Total Miles: 793.5
What a day. I was driven into my tent late last night after I decided I could no longer stand the bugs. This made for a restless night and a late start this morning. It was already hot when I headed out, so I stopped at the gas station at the road crossing. This crossing was pretty terrible, and there wasn't a crosswalk around anywhere. I made a dash and hoped for the best. I went inside the store for a cold Gatorade and a sandwich for later.
The uphills at the start of today, although not long, were pretty difficult. It was about 90 degrees, but the heat index was above 100. Pretty miserable for hiking. I'm pretty sure if I stopped I would have been quickly standing in a puddle of my own sweat. I had a descent over some loose rocks and dirts and managed to make it down after only slipping once. There was a small road walk before crossing Bear Mountain Bridge that passed over the Hudson River. I then headed into the zoo that the trail passes right through. There were a few animal exhibits, and the bear cage is the lowest point on the entire AT. Sadly, I spent the majority of my time in the shade by the vending machines instead of in the zoo. I had some ice cream and lemonade in hopes of cooling myself down some. I continued on to walk around Hessian Lake, where I stopped to watch a flock of Canadian geese head into the water. Then it was the dreaded climb up Bear Mountain. I was quickly relieved when I realized the majority of the climb up would be incredible rock stairs. It made for a much easier climb in the late afternoon heat. This is another mountain with road access at the top, so I didn't want to spend too much time. I climbed to the top of the tower, but I was dismayed to find that I couldn't see the New York City skyline. There was an air quality warning in effect today, and it made for some limited visibility. I continued on since I still had another mountain to climb, and it was getting late. I raced down Bear Mountain and on to West Mountain, where I was going to the shelter 0.6 miles from the trail. Normally I wouldn't choose to be that far off, but there is a chance of thunderstorms tonight so I don't want to be stuck on the open mountaintop in that fun. It was starting to get dark as I reached the blue blazed trail leading to the shelter. It wasn't marked, so I took my chances and hoped it would lead me to it. Thankfully it did, and as I walked up I could see the New York City skyline illuminating the night sky in front of me. It was incredible, and to be able to witness something so incredible on such an important day (the anniversary of 9/11) was pretty monumental. I set up my tent inside the shelter to avoid the bugs since I'm the only one here tonight. Hopefully it will keep out the cockroaches that I saw scuttling into the cracks when I first shined my light inside.
No comments:
Post a Comment