Day 35 (May 25) to Day 41
NJ/NY State line to Stormville NYPizza/Deli
Biggest Day this period: 14.3 miles
Total Trail Miles Hiked: 412.9
This week's photos are in the NY folder
DAY 35 - from the NJ/NY State Line
Saturday 5/25
9.4 Trail Miles (from Warwick trailhead in NJ to Bellvale Creamery in NY)
Ascent: 1302 | Descent: 1285
We discovered the trail in New York is not very well marked. There was a couple of times where we were not sure where the trail was, and we had to look very closely for the blazes to make sure we did not leave the AT. Coming into the community of Greenwood Lake we stopped at a local creamery and had some very good ice cream. Also, we stayed at the Lost and Found hostle and had dinner at an Irish pub.
DAY 36 - Another Zero
Sunday 5/26
0 Trail Miles
Lemonade’s foot was still giving her fits so we decided to take a day off from hiking. Trail horse went into town and re-provisioned for a few days.
DAY 37 - First Slack Pack
Monday 5/27
12.6 Trail Miles (SOBO from Elk Park trailhead to Bellvale Creamery)
Ascent: 3084 | Descent: 2520
Since it was supposed to rain on Monday, we decided to let the hostel slack pack us since that was a service they offered. Slack packing is basically where you leave all your gear behind and someone drops you off at a point on the trail and picks you up some way up or down the trail. This allows you to go faster since you’re only carrying a few pounds instead of a 30 pound backpack.
The hostel host dropped us off about 12 miles north of Greenwood Lakes and we hiked back to the community for pick up.
Was overall a good hike with some tricky climbs. Felt like we had our trail legs, but realized that it was the fact that we were carrying super light packs. We expected rain all day but it did not arrive until afternoon as we approached some difficult climbs made the hike a little dicey. Was overall good hike.
Again, we had ice cream at the end of our hike.
DAY 38 -
Tuesday 5/28
14.3 Trail Miles (from Elk Park trailhead to West Mountain Shelter)
Ascent: 3385 | Descent: 2745
Today’s hike was full of iconic AT items. The first was a section of the trail called the lemon squeezer. It was a small section in which two rock faces were very close together to the point that you had to squeeze through it and possibly take off your pack. Lemonade had to take her pack off, but since Trail horse (me) was a little taller, I could squeak through it and lift up without taking my pack off.
The hike itself was beautiful with many vistas, including the Hudson River and the New York skyline. We stayed at the West mountain shelter, which overlooked the Hudson and we had a great view of New York City during sunset.
DAY 39 -
Wednesday 5/29
13.0 Trail Miles (West Mountain Shelter to Greymoor )
Ascent: 2693 | Descent: 3354
We woke up before sunrise to see it come up with New York to the south. The sunrise glinted off all the high rises, making a striking golden view up to where we were sitting. We proceeded over the mountain where we had some trail magic from a previous hiker and we walked through the little zoo at Fort Montgomery since the trail is routed through that area. We then cross the Hudson River over the bear Mountain bridge. After grabbing some food at a deli and packing it out, we ended up camping at baseball field owned by some Franciscan monks in Graymoore, New York
DAY 40 -
Thursday 5/30
10.1 Trail Miles (from Greymoore to Canppus Lake)
Ascent: 2835 | Descent: 2404
We started the day with a thunderstorm and a leaking tent. It ended up leaking on my sleeping bag and it may be a result from the forementioned deet explosion from last week. We haven’t found the leak yet, but hopefully we will before it rains again.
We also cross the 400 mile mark of our journey.
DAY 41-
Friday 5/31
10.1 Trail Miles (from Canppus Lake to Deli/Pizza place)
Ascent: 2058 | Descent: 2236
We decided on a semi short day of 10 miles so we could rest a little bit and so we could eat a couple meals at the deli/pizza place that we happen to be camping behind or right now. I could really get used to this deli camping since for the last several days, we have either crossed paths with a store or deli where we could actually eat a meal or we could pack one out for that night meal. It’s a specific thing here in New York and in New Jersey that I think it’s going to start disappearing shortly. This particular place is sort of special because we can actually camp behind the store.
You guys look great! Beautiful vistas. That looks like some real mountaineering in that segment. Thanks for keeping the updates coming. Richard Reinert