Miles: 10.2
Aparantly to make up for the shortage of pictures taken yesterday I outdid myself today and took way more pictures than would ever be necessary. Oh, well.
Sherwood woke us up early today with another song! We woke up at 5:30 and we were hiking by 8:00. Chip and I piled into the car and drove to the Hudson River Valley. It was cold. Oh- So. Very. Cold. For the first three hours or so the ground was still frozen. Again, as is becomming our habit, Chip dropped me off and I started hiking South while he moved the car down trail.
The highlights of today were the Bear Mountain Bridge across the Hudson River and Bear Mountain State Park and the lookout from the top of Bear Mountain! And let me tell you about the Zoo. Immediately after walking across the river I could not find where the trail went next. The white blazes were very confusing to me; there was a six point intersection/roundabout with a lot of car traffic, and I wasn't sure where to go next. Even after studying the map I wasn't sure. So I decided to just follow the road, kind of, through a park, and find the trail after I passed a lake. Trust me, on a map this sort of made sense. Anyway, I walked through the park, along a pretty lake until I found signs for a "Trailside Museum". I thought I could follow those and maybe find the trail again. Little did I know that the 'Trailside Museum' is part of a zoo. Yes, Bear Mountain Park has a seasonal zoo within the park. Chip found me wandering, dazed and confused, near the gates to the zoo before I even realized that I was near a zoo. It was stressful. Anyway, he showed me where the trail was, and how I had lost it. It turns out that the Appalachian Trail actually winds through the zoo, but because the zoo is closed I couldn't follow the trail after crossing the bridge. Oh. Later I read in the guidebook that 'if the zoo is closed upon your arrival the official Trail is around the zoo'. Maybe I should have read the book before I went. Oops.
Aside from the cold and the slight zoo detour it was a fantastic day. I am so glad that Chip was there at the zoo and at lunch with the car so that we could get warm again midday.
Bear Mountain Bridge. There was actually a bit of traffic on this bridge, I waited a long time to get a picture of the bridge empty.
Views from Bear Mountain Bridge of a railroad tracks along the Hudson River, and the Hudson River itself.
See the two white blazes? When the top one is offset to the left it indicates a left turn ahead. This is facing North on the trail near to the zoo gates.
The (locked) gates to the zoo. See the white blaze on the other side?
Bear Mountain Park has perhaps the most extensive trail maintanence work I have seen anywhere on the Trail. There are literally hundreds of stone steps built into the mountain. And after the devestating storms that ripped through the area within the last month there is nary a tree or branch lying in the path! Here is photograph of some of the stairs.
The view of the Bear Mountain Bridge after climbing all those stairs.
Chip gamely drove the car along a section of trail that follows the road, then stopped to pose for a picture. It was fun for me that he 'yellow blazed' with the radio turned all the way up and drove beside me at about 4 miles an hour for a short piece of trail.
Chip's favorite bench at the top of Bear Mountain.
Chip and me sitting on that bench.
The view from Bear Mountain.
The New York City skyline is about 30 miles away; here is the view of it from the top of Bear Mountain.
Ah, let's talk about trash. There is a big ethic on the Appalachian Trail (or maybe it is a motto) that says "Pack In. Pack Out." It means that whatever you carry into the park you need to carry out. No exceptions. For example, if you blow your nose into a tissue you need to carry that dirty tissue out of the park and throw it away; if you eat a candy bar you should carry out the wrapper and put it in your car. Thru-hikers talk often about "Pack In. Pack Out." because it effects much of how we perpare to go into the woods. For example, when I buy a pack of six Snickers bars from a convenience store I throw away the outer wrapper and only take the loose candy bars, so that later, after I eat it there will be less trash to carry. A fellow hiker used to take his stack of pringles and pour them into a ziplock bag, because then when it was empty the bag would compress in his pack instead of carrying that big cardboard tube. Most hikers will even take the cardboard roll out of the center of the toilet paper; this makes if fold flat, therefore it is easier to carry, but also there is no trash left. The only exception to this rule is used toilet paper-for this we use privies or dig cat-holes. Thru-hikers often grumble that weekenders or day hikers are less careful about leaving behind trash in the parks and on the trail. We feel that this is our home for six months and we try to be careful about keeping it clean. So today, when I found this cup in the trail left behind by a careless hiker I grumbled, then packed it out.
In the middle of hiking today, in the middle of the woods, the trail was paved. Sort of. It followed an asphalt sidewalk sort of thing for awhile. And next to it the side of the mountain was buttressed. I don't know what used to be here, but it is interesting to see what remains. Months ago when I told the Cool Womyn group that I wanted to hike the trail one smart woman asked me if she could accompany me on her Segway. I think of her often, but especially today on this section of trail that mimicks a sidewalk. Kind of.
There is some tough terrain in this section of New York. This is the view beside the trail.
Follow the two white blazes!
Even though it is winter there is a beauty to the shades of rust color and muted colors in these woods.
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