Date: 2004-08-11
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Fingerboard Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: light rain

Trail Day 142 - Rain at last!daily miles 14.3 on ATThe little spring at the shelter was home to a big frog and at least five little frogs. There has not been any rain in awhile so the streams and springs are going dry. I decided to wait until Fitzgerald Falls, about two miles away, before drawing water rather than take it from the frogs. I found the Falls to be just a trickle now, but there was a large enough pool below it for dipping. Today all of the streams I crossed were just dry beds. Trail angels in the area were aware of this and had placed jugs of potable water at two road crossings.It was another hot day, but relief was on the way. In the afternoon clouds built up and thunder overhead signaled rain. The heavens emptied in a gullywasher as I picked my way carefully down a cliff to the NY State Thruway pedestrian bridge. I saw a trail leading to an overhang off to the side that promised shelter from the storm. I debated to myself for a moment and continued down on the trail in the downpour. Good decision, because when I looked up at the overhang I saw that it jutted out into space with nothing underneath it and I could have fallen off the cliff if I had gone down that trail seeking shelter. I looked down at the stream of headlights stretching far away on the Thruway and realized that I was probably safer on that bridge exposed to the rain than those people were in their cars. On the other side, I entered Harrison State Park on a road and then a trail. They were both streams in the deluge, but I didn't mind. I stayed warm with the effort of hiking. The trail was much wider and smoother here in the Park. The forest was open with very little underbrush and tall mature trees. It was a beautiful scenic area. I had clearly come into a State Park that was well tended.The rain stopped as I crested Green Pond Mt. I sat on a rock, emptied the water from my boots and wrung out my socks. I passed by Island Pond and reached the Lemon Squeezer. This is a rock formation that the trail goes through in a long narrow passageway between two large boulders. With a little scraping on both sides I got through it without removing my pack. After two more miles of ups and downs, I arrived at Fingerboard Shelter. Nobody there but me. No privy and no water either. I followed a blue blazed trail half a mile down the hill to a road and a large lake. On the way I slipped and fell on a smooth rock shelf but was not hurt. I made my way down to the lake and dipped for water. The water was warm and cloudy, but it was all that was available. I always treat or filter water I take from a stream or pond.There was a lot of paper trash in the shelter which I burned in the fire ring. The shelter was old and dirty, but a broom was there to sweep it out. It was built of stone rather than wood, and it was perched on a rock slab overlooking the cove. It had fireplaces inside much like some shelters in the Smokies.While I was burning trash, Charlie the Tuna and Epiphany, southbounders, walked in to stay the night. At last I had company in a shelter again. It was good to have someone to talk with that evening. Two more southbounders came in at about 10 pm but we were already falling asleep by then. The rain started up again and continued until the morning.