Date: 2003-08-09
From: Trail to West Mtn. Shelter

To: Graymoor Friary
Miles today: 12.2

Woke up early today, which was good...we needed to be on the Trail by 8:30ish to meet Gene by 11. I slept really well, however, I was the only one who did. Apparently, there was some noise from the local wildlife that woke both Gerri and Randy, but I heard nothing. We ate breakfast, packed up and got out of our campsite by 8:45. Not too bad for late risers. We weren't sure what the terrain would be like, but the weather was mostly cooperating...it was foggy, not too hot, but quite humid. New York continued to provide lots of ups and downs to keep us occupied. We saw several deer today, including a fawn that stayed around for awhile while we talked to it. We met another SOBO today, Smooth. I guess we'll be running into more of them the further north we get. It's interesting getting their perspective on which terrain is easy and which is difficult...they've already come over some of the most difficult stuff. Smooth told us what to expect on the rest of the descent f!rom Bear Mountain, and we continued on. Deacon Blues passed us near the bottom of the mountain. He was heading to the next major road crossing to meet a friend who's joining him to hike for a few days. We were late meeting Gene, but he was very understanding, especially when we told him about the Palisades Parkway incident (we found out later on that it was a homicide, but we don't know whether it happened on the Trail or nearby). We got in his car, and went first to the supermarket, then to Gene's favorite diner in the town. I ordered chicken teriyaki, which was a HUGE plate of food. I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish it, but before I knew it, the food was gone. Guess I was hungry. Gene brought us back to the Bear Mtn. Inn, where we repacked our food bags with our resupply stuff. We thanked Gene profusely and went on our way. One of the first places we went through, was the local zoo...thru-hikers get to go through for free, and the Trail goes right through it. ! We had a great time looking at all the animals that were there. We spent WAY too long there, but it didn't matter, 'cause we were having fun. We crossed the Hudson River on a big suspension bridge...Seester, you would love it! Then we had to climb Anthony's Nose...or at least part of the way up. It was not easy, especially after the huge lunch and the lazy time in the zoo. After that, the terrain leveled out a bit, and even the climbs we had were easier. About an hour before we got to our destination for the day, the heavens opened up on us yet again. I was able to keep things in perspective today, however. I knew we were close to finishing for the day, and that we had a dry place to go to...the Graymoor Friary. We were arriving too late to have dinner with the monks, but we could still camp out there. Just before we got there, a van pulled up, the driver yelling something at us. I looked over and saw Roadie in the front seat of the van. I went over, and BackDraft, Viking, Mutant and another hiker I didn't recognize were also ther!e. They were going into town with a Trail Angel. I asked them to pick us up a 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew. We kept hiking and arrived at the Pavillion, where we are sleeping on tables. It's drier than the shelter that is located down by the ballfield. Unfortunately, the bugs are biting...it could be a sleepless night. We ate watermelon that the Trail Angel bought, as well as cookies and donuts...what a great dinner! I guess we'll save the Mountain Dew for breakfast...goodnight!