Day: |
071 |
Date: |
Saturday, 12 July 1986. |
Start: |
|
Finish: |
|
Daily
AT Miles: |
13.7 |
Daily Other Miles |
1.8 (1.5 to café, 0.3 to Monastery) |
Total
AT Miles: |
1374.4 |
Total All Miles |
1418.7 |
Weather: |
Mild, overcast, raining mostly. |
Accommodation: |
|
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: Muesli. Lunch: 2
cheeseburgers, fries. Dinner: Hamburgers, salad, fruit. |
Aches: |
Right knee sore. |
Animals Seen: |
Deer (including fawns), squirrels,
chipmunks. |
People Seen: |
2 AT Thru-hikers, many others. |
Pictures: |
Here |
GPS Track: |
|
Journal: |
Got up at 6am after some showers during the
night and almost immediately it began to rain steadily. I ate
breakfast and packed up in the rain keeping things as dry as I
could. A few things got damp but nothing too bad. It was the first
tent pack up in the rain, so I suppose I have been lucky. I set off
along the muddy path (in some cases “river”) and steadily walked the
six miles to Bear Mountain Inn passing over West Mountain and Bear
Mountain en route. No views because of the weather. I arrived at
the Inn at 10:10am to find the café, where I had planned to spend a
few hours, closed. I found a covered area in front of the toilets
and spent 1½ hours writing my reply to Syntec’s job offer standing
up at a wall and getting colder and colder. Shivering, by the
end. I then walked, in the rain, up to the Post Office which was
closed, then back to the now-open café where I had some lunch. It
was a big place, filled mostly with blacks whose picnics had been
spoiled by the rain. They were noisy and happy. After lunch, I went
to the Inn lobby and left the Syntec letter with them. I also
called Clio, but she couldn’t give me a time when she could meet up,
but wanted me to call back tomorrow. She said she could perhaps
make it Monday night. I’ll probably ring her, though I’ve a few
long days ahead of me. I left the Inn at 1:10pm and walked through
the picnic area and zoo (foxes, bears, raccoons) en route to the
Bear Mountain Bridge which I used to cross the big Hudson River. We
had driven across it with Rod and Tracey just three months ago –
seemed ages. The rain had more or less stopped as I climbed up to
the ridges on the north-east side – a landmark passed. The Trail
was reasonable, the weather cool, and I was in good spirits walking
along, singing with my Walkman, and a short afternoon in
prospect. I arrived at Graymoors Franciscan Monastery at 4:30pm and
was met by the kindly Father Bosco who arranged a room for me. I
had a shower and went down to dinner at 5:30pm where I met Bob and
Jennifer, also AT Thru-hikers, who’d spent the day there because of
rain. Jennifer was walking around the Monastery in short shorts
which I’m sure would have been a little distracting to the
monks. They told me about their encounter with the psycho “Fighter
Pilot” on the Trail who had threatened to kill them and had harassed
them for a few days in New Jersey. Glad I missed him. After an
ample dinner, I went to my room and wrote a letter before going down
to a small lounge to watch TV. At 9pm I found a Michael Douglas
movie called “Running” which was interesting but far-fetched. |
|
ADVENTURE LIST
Round Ireland
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Hume & Hovell Walking Track
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Via Alpina
(2012)
Australian Alps Walking
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Land's End to John O'Groats
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Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
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Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
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Australia Tip to Top MTB
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Sydney to Melbourne MTB
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Three Peaks Race
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Appalachian Trail
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|