New York Part 1: Scrambles, Lakes, and the Manhattan Skyline (14 photos, 1 video)

The sunshine finally returned on July 15th and I had my own little drying out party up on top of Prospect Rock, New York's highest point along the AT. The NY section of the trail stepped up to the plate ready to contend for my favorite state as it was packed full of fun rock scrambles, swimming holes, delis on trail, and great weather. After tackling some fun scrambles I arrived at Fitzgerald Falls which had the perfect amount of shade for some long exposures. It was hot and sunny out so I went under the falls for a shower.

I also took some time while chilling by the falls to make a splint for my trekking pole. The tech tip cracked and it is what holds the carbide tip in place which grips the rocks. Since NY had some intense scrambles I really wanted both carbide tips to be operational so I used tent stakes, duct tape, and string to splint it in place. It wound up looking like a gnarly weapon.

MacGuyver'ing things together on the trail

Easy Going and I entered Harriman State Park which doubled down on a bunch of "no fun allowed rules" but it was still a beautiful place with gentle hills and open forests offering far lines of sight. We went through the Lemon Squeezer, ran into Pipes and Fiddle, and then went for a swim at Lake Tiorati. It was the weekend and this place was absolutely packed with people fleeing NYC to get out into the calm and peaceful nature...only there was a constant stream of cars out for joyrides along Seven Lakes Drive, biker gangs revving their engines, kids running around and screaming, and a seemingly endless sea of picnic tables that were all occupied.

Communist Corridor stretches from NJ through MA.

Easy Going shimmying through the Lemon Squeezer.

We pushed on to the West Mountain Shelter, which is an insane 0.6 off trail but the views of Manhattan in the distance made it all worthwhile. I set my hammock between two trees such that I could see the distant skyline while laying down and I felt I may be peaking in terms of hammocking. Illegal (trail name) was picking blueberries nearby and almost stepped on this angry looking rattlesnake.

Manhattan skyline (photo editing on my phone could only do so much)

Nightshot attempt of the Manhattan skyline.

The next day we climbed down off West Mountain and then up the famous Bear Mountain which also had the 1400 mile mark. I was completely out of food and there were vending machines at the summit that were getting restocked and the vending machine guys made us wait. It was cruel. It was then the first time I spent $10 in vending machines for one sitting. Pipes's parents met us at the summit, we hiked down together, and they gave us a ride to Fort Montgomery to resupply.