Date: 2014-06-24
From: Clarence Fahnestock State Park

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Only ones at the shelter again - at least there is more than two people this time though - family night in the woods!Woke up early at the campsite and started getting ready earlier - surprising how early we wake up on the trail! Everything was going smoothly this morning and the whole crew was ready before eight AM - it is Mom's turn to hike with us today!The campsites at Clarence Fahnestock SP are ok for thru-hikers. The camping area at some of the sites is in rough shape and the facilities are so-so. Heard the concession stand is good but it was closed when we arrived and left.Stef dropped us off and our adventure began with the green trail back to the AT. Mom warmed up ok to the trail and no major issues. Climbing out from the lake on the AT we reached the top overlooking the lake and shortly after Mom tripped and fell on the trail - scary moment for Big Dawg and myself! A couple of scratches but nothing major so we kept on hiking (with more attention to the trail).Unfortunately Momma caught some of the rougher sections of trail today - nice trail mixed in with rocky between the lake and the RPH shelter made for slow going but we cleared the first five miles and lunched at the shelter. What a great shelter- fully enclosed, a covered porch, and old school water pump (do not forget to treat it though) and many chairs near the shelter. Very relaxing place to rest and recover and eat lunch. The trail after lunch was a bit tougher and more uphill - it was rough on Mom. She was doing pretty well considering she had both hips replaced but the trail was unforgiving and tripped her up two more times. We called Stef and had her come pick Mom up since the last two times were face plants into the trail - luckily no rocks where her face hit.Enjoyed a soda from the cooler and then Big Dawg and I finished the hike to the shelter - not without a funny moment, a nice section of trail, and a tough section.At the top of the hill right before NY 52 we were told by a sign that we were atop the Stormville Mountain Great Divide. Not only that, the sign said "all water north of here runs downhill" which prompted two thoughts:1) Duh! Water tends to follow gravity so this answer is almost always true2) Ignoring #1, does that mean that south of there the water runs uphill?Funny to think about it and we enjoyed the nice hiking from NY 52 up to Grape Hollow Road - made some good time on the nice terrain.However the day was not without its final surprise - the last climb up Mt. Egbert before the shelter was a little tough! Completely unexpected when looking at the profile and it frustrated Big Dawg - but we made it through.Mom and Stef hiked in to the shelter with their packs (I helped Mom with hers) and we settled in the camping area nearby. Only one thru-hiker stopped at the shelter before moving on (Hiker Monkey - very nice fellow from Minnesota) and we had the rest of the evening to ourselves. Built up a nice campfire and spent family time around it before bedtime.It was mostly a good day on the trail today - proud of Mom for what she accomplished today just wish she did not fall on her first time on the AT! She hiked enough to earn a trail name: Trail Momma aka Face Plant (she did not like the second one...wonder why).