Date: 2003-08-23
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Fingerboard Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: scattered clouds

I love New York.Despite going to bed last night at 9:30pm in heat and humidity, I woke this morning actually feeling cold. Oh, that felt good. I can¢t remember the last time. It was so nice to have to zip up my sleeping bag and cozy up in it. To put on my fleece when I finally dragged myself out.Because I was tired. This vicious cycle we¢ve gotten into of starting late and getting in late¢¦ I can do big-mile days, maybe even on this terrain, but not starting at 10am!Which is about when we left today. This will be my first Sabbath of hiking. Real hiking, like all day hiking. I have mixed feelings about doing it, but I chose to wait for Toby back in Delaware Water Gap, and I'm supposed to meet Bushwhack and Bramble tomorrow in Bear Mountain, so I kind of don't have a choice. It's going to be one of the toughest days of hiking, too - a lot of miles on more challenging terrain. We stopped to eat lunch at around 12:30 and still had nearly 14 miles left¢¦and as the hours went by it just seemed like we didn¢t make any progress.New York has lots of bouldering stretches (on one of which Toby called me hardcore again!) ¢ steep climbs up rock faces, scrambles over rock piles, the famed ¢Lemon Squeezer¢ we passed through this afternoon. The Lemon Squeezer is a pass about 15 feet long and perhaps two wide ¢ barely wide enough to get through with your pack on. And slanted at about a 20 degree angle! I went through first and photographed Toby coming through as he said, ¢They ought to call this the Hiker Squeezer!¢I love it. I¢d so much rather climb up one of those than walk up a steep hill. I still struggle up somewhat; Toby¢s convinced it¢s either mental or that I need trekking poles. He suggested I try his up one hill; I guess they made a little difference ¢ my legs burned less (triceps more!), but I was still whooped cardiovascularly. ¢Yeah, but you recover faster now that you¢re fit,¢ he said. That¢s true.At Arden Valley Road we met a man in a pickup truck handing out Trail Magic. Sodas, juice, cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, etc. We hung out and talked to him for awhile. Very nice man.Then we entered Harriman State Park ¢ by far one of my most favorite sections yet. Of course the 75-degree breezy sunshiny day we¢ve had all day helps; but this is beautiful. Unfortunately I managed to lose the Trail AGAIN. At this rate, Toby¢s not going to trust me to lead anymore!At six when we hit the Lemon Squeezer we still had over seven miles to go. More climbs, more downhills. I sang ¢Georgia, Georgia¢¦I¢ve got Georgia on mind!¢ Up, down, up, down. I fell behind again on a climb and tried to be a good sport but inside I was thinking, ¢I¢m not going to make it seven more miles¢¦¢At 6:45 we got to the Fingerboard Shelter, and I suggested we check out the water situation. It¢s been scarce through New York so far, and what has been there has not looked attractive. The William Brien Memorial Shelter where we were headed supposedly didn¢t have any, or its source was unreliable (no faucet, Hal!), and though there was a stream listed between here and there we weren¢t sure what it would be like, either.So we called down to Nova to find out if there was any here. Yes, but its about a half-mile down the hill. Two other hikers were there, so I asked if they were SOBOs to see if we could assess the situation ahead. No, they were headed North, too. The man said, ¢Come on down, though, there¢s some chocolate chip cookies down here with your names on them.¢I looked at Toby, eyed the steep .1 down to the shelter, considered the time and the 5.3 miles left to go, and was ready to pass them up. But I asked Toby if he wanted some and he said, ¢Hell, yeah!¢ So we left our packs at the junction and headed down.Nova and Singe were here (a surprise, since both of them had been behind us earlier¢¦), Rodent, and Beck who we¢d spent the night with last night. We chatted for a few, and I wondered where the cookies were¢¦Finally I said to Toby, ¢How early would we have to get up tomorrow to make it to Bear Mountain by 11:30?¢ He swore, and we laughed, and the two hikers said, ¢Why? What¢s there?¢¢I¢m meeting some friends there¢¦¢ Then the faces I¢d seen once or twice in fuzzy photos came back and I said, ¢Are you Bushwhack?¢ It was the beloved Bushwhack and Bramble! We all erupted in laughter ¢ Toby and I because we were so happy we didn¢t have to hike any farther!As the time drew closer when I¢d meet Bushwhack and Bramble I started to worry, what if for some reason we don¢t like each other? Not possible. Within minutes I loved them in person as much as I have online! How I got so lucky as to get picked out by them to lend their support to I¢m not sure ¢ or how I deserve it, either. Bono gets a little credit for sort of ¢introducing¢ us online!We all sat around cooking our respective dinners, Bushwhack and Bramble lavishing Toby and I with treats. This is a great shelter in a beautiful spot. As soon as the sun dipped behind the hill it got chilly and everyone pretty much headed to bed.What a great day.