Date: 2004-08-12
From: Fingerboard Shelter

To: Bear Mt. Bridge Motel
Miles today: 14.2

Trail Day 143 -        Last day on the trail.daily miles 14.2 on ATIt rained all night and was drizzling in the morning when I set out. The others were still in their bags. I walked a mile and turned down a highway to Tiorati Lake Campground to use the restroom and call my wife. The faucet water there was brown with iron, so I kept my lake water instead. Thunder and rain resumed as I walked back up to the AT. It rained most of the morning, but not as hard as yesterday. I stopped for lunch at the William Brian Shelter, which was made of stone at the base of a cliff. The cliff wall was the back wall of the shelter. In the register, I read that Archeopteryx, who I had not seen since Fontana Dam, was going to see a doctor for knee pain in Ft. Montgomery. Willy Wallace wrote that he had seen a doctor for knee pain and he was given pain relievers. He stopped taking them when they made him tired and dulled his senses. I climbed steeply 500 ft. up West Mt. and slid down it even more steeply. The next mountain was Bear Mt., a 600 ft. ascent that was more gradual. I should have been able to climb this without any problem, but I felt weak and tired. I thought about how my father, who grew up on the Hudson River near here, must have climbed this mountain when he was a Boy Scout before WWII. I decided to get off the trail at the Bear Mt. Inn and stay at a motel to rest. I had been feeling tired since hiking the Roller Coaster in Virginia. Before then I powered up 500 ft. climbs with ease; now I stopped to rest. I called the Bear Mt. Bridge Motel from the Inn to arrange a pick up. This is a less expensive place in nearby Ft. Montgomery, close to restaurants and a grocery. I had a good meal and resupplied for the trail.That evening I watched weather reports about Hurricane Charlie approaching Florida. It was projected to come up the East Coast after crossing Florida, bringing heavy rainfall. It would go right through Orlando, where my mother lives. I stayed Thursday and Friday nights to wait out the storm, keep in touch with my mother and watch projections. On Saturday morning, I called my mom: she weathered the hurricane, but said it was very scary. There was wind damage to the roof and patio screen. The back fence was down and the yard was a mess.Charlie was expected to bring four inches of rain to Eastern NY on Sunday. I did not want to hike out in that. There were no rooms available in the area this weekend because West Point Military Academy was having graduation ceremonies. I could not hike out and I could not stay, so I called my Aunt Elsie on Long Island and arranged to stay with her.I decided to end my hike for this year. I was still tired after two days of rest. I think that my weight loss down to 165 lbs. has depleted my energy reserves. Although I gorged myself in towns, I was not regaining weight or energy. I was still enjoying the trail, but hiking was becoming a struggle. Bear Mt. is a good place to get off the trail: there is a bus line from the Inn to the Port Authority of NYC. Easy to get back on too.I have hiked 1,502 miles of the AT this year since March 23rd. I have 672 miles to go to complete the trail. This includes some of the most dramatic and strenuous portions in New Hampshire and Maine. I would enjoy hiking the remainder more next year when I have regained my energy. It will take two months, much less time than the almost five months I have been away from home. I will not be a thruhiker this year, but that is okay. It is the journey that is important, not the goal. It is time for me to go home.