathing in the fresh air, taking in the sight of the trees, the leaves, all the shades of green. Silence is often punctured by the song of a bird or the soft wind blowing. But NO. Hiking is looking at your feet, being startled by a sudden sound, looking up and stumbling forward after having tripped over a rock because you looked up and weren't paying attention to your feet. The mile prior to the shelter did become a bit more difficult as we approached the shelter when we crossed the Indian Rocks. This small segment passes through an actual reservation, home to the Schaghticoke tribe.We were pleased to hit CT, especially because this is our friend Not Yet's home state (Not Yet is on Trailjournals, by the way!) It gave us a certain reference point, as if CT seemed familar to us. It is a short state, we'll see how it goes.NEW YORK SUMMARY:What to say about New York? To me, this state had no real distinguishing feature, but instead was an agglomeration of terrain types. Very multi-faceted.- Southern NY is downright challenging. From the NJ border to Bear Mt, the terrain is extremely rocky and steep, forcing hikers to use hand-over-hand maneuvering. Impossibly difficult to navigate in the rain, but quasi-unbearable under the forceful sun, this segment is slow-going. We did it during a small heat wave and the rocks we needed to climb were very hot to the touch. - Many hikers have said that NY must be trying to compensate for its lack of mountains by complicating the Trail. It does seem that way as many times we were forced to scale up a vertical cliff as best we could with no indication of where we were supposed to go.- On that note, the Trail was often poorly marked and the white blazes were sparse.- Bear Mt was extremely popular among day hikers - we were there on a weekend day so the whole area was packed, even claustrophobic.- The few days following Bear Mountain were rocky and tedious, with many steep, pointless uphills and downhills. The terrain smoothed out though as we neared the NY-CT border, which was nice. - One very awesome thing: the delis! Many roadside delis where one can buy delicious hot sandwiches.- Overall, I conclude that NY is hard and with very little viewpoints or landmarks, but it was still enjoyable: it hits the right equilibrium of difficulty. Enough to surpass yourself without too much risk.I am very glad to be out of New York because we now enter unknown territory. In 2013, we had hiked the section spanning from Harpers Ferry to Bear Mountain. I found myself constantly frustrated by a terrain which did not match the one in my memory. We thought we would hike with very little difficulty, but in fact our perceived hardships were only replaced by new ones. It's the same way when you discuss the AT with another hiker - no two experiences are similar. It is therefore crucial to hike - either along the Trail or through life - without any expectations. I cannot predict future outcomes as my imagination is far too limited to factor in the infinite ways an anticipated event may unfold. We are constrained because our only real references are our past experiences, what we have already seen and understood.I suppose that is a good lesson from the Trail: exposing oneself to a variety of places and people will always lead to suprising outcomes because you could never imagine all of them by yourself.And now, New York haiku:Steep up and downhillsDeceptively difficultHooray! A deli!- Axon