Appalachian Trail - Day 092 - Telephone Pioneers Shelter to Bull's Covered Bridge

Day: 092

Date: Tuesday, 25 July 2023

Start:  Telephone Pioneer Shelter (AT Mile 1452.4)

Finish:  Bull's Covered Bridge (AT Mile 1466.4)

Daily Kilometres:  25.5  (Ascent 2113', Descent 2697')

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

Total Kilometres:  2453.1

Weather:  Very warm, humid and mostly sunny with a thunderstorm in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Friend's apartment in New Haven

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg, cheese & ham/sausage rolls, ice-creams 

  Lunch:  Pastries/Turkey & cheese sandwich 

  Dinner:  Beef stew, rice & veges.

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

Highlight:  Friend, Rob, drove up from New Haven, 1.5 hours away, to pick us up from Bull's Bridge and take us back to his apartment for two days of R&R.

Lowlight:  None really (though the mosquitoes were still bad in places today).

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We packed up, fighting off mosquitoes, and were hiking by 6:30am on an already warm and humid morning.  We had a relatively easy day in front of us, starting with a downhill hike and a boardwalk across a marsh to a main road, three miles away, from where we left the trail and roadwalked three quarters of a mile to a deli for breakfast.  Just before the trail met the road it crossed a railway line where there was actually an Appalachian Trail station from where you could catch a train to New York City.

At the deli we had some scrumptious breakfast rolls which we ate outside while chatting to a young thru-hiker we have seen a number of times along the way.  Very pleasant.

After walking back to the trail, we had a mile or so of open meadow walking which was a nice change but warm in the sun.  Then it was back into the forest with the mosquitoes and a few hills.  Dave was complaining of fatigue, but it was hard to know whether it was just the knowledge that a couple of days off beckoned at the end of the day and he couldn't wait to get there but still had about ten miles to go.

There were few views, but the leaf-littered forest and rock ledges were very pretty and, one foot in front of the other, we reached a shelter and took a break, sharing the picnic table there with the same young thru-hiker we had shared the breakfast table.

The last five miles started with a trail relocation that required roadwalking to get around a washed out bridge, though word was that the river ford wasn't too difficult.  We agreed that Dave would do the roadwalk, while Julie would follow the old AT and we would meet where the trails converged about two miles further along.  There were things to see on both routes and the river ford was even easier than we had heard.

After one more climb, the trail descended to Tenmile River and soon passed the two-thirds mark of our journey.  We followed the river to its confluence with the much larger Housatonic River before following that upstream to Bull's Covered Bridge.  The river was raging and impressive.

After crossing the covered bridge we reached the store on the other side where we had arranged to meet Rob (see above).  We bought some food and drink and sat outside with a couple of other thru-hikers while we waited.  The sky was starting to look ominous with thunder audible in the distance and the first spots of rain began falling as Rob arrived.  The heavens then opened and it rained, sometimes torrentlally, for the entire 90-minute journey to New Haven where we will stay, courtesy of Rob, for the next two days and three nights.

Appalachian Trail - Day 091 - Canopus Lake Beach to Telephone Pioneer Shelter

Day: 091

Date: Monday, 24 July 2023

Start:  Canopus Lake Beach (AT Mile 1430.7)

Finish:  Telephone Pioneer Shelter (AT Mile 1452.4)

Daily Kilometres:  35.9 (Ascent 3776', Descent 3829')

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

Total Kilometres:  2427.6

Weather:  Very warm, humid and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Calzones.

  Dinner:  Noodles.

Aches:  Dave - a few niggles and left Achilles tendon a bit sore; Julie - tormented by mosquito bites.

Highlight:  Food and drinks again!  Early in the day, after a road crossing, we came across a cooler that contained ice cold drinks and Snickers Bars and we happily treated ourselves.  Later in the day, at other road crossings, water had been left for hikers which was also very welcome.  And for lunch, we detoured off the trail and roadwalked half a mile to a pizza shop where we enjoyed excellent calzones and free refills of cold Diet Coke.

Lowlight:  Mosquitoes again!  For much of the day they were tolerable, but as the afternoon wore on they became increasingly bad and setting up camp was a nightmare.  We ended up eating in the tent to escape them.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We packed up and left our probably illegal campsite by 6:15am before any Park employees turned up to discover us.

The day's hiking involved continuing in a northeasterly direction across New York state, mostly following a series of low ridges through leaf-carpeted and boulder-strewn forest.  Much of the land had once been farmed and we frequently came across old stone fences.  It was also quite populated and we crossed a number of roads and highways and often passed near houses.

For lunch, we detoured off trail to a small industrial estate where there was a pizza shop and deli who, apart from thru-hikers, seemed to mostly serve employees of nearby businesses.  They actually let thru-hikers camp behind their shop, but we still had miles to travel.

Along the way there were some views and the trail was once again a mix of nice walking and gnarly rocky short ascents and descents.  It was warm and humid in the forest and hiking was sweaty work, made more unpleasant by the increasing number of mosquitoes during the afternoon.  Most hikers we saw were wearing headnets and we'll have to get some at the next opportunity.  Instead, we liberally and frequently coated ourselves in repellent, ignoring any cancer risk.

We reached our goal of Telephone Pioneer Shelter soon after 7:00pm, later than we had hoped, but the trail was often slow today.  There were already a number of tents set up, taking the best spots, and we ended up with a sloping site on the other side of a small creek.  The mosquitoes were diabolical, and setting up camp, washing and cooking were miserable.

Thirteen weeks/three months on the trail completed today.

Appalachian Trail - Day 090 - Bear Mountain Bridge to Canopus Lake Beach

Day: 090

Date: Sunday, 23 July 2023

Start:  Bear Mountain Bridge (AT Mile 1410.4)

Finish:  Canopus Lake Beach (AT Mile 1430.7)

Daily Kilometres:  34.2  (Ascent 4662', Descent 3747')

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

Total Kilometres:  2391.7

Weather:  Very warm, humid and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg, cheese & sausage subs

  Lunch:  Snickers & Mars bars

  Dinner:  American subs.

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - mosquito bites.

Highlight:  As we stopped for our late lunch break, at around 2:15pm, a hiker coming the other way told us there was Trail Magic at a trailhead just under three miles further on.  We needed a break, but were also keen to get some cold drinks and other treats if they were on offer.  The risk was that the Trail Magic could be gone by the time we got there.  So, we shortened our lunch break and headed for the next trailhead arriving about 3:45pm to find there were plenty of cold drinks, along with some food available, including Vegemite sandwiches courtesy of two Australian (former thru-hikers) Trail Angels there.  We enjoyed the treats and conversation.

Lowlight:  The mosquitoes were really bad today.  Julie had a permanent unhappy grimace on her face as she swatted away the pests all day, while Dave was in constant danger of doing himself an injury by swatting while holding his trekking poles or losing his balance while swatting.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

The motel manager kindly drove us back as close to the trail as he could at 7:00am and we soon crossed the impressive Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River and climbed into the forest on a mild calm morning.

Almost immediately we were being bitten by mosquitoes and that continued all day (see above).  It spoiled what would otherwise have been a nice, if a little warm, day for hiking.  We walked out first six miles through peaceful forest on mostly reasonable trail to a road crossing where there was a gas station/store.  The store was very busy with Sunday morning traffic including many motorcyclists.  We bought some breakfast, plus subs for lunch, and ate our breakfast sitting outside watching the passing parade.

The next six miles of trail proved a bit tougher and slower than we hoped.  There were some good sections where we could walk normally but also lots of short sharp climbs/descents and rocky twisting trail.

We took a break for lunch at a road crossing and heard about some trail magic further along (see above) which brightened our mood and gave us something else to think about besides mosquitoes.  The distance to the trail magic seemed to pass slowly, but was forgotten once we saw unlimited cold drinks (Dave disposed of four cans in short order) and met the friendly and interesting trail angels.

It was 4:45pm by the time we left with six miles remaining to Canopus Lake Beach where we hoped to camp.  Apart from a mile where it seemed to follow an old railbed, the trail remained hard work and slow.  It was 7:30pm by the time we reached the picnic area at the beach.  It was a surreal scene, as the area was officially closed at 6:00pm, but thru-hikers were tolerated after that and a number sat at picnic tables chatting and eating their dinner while park employees worked around them cleaning toilets, grounds, etc, and then left.  We ate the rolls we had bought for lunch and then used the shower and the one open toilet to wash.

By this time it was getting dark and the other thru-hikers had left to go to the official thru-hiker camping area a few hundred yards away.  We decided to sneakily camp behind one of the buildings where we were closer to the water and toilet and further away from the other campers.  It was late by the time we got to bed and we'll have to make sure we leave early before the park employees arrive in the morning.

Appalachian Trail - Day 089 - Day Off at Bear Mountain Bridge (but staying at Fort Montgomery)

Day: 089

Date: Saturday, 22 July 2023

Start:  Bear Mountain Bridge (AT Mile 1410.4)

Finish:  Bear Mountain Bridge (AT Mile 1410.4)

Daily Kilometres:  0

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her walk/jog today.

Total Kilometres:  2357.5

Weather:  Warm and sunny.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Breakfast sandwiches & hash browns

  Lunch:  American rolls

  Dinner:  Nachos/Chicken burger, ice-cream 

Aches:  Nothing to report.

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

A very relaxing day started with a long social breakfast at the motel's picnic table on a beautiful mild sunny morning with our French-Canadian thru-hiker friends who were delaying their return to the trail today for as long as possible.  Often joining in the conversation was the very "New York" motel owner who is very opinionated and certainly no fan of Joe Biden.  Having said that, he has been totally helpful to us, doing our laundry, picking us up from the trail and doing anything else he can to make our stay a good one.

In the afternoon, Dave spent his time on admin/email while Julie went for a walk/jog to check out the neighbourhood.  Later we had dinner at the BBQ joint across the road again.  We have both eaten too much today!

Back on the trail tomorrow.

Appalachian Trail - Day 088 - Fingerboard Shelter to Bear Mountain Bridge

Day: 088

Date: Friday, 21 July 2023

Start:  Fingerboard Shelter (AT Mile 1392.1)

Finish:  Bear Mountain Bridge (AT Mile 1410.4)

Daily Kilometres:  26.1 (Ascent 2979', Descent 4085')

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

Total Kilometres:  2357.5

Weather:  Warm, humid and partly sunny with a thunderstorm in the morning and some rain in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch: Mars Bars 

  Dinner:  Pulled pork melts, ice-cream.

Aches:  Dave - very tired; Julie - nothing to report.

Highlight:  We were very fortunate to be able to see the skyline of Manhattan, 40 miles away, from the top of Bear Mountain.  The chances of seeing this are apparently diminishing as time goes by because of pollution and heat haze.

Lowlight:  Our timing was poor packing up this morning.  Knowing that thunderstorms and rain was forecast around dawn we woke at 4:45am to find it was still dry.  We hurried to pack up but, just when we had everything out of the tent, it began to rain quite steadily. The tent and some of our gear got quite wet before we could pack everything.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We made an earlier than usual start in an effort to beat the forecast rain, but were unsuccessful (see above).  We started hiking at about 5:30am in steady rain and very gloomy conditions, unhappy that we were already wet.  It didn't take long for the rain to collect on the trail and create large puddles and occasional bogs.

Our progress was slow, partly because of rocks and trail made slippery by the rain and partly because Dave was still feeling tired from yesterday's tough hiking.  We weren't sure exactly how far we had to hike to get to Bear Mountain Bridge and our booked motel today, because there were two trail detours marked and it was hard to determine how our navigation app was calculating distances, but we assumed we had between 15 and 18 miles to do.

Even after the rain had stopped and the trail had dried out there were rocks and climbs/descents, including some arduous rock-scrambling, that kept our pace slow.  On the other hand it was very pleasant forest and the clearer air allowed some good views.

The first detour we encountered was a temporary re-route of the Appalachian Trail to avoid it crossing a busy divided highway. However, on the map the detour looked a little longer and also missed some of the good viewpoints, so we decided to hike the original AT.  It probably took us longer than the detour because it included a much longer climb, but from the crest of the ridge we had excellent views to the west and to the east, where we could see the impressive Hudson River.

The second detour was because Bear Mountain State Park was hit hard by heavy rain and flooding in mid-July and many facilities, including trails, were badly damaged.  The park is a very popular destination for New Yorkers, so having it closed to all but AT hikers at the height of summer is a big deal.  The AT detour directed hikers down a closed park road, but our crowd-sourced navigation app said that the original AT route over Bear Mountain was still useable so we chose that route.  The trail took us up and around the summit of Bear Mountain and we had great views along the way (see above).  At the summit near the  closed lookout tower there were some vending machines to cater to the many tourists who come to look at the views to NYC and along the Hudson River, but today there were just a few thru-hikers, all of whom we knew, buying much appreciated cold drinks and enjoying a chat and the unusually peaceful scene.

The trail down from the summit is an engineering achievement of which the Park is justly proud, so it was disheartening to see how much damage had been caused by the flash flooding.  Huge rock steps had been washed away and boulders and debris had been dumped on the trail.  It is going to be a long time and a lot of work before the trail is restored.

When we reached the base of the mountain, the vast picnic area and other attractions were deserted apart from squads of workers trying to get things back into shape for what's left of the summer.

Our motel was two miles away from where the trail reaches the Bear Mountain Bridge and we called the motel owner who was known to pickup thru-hikers who were staying there and give them a ride.  However, this was complicated by the serious damage caused to a smaller road suspension bridge linking the Bear Mountain Bridge to towns and the western shore to the north.  It was closed to vehicles, but pedestrians could use the path attached to the closed bridge to get to its northern end, which we did, before the motel owner could reach us with his car and pick us up.  While crossing the bridge it started to rain, but we managed to get picked up before getting seriously wet.

Also staying at the motel is a thru-hiking French-Canadian couple we have got to know and we later enjoyed a very nice dinner with them at the BBQ restaurant across the road.  

Day off tomorrow for us.  We passed the 1400 mile mark today!

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.

Appalachian Trail - Day 086 - Louemma Creek to NY Route 17A

Day: 086

Date: Wednesday, 19 July 2023

Start:  Louemma Creek (AT Mile 1356.0)

Finish:  NY Route 17A (AT Mile 1375.5)

Daily Kilometres:  30.2 (Ascent 3140', Descent 2707')

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

Total Kilometres:  2305.6

Weather:  Warm, humid, hazy and partly sunny.

Accommodation:  Hostel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Snickers Bars

  Dinner:  Sourdough breakfast sandwiches & hash browns, ice cream 

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles and some chafing; Julie - nothing to report.

Highlight:  The early morning walk along the Appalachian Trail boardwalk that wound its way through the vast peaceful marshland bordering Pochuck Creek was magic.

Lowlight:  The first three "Welcome to New York" miles of the AT were some of the hardest and slowest hiking we have encountered.  It took 2.5 hours to do three miles going up and down, this way and that, along rocky ledges, gnarly trail and through boulder fields.  It was almost as if New York was boasting to AT thru-hikers that it can be as tough a state as any on the trail.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were hiking by soon after 6:00am with the goal of reaching NY Route 17A, 19.5 miles away, from where we would be picked up and taken to a hostel, as early as possible.

The trail wasn't too bad initially and we made good time, particularly enjoying the long boardwalk (see above), but also the beautiful early morning forest.  It was mostly very peaceful apart from the frequent noise of aircraft descending towards New York's LaGuardia or Westchester airports.  We were also conscious that we were close to civilisation as we passed near houses, crossed roads or heard machinery at various times.

Sadly, at one of those road crossings we were an hour too early for the farm store which opened at 9:00am and offered drinks, baked goods and ice-cream - the perfect for a thru-hiker's breakfast.  Instead, starting across the road, we got to climb the exhausting boulder-scrambling "Stairway to Heaven", our biggest climb of the day.  It was tough, though it was "heaven" to reach the top.

Not long after our breakfast break beside a rushing stream we crossed another road to find an esky full of soft drink cans left by a "trail angel" and, despite having just drunk our fill of water at breakfast, we managed to down a few more cans.  It was a treat.

We continued to make good time on a day that wasn't quite as hot and humid as it's predecessors along reasonable trail with plenty of short ups and downs and many boggy sections.  And, of course, still plenty of mosquitoes.  We took our lunch break around 1:00pm high on a rocky ridge at what was supposed to be a viewpoint, though the trees blocked any vistas, before starting our last six mile leg of the day.

The trail wasn't easy, and got even harder when we left New Jersey for the last time and entered New York (see above).  Our hopes for an early finish diminished and we just concentrated on moving forward and enjoying the couple of hazy views we got down over Greenwood Lake.

Fortunately, with two miles to go the trail quality improved and we reached our target highway at 5:15pm.  Dave rang the hostel owner, who turned up a few minutes later and drove us first to a large supermarket where we did our resupply shopping before taking us to the hostel in the village of Greenwood Lake.  After showers and leaving our laundry with the hostel owner, we walked to Dunkin' Donuts, the only nearby food option, to buy a late dinner which we ate back at the hostel.  We are later than we would like, but not too much, and feel like we have had a good day.