William Brien Memorial Shelter to Graymoor Spiritual Life Center – 16.5 miles
Friday, September 19th, 2014
More ups and downs! At least my shoulders are holding up nicely. This new pack is wonderful. Today included playing Frogger across the Palisades Parkway, observing the New York City Skyline from approximately fifty miles away, Bear Mountain, the Trailside Museum and Zoo, and pitching my tent on a ball field next to a pavilion filled with boy scouts. It was the most unusual day I’ve had on the trail so far! Apparently I missed Oktoberfest by one day… the climb up Bear Mountain was intense and painful. The descent was impressive as well. The trail then passes through a park and a playground by Hessian Lake before entering the zoo. The most exciting part of the zoo was the vending machines… CANDY!! 🤡 The bear cage in the zoo is the lowest point on the AT at about 150ft. There was a Walt Whitman statue in the zoo which was unexpected. After the zoo the trail crosses the Hudson River on the Bear Mountain Bridge. At the end of the bridge I ran into a hiker who chatted with me a bit as he offered me the last two sips in his can of Arizona Iced Tea, which I gratefully accepted, only to then be asked if I “wouldn’t mind carrying the can”… I had fallen for the oldest trick in the book! Rookie mistakes… more ups and downs and then a strategically placed convenience store right before the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center. The Center allows hikers to camp in their field, which happened to be the same field hosting a Boy Scout event on this particular night. It was quite an interesting evening. I wasn’t feeling particularly social so I retired to my tent before “hiker midnight” (which I believe is 9pm). New York was beginning to intimidate me and I wanted to be well rested for whatever tomorrow threw my way.
Wherever I May Roam 