Date: 2005-07-25
From: William Brien Mem. Shelter

To: Graymoor Monastery
Miles today: 15.2

When Free saw me this morning she felt she had to check me for a fever. It was 6:00 and I had only been up for 10 minutes when she came by. Here she is wanting to check me for getting up late and I wanted to check her for being up early! Today's goal was the Graymoor Monastery, some 15 miles up the trail. Not a hard day, but harder now that we are doing ups and downs again. Yes sir, I remember when we could do 15 miles without even breathing hard. Now I have to breathe and give my legs a workout! No Show and A-Dumb had hiked in during the night and they asked if I wanted some hotdogs and buns. Being a hiker I accepted. They were going into NYC and didn't want to pack them. There was my lunch for the day! I said my see-yas to the girls and off I went. The water situation was poor. The water at the shelter had a real nasty taste to it but if that's all you have you deal with it. We had also heard the sources were pretty bleak all the way to the Bear Mtn. State Park. The excitement for the day came when I hit the Pallisades Parkway. Talk about a game of chicken with cars! Rush hour and I am supposed to make it across a parkway with cars doing 55 plus. Interesting! When I saw my break I started across and I heard two voices yelling, "Run, Cuppa Joe, run!" I thought I was Forrest Gump but it was only No Show and A-Dumb who had crossed earlier. Tak about a place to become road kill! I made it to the top of Bear Mtn; not the park but the actual mountain. There was a tower there that had the history of the area but the best part was the gallon of water sitting there. Not only was it good water but it was cold! Thanks to the tower caretaker for that one! I strolled into the park around 11:30 and was greeted by trash, a lot of trash! The park people were cleaning it up but I was amazed at how much there was. The thing that struck me was that there were garbage bins everywhere but it seems that the weekenders were too lazy to walk 50 feet to throw it away. Simply amazing! Bear Mtn. State Park is a year-round place. It has skiing in thw winter, boating, swimming, and all that during the rest of the year. It also has a zoo. The trail goes right through the zoo. Small cages and not too happy animals. I guess the city folk like it but it really bothered me. (I found out later that evening that I was not the only one who felt that way) I left the park and crossed the Hudson River. I didn't think it was that big, but it is a big river! Up and down a few more hills I went and by 3:30 I reached Graymoor. Graymoor is not really a monastery. The occupants are friars, not monks, so it is really a friary. They let hikers set up in the ball park and they do feed hikers! 14 of us were at dinner that night, among them being Poet, Free, Serenity, Clearwater, Stilts, and more. After dinner we were taken on a tour by Brother Leo. It was very interesting and he told us a lot of trivia about Graymoor and the trail. This place has seen a lot of history since its' founding in 1908. One of the cooler things, as well as somber, was the cross that had two rebar sections forming it from the World Trade Center after 9-11. They also had the 3000+ porcelin (sp?) stars, on loan from th state of NY, representing those killed in the attack. Brother Leo said they could see the towers burning from there. After the tour It was almost time for bed. I wanted to do some big miles tomorrow but I wasn't sure of the chance due to the terrain. If I am able I amy not see the girls for awhile unless they get into Kent before I head out. We will see.