We took over a corner of the Hiker Deli in the Bear Mountain Inn to repack our food and then went off to wind through the zoo, which was a zoo full of people as well. It was in the afternoon so most animals were very lethargic from being in the heat all day but some were just fed their dinner!
My 4th and 5th bear sightings, but I don't think they count.
Yummy entrails!
Poor 'Murica bird doesn't look too free.
After the zoo we crossed the Hudson River over the Bear Mountain Bridge and climbed up to Anthony's Nose which had a great view of Bear Mountain, the zoo, bridge, and river. We decided to pose with the flag like the famous Iwo Jima photo. We got dinner at the Appalachian Market Deli which I started to eat but then packed it out when rain clouds and thunder started to roll in. I made it to the Greymoor Spiritual Life Center's baseball field (where they let hikers camp in the pavilions) just as the rain hit. I hung my hammock from the rafters, finished dinner, and noticed everyone was coming in to hang their food bags in the rafters next to where I was hammocked, I hoped no bears came around.
Space Jam, Pipes, and Easy Goin'.
The next day, as I was enjoying lunch near a parking lot, a huge coach bus pulled in an a bunch of kids piled out to grab their packs from underneath. It was comical how massive their packs were, some of them even had two! Later in the day I stopped at Canopus Lake to take a shower and eat some snacks before moving on to the RPH Shelter. I made sure to write in the log books that I was taking another vacation to go to Montreal for a friend's bachelor party since last time I left the trail to go to Baltimore everyone thought I quit, after noticing my Space Jam signature abruptly disappeared.
Glad to see kids being out in nature but they all could use a serious pack shakedown.
Most of NY had too many blazes or not enough blazes.
On July 19th, right before I hit the road where I'd have to begin a series of hitchhikes to make it 40 miles towards I-87, White caught up to me! His girlfriend, Taylor, was slackpacking him and they gave me a ride to Poughkeepsie for dinner and the Salvation Army so I could get fancy clothes for the weekend and then to Newburg where we got a cheap hotel with a swimming pool. The next day I was picked up and went to Canada for the weekend.
After a wild weekend in Montreal, it was again kind of weird getting back on trail since my crew was now a few days ahead and I was back to hiking solo. I passed the Dover Oak, the largest tree on the trail, and was amazed at its size. The lower limbs eventually were starved of sun from the upper limbs, died, fell off, and were now barriers for the road. I enjoyed dinner there and then pushed on to the Pawling Nature Preserve where I stealth camped for the night. It was raining the next morning but I was heading into Connecticut to meet a friend who was putting me up for the night.
Dragonfly.
I guess I'm a tree-hugging hippie. The Dover Oak.
9 STATES DOWN!