We got up at 6 to make sure we got our pads and quilts put away before any rangers showed up. That way we could say “Oh, we just got here and wanted to eat breakfast before the showers opened. I think we went to a lot of trouble for nothing, no one showed up.
Truth of the matter was Bunny had another bad night of sleep and wanted to get to a hotel for some quality sleep. It was a cool night, but Bunny was out of her comfort zone sleeping “illegally” next to vending machines with an occasional passing car. I slept like a baby with the white noise of the compressors keeping everything cold. It’s funny, she’s “Five Finger Bunny” last year lifting goods everywhere we went in Europe, but put up a “no camping” sign and she turns into Mother Teresa.
I liked the spot, so, by the rules of marriage of which we abide, Bunny hated it. We had toilets two buildings over which we used vigorously (at least I know I did). I’m guessing Bunny did, too, since she wouldn’t allow herself to fart all night with a stranger present. We had fresh water we didn’t have to filter. We had picnic tables with fewer bugs than normal. And, if we wanted, we had overpriced ice cream we could have after our breakfast.
We filled up our water and started walking back uphill to the trail hoping some galant ranger would pick us up and save us the walk. The only rangers we saw this morning were knobheads. Add an extra 1/2 mile to our trail miles listed above.
I wouldn’t say the trail was better today. It was more of the same—zig zagging from rock pile to rock pile. The term “PUDs” was created thanks to the overzealous trail crews in NY. A PUD is a pointless up and down. We’ve had just under 40 miles of PUDs so far and we’re not quite halfway through this state.
We decided to take a break at the William Brien Memorial Shelter. When we got there, it was pretty trashed and the nearest water was almost a half mile downhill. Homey don’t play that. I think the trail maintainers have given up on the shelters this close to NYC. Too many locals come out and party without cleaning up after themselves. One shelter had comment after comment in Guthook about an overflowing privy. The maintainer obviously read it because he brought a shovel out and leaned it on the side of the privy. Bunny still used the privy, but I opted for digging a hole (and everyone should know by now how much I hate to dig poop holes).
Most of the road crossings the last few days have contained water caches. There are some generous people looking out for us. They are buying gallon jugs of water in the hundreds. I’m hoping they do refill them to save money. I’m sure they know how much the hikers appreciate all their effort.
There was a sign up advertising Long Distance Trails Crew working on West Mountain and Bear Mountain. The work they are doing is simply amazing. They are cutting local stone right on the trail and making steps through the boulder fields. This has been the first really engineered section of trail we have come to. It was so much easier on our ankles. I might even be able to do pistols by the time we finish the AT.
On top of West Mountain, we got our first sight of Hudson River. While we were admiring the view, we got a call from Mizman. He’s decided to stick around in Fort Montgomery for another day to spend some time with us. We told him where we were thinking of staying. He said he’d work out a deal for us and arrange for a shuttle if we knew what time we might arrive.
Climbing up Bear Mountain, we hit another milestone. We passed the 1400 mile mark. The astute reader might notice that I say “we” when in fact, Bunny has skipped 80 miles of trail (she’s quick to point out its only 78 miles). I know she will make it up, so I say “we” on all mileages, so back off of Bunny’s butt everyone. She’ll make it up, or we will yo-yo the trail—I’ll let that be Bunny’s call.
After West Mountain and all the way over Bear Mountain, we had a beautiful walk, but very hot. We got an extra mile of trail on Bear Mountain alone with all the zig zags over rock piles and through elm tree forests. It was on new, manicured trails most of the way (or so we thought). After the tower on Bear Mountain, we found out what a manicured trail really looks like.
The trail crews have done a staggering amount of work building the trail coming down Bear Mountain to the zoo. I just can’t imagine a better natural trail than this one. They have cut over a thousand steps out of town he rocks on the mountain. And this trail is built for heavy use being 4’ wide most of the way. This trail will still exist long after the last skyscraper in NYC has fallen.
Most European countries require 2 years of public service of all high school graduates. I think this needs to be a requirement here, as well. Get the kids away from video games and put them in real world situations away from their families. Give them the choice of military services, public service, trail building, etc. There’s plenty that needs to be done. Let these kids see a bit more of life before expecting them to make a career education decision. A little delay in college graduation isn’t going to make a difference if it’s universal.
Climbing up Bear Mountain took forever. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the winding trails that allowed us to see every single rock pile on the mountain (and there are lots). Maybe it was seeing all the snakes which somehow reset Bunny’s odometer to zero each time when she froze. (No poisonous snakes today, just rat and black snakes, but a few well over 6’ in length.) on second thought it was the winding trails. A few times we walked 1/4 mile to go over a PUD only to see the trail we were on 1/4 mile back only 50’ away. It’s maddening.
We stopped at the top of Bear Mountain to eat our meager lunch and get some Cokes from the vending machine. There is a tower up there that is open to the public and priced right for me—free. The tower was only 5 stories tall but it was built like a bomb shelter. There are a couple of floors dedicated to the history of the area and then the top floor is a viewing deck. On a clear day, you can see NYC. Today was kind of hazy so we could only see a couple buildings.
Coming down Bear Mountain is where we ran into the spectator trail. We met a man that lives in the town just across the Hudson and he was very proud of the trail. He thinks, and I agree, Bear Mountain should be a bigger draw than anything the city has to offer. When we got to the bottom, we gave Grandpa a call for ride to Bear Mountain Bridge Motel (BMBM). He told us where to go. I offered to add another BM to the pile.
Grandpa has only had the motel for a couple of months. He and his wife are managing it for his son, who also owns an ice cream shop in town. Grandpa picked us up and Mizman was in the front seat with a beer and an iced tea for us. We haven’t seen Mizman since April 9 when we left him in Damascus. Now he’s a sobo. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, but that will have to wait until showers.
EFG