Day 116-It Could Be Short, or it Could Be Long

July 12-11.4 miles-Village Vista Trail to Little Dam Inlet-AT mile 1383.7

We started out with a choice of either an 11.4 mile day, or an almost 25 mile day. Jamie dropped us off at the Village Vista Trail at 7:45 (he picked us up at 7:00, and it shouldn’t have been a 45 minute drive back to Greenwood Lake, but he accidentally took the long way).

Thanks for the ride, Jamie!

It took us about 20 minutes to climb back up to the AT. We were expecting more of the same kind of trail that we had encountered getting to the Village Vista Trail. Lucky us, we were mistaken! The trail was actually quite easy. 

Nice trail!

It stayed pretty nice all the way to the first road crossing. I thought, maybe we could make it the nearly 25 miles to William Brien Shelter. I broached the idea to Sure Foot. We decided we would make the decision when we got to our original destination. If we got there early enough, and felt we could do another 13+ miles, we’d go for it. 

We crossed the road, and the trail continued to be easy...for awhile. Then...it wasn’t. We were back to climbing up slabs of rock. 

Not too bad once we were on top. 

But then we had to come down. See the blue blazes? That was a bypass trail around the rock climb. We, obviously, didn’t do it. 

I could feel the 24+ mile day slipping away. It just takes too long to negotiate the rocks. We got to another road crossing, and decided we would stick with our original plan of 11.4 miles. The reason it was so short was because the Fingerboard Shelter is closed due to bear activity, and dispersed camping is not allowed after crossing NY 17 (I think because of the bear activity). The best we could do was get near NY 17. 

So, we didn’t rush too much. We came to Fitzgerald Falls. It’s a 25 foot high waterfall. There were a few people there (it’s not far from the road crossing).

See the big rock to the right? There were stairs that went up next to the rock. You can just see the white blaze on the tree. 

We filtered and drank some water, then continued up the stairs to the top of the falls. We decided we would stop for lunch at a viewpoint at the top of the next climb. I saw these mushrooms along the way. 

With the leaves, it almost looks like a flower!

I thought the lines looked interesting. 

The view turned out to be .2 off the trail, and in the sun. Sure Foot didn’t really want to go out there. We sat at the trail junction and ate our lunches. 

Sure Foot was saying he just didn’t have any energy (he still goes faster than I do. I’d catch up to him, and he’d be sitting on a rock or a log. 

If it fits, I sits!

It was getting warmer, but I didn’t really feel like the humidity was all that high. I mean, we’re still sweating like mad, but I’ve certainly sweat more in the past few days. Sure Foot says to me at least once a day, “Did I tell you I really don’t like the heat?”

The trail also went across a somewhat lengthy boardwalk. 

And by this pond. 

We had two climbs left. The first one was a warmup for the second one. 

The warmup. 


The second one to Buchanan Mtn Outlook. There was no view at the top. 

For the Buchanan climb, we really couldn’t use our poles. I shortened mine and used them like canes when I could. Fortunately, the descent down the other side was not as bad. 

We got to Little Dam Inlet and got water. We ended up finding a decent campsite not very much further along the trail. While we were getting water, another thru-hiker came by. It was John the Baptist. We had heard about him from Tic Tac and Papa Smurf. John told us they have gotten off the trail permanently now. Tic Tac was having too much trouble with her injured leg. 

Tomorrow we are hoping for a 16.8 mile day to West Mtn Shelter. Apparently, we will be able to see the NYC Skyline from the shelter.