July 17: sometimes when things are going bad, all it takes is one good day to turn everything around. July 17th was that day.
We had planned a short day (8 miles) to get into. Bear Mountain NY, where we would meet Upstate, whom I had hiked with in North Carolina. Upstate now worked at West Point, in Fort Montgomery, close to Bear Mountain. He would be working until 3, and picking us up at 3:30. We had plenty of time to kill.
The hike on the morning took us up a gradual climb with more rocks. The day before, I had been hemming and hawing, debating whether we should have pushed ourselves to do the 20 miles with Road Runner. We should not have. We made the right decision by stopping at 12. Even though it was not extremely difficult, it was one of those sections of trail that took up if full, undivided attention. The kind of section where it's easy to fall when fatigued. Subaru actually did catch his toe and fall once, which scared me, but he was fine.
We climbed past a couple viewpoints where you were supposed to see the NYC skyline. Maybe on a crisp, October day. Certainly not on a hazy July day when the temp hovered around 100. Near the top of Bear Mpuntain, we stopped for cold drinks from the vending machines. The trail had become very well maintained and level; gravel walkways in some areas. There was also a tower at the top, but it was closed to people.
The descent from the peak, again very well maintained, consisted of a very long set of stone steps.
We had planned a short day (8 miles) to get into. Bear Mountain NY, where we would meet Upstate, whom I had hiked with in North Carolina. Upstate now worked at West Point, in Fort Montgomery, close to Bear Mountain. He would be working until 3, and picking us up at 3:30. We had plenty of time to kill.
The hike on the morning took us up a gradual climb with more rocks. The day before, I had been hemming and hawing, debating whether we should have pushed ourselves to do the 20 miles with Road Runner. We should not have. We made the right decision by stopping at 12. Even though it was not extremely difficult, it was one of those sections of trail that took up if full, undivided attention. The kind of section where it's easy to fall when fatigued. Subaru actually did catch his toe and fall once, which scared me, but he was fine.
We climbed past a couple viewpoints where you were supposed to see the NYC skyline. Maybe on a crisp, October day. Certainly not on a hazy July day when the temp hovered around 100. Near the top of Bear Mpuntain, we stopped for cold drinks from the vending machines. The trail had become very well maintained and level; gravel walkways in some areas. There was also a tower at the top, but it was closed to people.
The descent from the peak, again very well maintained, consisted of a very long set of stone steps.
We passed a large number of day hikers on their way up, hot and sweaty and breathing hard. At the bottom, we came to Bear Mountaon Recreation Atra, a park with a lake for fishing, picnic areas, concessions, a zoo, and a public pool. A POOL!!!! I was just about as happy as anyone could be! After a lunch of Nathan's hot dogs from the concession area, we headed to the pool. And learned that the pool was free for thru hikers!
We spent a couple wonderful cool hours at the pool. Letting our clothes dry on the sun and enjoying the cool weightlessness of the water. Then we headed to the zoo.
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