Bear Mountain, New York

September 9th, 2011...Free lodging and shower for hikers is found at the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement. I get an ass-crack-of-dawn start from here... gearing up for a big day over Bear Mountain. Breakfast burrito at the deli, then 8 miles to the Hudson River.

Crossing the Bear Mountain Bridge I was ecstatic! I was shouting to the ship workers down below as I watched the huge barge float upriver towards West Point Academy. A big ol' American flag hung from the bridge tower. It was a glorious day, and views downstream to Peekskill and across to the Bear Mountain were amazing.
I had been waiting for this day for quite a time. Another familiar place with fond memories of hard work <on the trail> and hard play <state park's Oktoberfest with fellow trail crew>. I get to climb the east face of Bear Mountain via a brand new trail relocation opened on National Trails day June 5th 2010. Working with the Mid Atlantic Appalachian Trail Crew, I had worked here for a total of 8 weeks over the fall seasons of 2008 and 2009. Reminiscent of the WPA's CCC construction projects of the 1930's, Bear Mountain's trail relocation is a modern marvel using some primitive technology with 800 hand-hewn granite steps and over one mile of "stonewall cribbing" that will last for generations. This project is still ongoing, but probably the most exciting one-mile stretch is fresh and open.

The magnificent granite boulder field through which path travels becomes the setting. During the construction, care was taken to do minimal damage to the surrounding environment by using a series of cables suspended upwards of 60 vertical feet in large trees to move the stone material. Tools, resources, and people power used to reach completion were many (see photos...)

Eddie Walsh with NY/NY Trail Conference and Lester Kenway with the Maine Appalachian Trail Club were the master-minds behind the design process. The A.T. Conservancy in addition to hundreds of volunteers were called upon to do the work. This is how we get the work done = PEOPLE POWER!

Neal uses a sledge hammer to drive stone splitting wedges

Tools included: rock hammer drills with 7/8'' carbide drill bits, feathers and wedges to split stone into 'cube-like' wall material, sledge hammers, rock mashers, pick mattocks, snatch blocks, griphoist machines rated at 2 tons with 1 inch thick wire cabling, 18 lbs rock lever bars.....the list goes on.

  Snatch blocks, or pulleys, used to rig cables for rock moving

 A final product sample

 After crossing the Bear Mountain Bridge, I reach the trailside museum and zoo, officially the lowest elevation on the Appalachian Trail at 130ft above sea level. A nice girl in the visitor center mails my postcards for me. The white blaze actually goes right through the zoo, where visitors may have a peek at animals native to New York. So after saying hi to the black bears and porcupines, I continue past Bear Mountain Inn to the start of the new trail.

I am standing on a boulder that weighs upwards of 2000 lbs which our crew moved and repositioned in 2008. This is part of the walking surface of the trail now. Onwards and upwards.... as I am nearing the site of 2009 work project, I see a large group being led by members of the NY/NJ trail conference. Here I see Chris, who is surprised to see me with backpack instead of sledge hammer, and he offers the group an introduction. All of a sudden I am speaking in front of a large group explaining how great this project is and how they should join forces to help along with the project's completion. Next I approach a family going up the mountain for a day hike with hopes to see the NYC skyline 35 miles away. There is a fresh-Irene-deposited blowdown across the trail. The family members must scramble along the steep hillside to avoid the fallen tree. It involves some trick manuevering for mom and dad, which brings about laughter and good fun. This is where I am overcome with emotion. I finally get to see first-hand the way people are benefiting from this nature walkway. Our hard work has indeed brought much enjoyment for the public. I am so happy I want to cry. 

Chris told me below to look for the Mid Atlantic Crew up near the top of the mountain. I reach the "Danger DO ENTER CONSTRUCTION SITE" sign and continue past. Just around the corner are several familiar faces. I hear the familiar sound of hammer on stone. Some one is busting stone into gravel. Here they are! I get to see an old friend from Virginia Tech and assistant crew leader Jeff 'Mr. Intense'; crew leader Chris who just came down from a summer season on Saddleback Mountain, Maine; Neal and Pat, the dynamic stone-stackin duo and long time trail veterans, and other faces new to me. This was a real pleasure so see my trail people, even if it was just for a short minute. I thanked them all for their hard work on the trail, and told them what a great adventure I was having. 

Onwards and upwards.... Perkins tower lunch and look to NYC Skyline through haze. Better get going, I still have 12 to camp and it's early afternoon. The rest of the day was spent walking and reflecting on my time working with these great people of the AT community. There was certainly a large measure of commarraderie involved when we were out there. And the physical structure left behind serves as a monument to our accomplishments. I hope so see some of these guys later on in Carlisle, Pennsylvania when I cross by their basecamp.

12 miles later Fingerboard shelter reached well before dark. Full moon happenings: extremely friendly deer in hunting-free Harriman State Park, pilieated woodpecker searching for insects in down rotted log, racoon scurries and climbs the trailside tree looking back at me, pure black squirrels with pointy ears race to gather acorns, hawk sweeps low overhead and takes a nearby perch. The animals are not phased by my presence. They are enthralled in the waxing gravity of the moon's cycle. Did you know that it has been scientifically proven that the (number of times a cricket chirps in a 14 second period) + 40 = the current temperature?

A long eventful day..

Just walked into Kent, CT this morning. Phone call to Sandy....Shin splints still a bother. "what happens is your calf muscle gets stronger than your front tibial muscle and then it begins to pull away from your shinbone. I'll mail you some tape and some new insoles." Thanks Sandy! So with a bucket of ice for my leg and a hot yerba mate in my hand I sit on a park bench in Kent. Found a good article in the NY Times about Frederick Law Olmstead, grandaddy of Landscape Architecture and a promoter of the human need for natural spaces = quiet contemplation. An architect of community space, Olmstead used curved lines, irregular plantings, symmetrical courts with connecting pathways, secret hideaways and people-watching perches, canopied forest walks leading to grand overviews of land and water. Benchlined walkways converge at rollerskate park where music draws crowds. One can escape the noisy polluted streets and find respite with the turn of a foliated corner...The article talked about his lesser known midwest city park projects. I had travelled to see his famous NYC Central Park some years before.

This town of Kent is not exactly a hiker-friendly 'trail town.' The only thing I like about it here are the sweet sports cars that roll through. One hotrod pulls up at the light with the air intake projecting above the front hood, a racer red color, and a pair of wheelie bars. I was just hoping he would pop a wheely right there. But no dice.. 

Back into the woods.. a long push today but the plans for tonite's stay are developing slowly. I don't have the mileage sheets on me, but I know I'm crossing into NY today so that must mean that an A.T. commuter train platform to NYC is within a day's walk. I catch up with the three bastards, Tag, Effect, & Coach. We pass a sign reading 734 miles from Katahdin. We are 1/3 of the way to Springer Mountain, Georgia. Rendezvous with NOBO section hiker "RedEyes" who happened to know Powder River from a 2008 hike. Stop and smoke with RedEyes: "Dude you could be in Times Square tonight if you reach the train stop by 7 tonight." Me "Really, what's that like 15 miles? OK so I got about 6 hours to cover that distance. That's doable."

Trail runs along the final stretches of the Housatonic River. Class 3+ rapids rolling nicely still after Irene. Kayakers hit chutes at about 8 mph. I jog along trying to match their speed and to see them surf the eddies. Next I hear some barbaric yelling and see Tag battle/axing Effect on the beach. They have stopped for a break and are both carrying foam-padded weapons for daily battles. I jump in the river for a quick swim. Then a rancid Odwalla bar from 2009 gives me a tummy ache. Better check the expiration next time I score some food from a hiker box. Wiley shelter is next, so at this point I know I'm close to the walk's end.

The trail breaks out of the woods for the final mile. While enjoying an open view across pastoral landscape for a change, I'm trying now to remember what the approach will look like... about to pass by a familiar place. We <Neal, Pat, Nolan, Ron, Alan, Aaron, Andy, Adam, and the rest of the crew> camped out for several weeks in a Tractor yard with the Mid Atlantic Trail Crew in 2009 during the boardwalk project.---------Meanwhile a Northern Harrier cruises low over the open pasture searching for rodents. The optimal light breeze blowing across the field providing just enough lift for silent glide with hope for a meal. No dice."Good luck to you Mr. Harrier. I've gotta train to catch."-----------

My memory serves me right. The trail drops down out of the upper field, jumps a fence via turnstyle, continues past the tractor yard where we camped, passes a corn crib in another open field, jumps another fence and on down to Pete's Native Landscaping business on Rt 22. Towards the end of a long day's walk, it was fun to walk this mile again and remember my time spent here. When I reach the train platform behind Pete's cages of Chinese pheasants there are 4 other hikers with very large packs. "Ah they must be section hikers" I think to myself. They are from the city. All of them are waiting for the return trip home after a wet weekend in the woods. Just as conversation crumbles... the bastards show up. Dylan invites me to stay with them at his brother's place in Brooklyn. Moose and Easy show up from the deli with sandwiches and beer in hand. Moose: "We're gonna stealth camp behind Pete's tonight."

Just on the other side of the train tracks is the boardwalk that I helped construct some years before. I have to run across the tracks and check the progress... Phragmites growing wildly over swampland that I only remember as a muddy construction site. The curved path of oak planking floats beautifully through the loostrife and goldenrod. I'm surprised to see how far the volunteers"the Boardwalk Crew" have progressed. Only about 100 ft to go and they will have completed a 1/2 mile , handicapped accessible boardwalk.

I turn back and run to not miss the train pick up for a trip to the Big Apple. FROM THE WOODS Two hours later to GRAND CENTRAL STATION. The four of us are tripping in awe of the marble stairways and lofty ceilings. We step out onto the street "Are we outside?" I wonder while leaning my head back to see the skyscrapers. Business everywhere! Jazz Saxophone player to my right and a scottish bagpiper to my left. What a trip!

 RECYCLE MAN earns his living 5cents a can

Brooklyn, NY September 2011

chilln in Central Park

Aqua Blazing ... Anyone?

It is rumored that the liquor store just around the cornern gives away free 40oz to thru hikers. Bobwhite, her family and friends have taken us <Moose, Easy, Coach, Tag, Effect, Powder River> in for a few nights of "Glamping" at the State Park here in Cornwall, CT. The boys and Bobwhite are slackpacking 20 miles today while I rest up my right shin splint.

I'm sitting here with Powder River in the library drawing up plans for an "Aqua Blaze" on the Housatonic River. That's right, I'm going to skip a section of trail in CT. The legs need rest, but I want to keep up with my crew, so while they slack pack today and tomorrow, Powder and I will be running the river at about 4500 cubic feet per second. The hurricane's effect here peaked at 11,500 cu ft/sec on the Housatonic. Arie at the canoe rental in town says the water should drop for safe travel tomorrow with class 1 and 2 rapids. While looking at this on the AT map, I noticed that the river parallels the trail for quite a distance <from Dalton, Mass to Kent, CT>. The southward flow of the Housatonic river is convenient for SOBO's while the Shenandoah river's northward flow  in Virginia offers a 4 + day aqua blaze for NOBO's. Some NOBO's who are familiar with the Trail's history would Aqua Blaze the                         {Shenandoah National Park / SKyline-drive-paralleling section of A.T. <35 road crossings in 120 miles>} in rebellion. Benton McKaye was surely not wild about Skyline AutoDrive proposal in the 1930's especially since more access for motorists would compromise the Appalachian Trail's primitive setting. Other National Park officials saw this deal the other way around .... the Skyline drive as a huge development opportunity. So... therefore some NOBO hikers will skip the 120 miles in the national park and instead float along the river for a few days.

So I think this is now my best option if I want to stay with my friends... while also rest up a bit. The shin splint has been going on for 3 days now and the "fun-factor" is declining with this annoying-partially-useable-injury. What a convenient place to be debilitated! When Powder and I were looking at the maps, I started thinking "Huh, this makes a lot of sense, the river parallels the A.T!"