Appalachian Trail - Day 087 - NY Route 17A to Fingerboard Shelter

Day: 087

Date: Thursday, 20 July 2023

Start:  NY Route 17A (AT Mile 1375.5)

Finish:  Fingerboard Shelter (AT Mile 1392.1)

Daily Kilometres:  25.8 (Ascent 3947', Descent 3737')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2331.4

Weather:  Very warm, humid and partly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Cooked breakfast 

  Lunch:  American subs

  Dinner:  Ramen & chicken/Noodles & chicken

Aches:  Dave - very tired; Julie - complaining about mosquito bites.

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  For the second time in two days, Dave dropped his phone and scratched the previously unblemished screen.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We enjoyed our comfortable bed and the excellent breakfast cooked by Peter, the hostel owner, before he drove us back to the trailhead at 7:10am.  Once there, Dave realised he had left his phone back on the hostel verandah where he had been putting his boots on, so the ever-obliging Peter quickly drove him back to the hostel where the phone was collected and then returned Dave back to the trailhead where we started walking at 7:30am.

At the hostel we had heard stories about how relentlessly up and down today's hike would be, so we were mentally preparing ourselves for a tough day at the offce although the first few miles were very nice through the early morning forest.

For the rest of the day, however, we did seem to be either steeply ascending or descending on rocky shelves or even cliffs that required hands for safe progress.  It was very hard work, but the forest, populated with boulders and rock formations all shapes and sizes, was picturesque and pleasant.

It was also very thirsty work.  At one road crossing someone had left some cold water which we gratefully drank, but at a later road crossing a water dump had sadly been emptied by previous hikers.  This was a popular section of trail and we saw quite a few hikers today, many of them thru-hikers.

Later in the day we crossed into Harriman State Park where the lightly timbered forest had a grassy floor and was quite different to that which preceded it.  Initially there were some steep climbs and rocky sections, including the renowned Lemon Squeezer, but the trail gradually became easier though, by this time, Dave was ready to stop.

You are only supposed to camp near shelters in the Park and we reached Fingerboard Shelter just after 6:00pm and found a rare tent spot close by.  There are thunderstorms and rain forecast for tonight and it was tempting to set up our beds in the shelter, there being no other hikers present, but the mosquitoes decided us against.

Later, more hikers did show up and, soon after 8:00pm, a "trail angel" showed up with some welcome treats for hikers staying here.