Date: 2020-08-23
From: Warwick Turnpike (Warwick)

To: Stealth site at Island Pond
Miles today: 23.3

Woke at dawn, very quiet despite the nearby road on a Sunday morning. Packed up, called Mark the shuttle guy who had offered me a ride back to trail yesterday, and went to the Bagel Shop with Poison. I was pleasantly surprised to see they had a lox bagel, one of my favorites. One of the benefits of trekking past New York City.Poison decided to zero at the drive-in. I was hiking by 8:30. The trail was rough and climbed sharply up and down bedrock ridges. Within an hour I was across the New York state line, a simple paint line on the bedrock. The trail rose and dipped over rock outcroppings, some with views of Greenwood Lake, a large boating and vacation home area. A few dayhikers and a handful of backpackers had ventured this far from the road. After ten miles I reached route 17 and immediately headed for the Bellvale creamery for a milkshake. The line was long with weekend business. Recharged my brick while I slurped up the cold creamy goodness. Stopped for a hot dog at the small stand by the trailhead on the way back. All told I spent almost two hours in the area. But with over sixteen miles to my intended destination of Fingerboard Shelter I was burning daylight. Time to move on. Three men at the trailhead asked me where the trail was. Then which direction they should go. Well, how far do you want to go? I sent them back the way I'd come since they had the whole afternoon, but wondered if they'd make it the three or four miles to the views. I warned them to follow the blazes since the trail took sharp turns. "What's a blaze?" the older guy asked. I hope they don't require search and rescue.About seven miles from the road I ran across two southbounders about a mile apart: Flanders and Butters. Both young guys, they had started from the base of Katahdin together in June before the summit opened. They were excited to learn they were about to catch Poison in Warwick at the drive-in. He'd started July 1st and passed them at some point. Butters said they planned to hike Katahdin during the winter when it reopens for ice-axe mountaineering.The trail over these next ten miles seemed to be all rocks, boulders, and bedrock. Plus many, many blowdowns from the tropical storm three weeks ago. Huge trees and branches blocked the trail and made for some head-scratching moments to relocate the path. When the trail ran straight up a bouldery slope with multiple trees felled across it, it was even more of a puzzle to find the way. There were numerous sharp climbs and harrowing descents over bedrock-topped ridges. The descent from Arden Mountain was the steepest. I couldn't help but slip a few times despite taking great care because the grade was so high. Even so, I was proud of conquering Arden again. The first time I hit this stretch during a long section hike three years ago I was in a similar position - near the end of a long, tough day, fatigued by heat and humidity and the constant ups and downs, and trying to finish more miles to reach the shelter. That time I lost it in frustration at the difficult climbs, the unexpected and poorly marked turns in the trail, the rocks, and the tricky descents. I had to stealth camp soon after getting past it, and I wound up making an unplanned stop in the next town to regroup. I had since built up Arden as a monumental task, but in reality it was less than two miles and had only a couple moderate climbs so it took well under an hour. Even the descent was only bad for a couple hundred yards.But the sun was relentlessly dropping, and in these valleys I knew darkness would come even earlier. I looked up Fingerboard Shelter in Guthooks and found there was a camping prohibition because of aggressive bear issues there. So not a good idea to stay there anyway. I walked a couple more miles into Harriman State Park and found a stealth site near Island Pond hidden from the trail and the gravel access road. Apparently dispersed camping is not permitted in this area. But with the shelter closed where am I supposed to camp? I made sure to hang the bear bag well. I don't need any nighttime visitors.