Date: 2008-05-24
From: fingerboard shelter

To: greymoor spiritual life center pavilion
Miles today: 20.6

I woke up at 5 today and decided to get going early to try to catch a package at the PO. On the trail just as the first rays of the sun were creeping over the horizon. First time that has happened in a very long time. Sunrise is around 5:35 nowadays.I left ahead of TB because he wanted to sleep some more and only one of us needed to pick up the package. Its been a long time since that has happened.I pretty much booked it. The terrain was better than yesterday, and the rolling was good.I saw a total of 9 deer in the early morning before the Memorial Day weekend warriors stirred. They vanished after the crowds came out.Hit the first shelter around 7 as the people there were just starting to roll out of their tents. They were a little surprised to see me, but I kept going, straight up one of NY's favorite things: a large pile of rocks.On a bit and I got to the top of a number of bumps. I paused at the highest one to snap a picture of a nearby lake nestled in the hills, and I saw something to the south. It was that unmistakable skyline: New York City. I could see it fairly well about 40 miles distant over the water. I wasn't even expecting to see it. The weekend warriors from last night said you couldn't see if from the trail at all. Should have know better.This really picked up my spirits. I started my journey more than 3 months ago now, and it started just north of Atlanta, Georgia. I am now roughly the same distance north of NYC. I mean, I knew I was in NY, and I know where I am, but to actually validate that by seeing the city was simply astounding.A couple more ups and downs. Got up to Bear Mountain, just before the Hudson River. Got another view of NYC, and my first of the Hudson River. Got lost once again for about 10 minutes on top of the mountain. Blazing really sucks here as does the trail in some places. We are constantly going off trail and we are getting lost a few times every day in this state. TB even ended up hiking south for a half mile today before he realized it. He was a little upset at that.I made it 14.4 miles to the road by 10 am. Damn good time, and I even paused briefly for the sights. Though that is all I stopped for.Made a feeble attempt at hitching and just started walking the two miles into town for resupply and mail drop. Bad Hummus sent us a care package with some goodies, and some of our favorite trail food. Even had a special treat. Big thanks to BH.We are in NY just north of the city, so we figured we had to eat at a deli. We had pastrami "Heroes" for lunch. Seemed rather New Yorkish. Very big and tasty. Also had a 2 liter of pop.Did our best to resupply at the two convenience stores in town. Had to get some junk, but its only 3 nights to our next resupply.Went through the zoo back on the trail and saw some native animals. They had a bobcat, and that was definitely what we saw two of those two days. Nothing special. A bunch of fun facts.After the zoo we were dumped out onto a suspension bridge over the Hudson River. A nice land mark. Lowest point on the AT at 124 feet. All uphill from here.An easy 6 miles to a shelter at a monastery's ballpark. Has lights, electricity and a locked shower... Oh well, we're still happy. Really easy and short hiking day today. Lots of time off in town, and got to the shelter really early. Nice to have a "short" 20 miler every once in a while.