Date: 2022-06-21
From: Fingerboard Shelter mile 1392.1

To: Bear Mt Bridge mile 1407.9
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Slept reasonably well last night but the tent was on a distinct slant and I kept sliding towards the foot of the tent. Each time I woke up I had to slide myself back to the other side. The plan was to do a snack in the morning before starting and then head to Tiorati Circle for breakfast and flush toilets. We got started roughly similar to the other days taking into account the detour down to the park.Not too much notable for the next couple miles until we got to a view of the New York City skyline, although it was very hazy out and the skyline was hard to see. Following that we headed down for a while until we got to the temporary detour that the New York New Jersey trail conference has put in place to avoid a major road crossing of the Palisades Parkway. However since it was about 11 o¢clock on a Tuesday we estimated that the traffic would be light and we decided to continue on the AT itself and across the parkway, especially as there was water on the other side of the parkway. As expected traffic was light and it was easy to cross. We didn¢t even have to wait to cross.Following that there were two big climbs with a long descent in between until we were on top of Bear Mountain by the Perkins Memorial Tower. No concession stand, but there was ice cream and soda vending machines. We all had ice cream and drinks. I climbed up the tower, which is probably 50 feet tall, and took a video but I¢m sure it¢s not gonna come out very well. After a long break we headed down the very popular trail the trail conference redid a number of years ago and put in over 1000 stone steps. Hung out briefly as Mr. Orchid was coming at five and we had a little bit of time to wait. When we got to the zoo it was after the posted closing time and we had also seen an alert that said that the zoo was closed Monday through Friday for construction. So rather than heading towards the zoo to see if it was open and then backtracking, we just took the bypass trail around the zoo. However when we got to the other end the gate looked open so maybe we could have gone through the zoo. Immediately after the zoo was a treacherous road crossing to get across 202 to the sidewalk side of the Bear Mountain Bridge during rush hour. We had to wait for high-speed traffic on one side to clear and then stop traffic on the other backup up side to get across. Turned out to be much worse of a road crossing than the Palisades Parkway with much shorter site lines. We then crossed the bridge which spans the Hudson river where we met Mr. Orchid. We¢re planning to stay in Fahnestock State Park campground for the next three nights. We will be doing a series of slackpack¢s while Orchid¢s husband, sister (and family) all visit. Pilgrim and I have a nice site off the road not too far from the bathroom that we will stay in the whole time. On the way to the campground we stopped at ShopRite and Chipotle for a resupply and dinner. A burrito bowl goes down really quickly even after two apple turnovers and a banana.By the time we got done eating, setting up camp, and taking a shower it was already 930 and much later than I had hoped to go to bed. I am definitely tired and I had a lot of aches and pains today that I haven¢t had yet on trail. Bottoms of both feet are definitely a more sore than usual. However, left knee has given me some pangs during the day, and every now and then I got a twinge in my right hip. So I feel like a little bit of a hot mess right now. Fortunately nothing really appears swollen so I think it¢s just the weight of the pack and the big elevation gain compared to the last couple days. Fortunately we will be slackpacking tomorrow so I will have much less weight on the feet and legs and some shorter days ahead.The last couple days we¢ve been getting into camp later than usual and I am definitely behind in journaling and Instagram and uploading files. I also haven¢t had a lot of cell service at camp either recently which hasn¢t helped. Many times I¢m starting a journal entry and then finishing it later the next day. Hopefully I¢ll get caught up this weekend when I have a double zero for a family vacation.Steps 31200Weather Forecast: 77/61 chance afternoon rain Jen (my awesome video editor) also created a website to consolidate info: https://atwithduckie.wixsite.c...