Date: 2009-06-30
From: Fingerboard Shelter - Trail Mile: 800.0

To: Econo Lodge, Highland Falls, NY - Trail Mile 785.8
Miles today: 14.2

Day 10[Watson & Holmes' reported their arrival at the Econo Lodge north of Fort Montgomery after dark.Two photos received today, the one to the left taken at 3:41 pm. It was captioned: "Harvey, hurry, let's get down off of Bear Mtn before the thunderstorm gets us!! Thanks, Obi, for taking the photo!". (See photo gallery under 6/30/09 for the "There's Bear Mtn" photo.)Her journal entry:]Tuesday was another rough day. Ended up being 14 trail miles but really 16 miles walked. Ouch for both H and me. We got a late start (have to work on that - I'm sure the end of the day would be easier if we weren't rushing to make it to a campsite / shelter). Met Obi for the first time as he stopped in for breakfast. He started at the tip of Florida 200 days ago yesterday!! We made a quick stop at a beach area within the park to fill up on water and noted that SAW Man had also finally caught up. He was in the process of ordering a batch of homemade brownies from his mom to the next planned PO (not a bad idea, but I'm wondering how well they'll survive the mailing! I'll stuck with convenience store / Entenmann's for now.) We headed out first, but were quickly overtaken by the trio (TT & L, and SM). The five of us made quite the parade for a little while - human, dog, human, dog, human - until I fell behind on a long hill climb. No worries - I don't expect to keep pace on day 10! We stop at another shelter for lunch (oddly close together) and enjoy cold terriyaki chicken & rice that I had made at breakfast. Not bad. After lunch we cross the Palisades Parkway (no bridge, just try your luck two lanes of traffic at a time) and enter Bear Mountain Park. A couple more hills and a mistaken picture later, and we're finally climbing Bear Mountain. As a New Yorker, this is something I've wanted to do for a while, but it has always been hard to get an 80lb dog here on public transportation. Now I know the best way is to have a relative drop you off in PA and walk across NJ!!Unfortunately we did get caught in that thunderstorm on Bear Mountain, and H did not enjoy the experience at all. At one point the trail followed the road up the hill, so when a downpour really hit, we took refuge under some trees / bushes on the roadside to wait it out. (Thanks here to AG for the clear plastic bag our lunch was packed in - this became H's poncho.) Finally the downpour lessens and we jump out of the bushes in time to surprise Obi, who had never stopped walking. We walk with Obi in the rain to the top and take refuge in the lookout tower. TT & L and SM are already there. At this point it's getting late, H and I are pretty tired, we're all wet (not unusual for hikers, but still), and I realize my plan to get to the campsite 2 miles past the town and walk back in the morning to pick up mail is silly because to campsite is 500 feet straight up a hill. Why climb it twice?? So I opt for a hotel in town, and offer to share with the other waterlogged hikers who need to stop in town, too. This is somewhat complicated by the presence of dogs, and not knowing exactly how to get to the one hotel that will accept dogs, but eventually, with the help of Al and Barb Schauts (sp?) who own a garage in Fort Montgomery, we manage. Dinner is delivery: pizza and burgers and wings. Yum! Showers are divine, and I even get some laundry done in the sink. And of course, H and I are very glad to have a night in a warm, soft bed to rest sore bodies. Take care, all!41° 21' 22.39" N 73° 58' 20.28" W, 194 ftFor HarveysMom by Harvey's GrandPop