Day 118-Climbed a Bear, But Didn’t Get to See One in a Cage

July 14-13.1 miles-West Mtn Shelter to Graymoor Spiritual Life Center Ballfield-AT mile 1413.0

Last night, after I’d finished my post, and we were done watching the lights of NYC, Sure Foot and I got up to walk back to our tents. There had been a couple of sit pads in the shelter that we had used to sit on the rocks in front of the shelter (the shelter sits on a rock ledge). Sure Foot shook the sit pad he had been using. I heard a weird rattle sound. He shook it again. Again I heard the sound, but this time I happened to look down at the rock just as something quickly slithered off into the grass. It was kind of dark, but I swear it was a rattlesnake! What I think happened was that the snake came out to warm itself on the rock while we were sitting. When Sure Foot stood up and shook the sit pad, it gave a warning rattle. When he shook it again, it rattled, then took off! I could be wrong...I hope I was wrong, but I know I heard the sound, and saw something long and skinny go off the rock! I made Sure Foot lead the way back to the tents in case there were more snakes warming themselves on the rocks. I thought I might have bad dreams, but I didn’t. I was probably too tired after the long day. 

As we worked our way back to the AT, we had to stopped periodically to eat blueberries. 

Tiny, but so sweet!

Back on the trail, in a mere one tenth we crossed the 1400 mile mark. Once again, we had to make our own marker. 

Flat Will and LB being part of the marker as always. 

We came down West Mtn, then before long, started up Bear Mtn. On our way down West Mtn, we could see the tower on top of Bear Mtn. 

See the tower? It is 3.2 trail miles away. 

Starting up the many stairs of Bear Mtn. 

The climb up Bear Mtn was quite the loop around. Getting up to the tower was a much longer trail than the trail down. There were some nice views. 

Nice seat!

Palisades Parkway in the distance. 

The Hudson and some lake. 

As we neared the tower, I spied the best part, the vending machines!

The tower was closed. 

The vending machines were not!

I spent $8.00 on vending machine food (Coke, this ice cream, and another ice cream bar)! Turns out it was a good thing because there was no other food in the park when we came down Bear Mtn. 

Going down the many stairs. We didn’t see anyone on our way up, but we saw tons of people on the way down (they were going up). 

Bear Mtn Bridge, which we would walk across. 

You can’t really tell, but the top sign says “Major Welch Trail” (probably should have done that one).

As we couldn’t get any food (except more vending machine food), we just got a couple of Powerades, ate our own snacks, then headed on. 

In a normal year, the trail does something very unusual. It passes through a zoo. The bear cage is the lowest part of the whole AT. Of course, the zoo was closed. There is a bypass trail (if someone doesn’t get there during the hours the zoo would be open in normal years, or if someone is hiking with a dog as dogs aren’t allowed in the zoo).

Someone commented on Guthook saying the bypass should be the real AT, and the zoo should be the blue blaze. I agree. I guess it’s appropriate as we also didn’t get to go to the highest place on the AT either (Clingmans Dome in the Smokies).

The bypass brought us to the Bear Mtn Bridge. 

We walked across the Hudson on the bridge. As an aside, three years ago, I kayaked (on my bike tour from Minneapolis to Maine) on Eighth Lake which is the headwaters of the Hudson River in the Adirondacks. 

As we were road walking to where the trail went back into the woods, a woman stopped me and asked if it was okay if she parked her car there on the side of the road. I said I had no idea, but since there were a ton of other cars parked along the road, and a NY State trooper just drove by, and didn’t stop, I figured it was probably okay. So funny how people think I would know something like that!

Once back in the woods, of course we had to climb again. We had to regain all that elevation we had lost getting to almost the lowest (well, the lowest for us) part of the AT. 

We popped out of the woods again at the Appalachian Trail Market and Deli. 

It’s open 24/7! First we got some food to eat, then, with full bellies, we got our resupply for the next three days. The choices were definitely limited, but we managed to get a reasonable variety of food. 

When we left the Market, we had to cross yet another treacherous road. 

There was a light, but it was a three-way intersection, so we just had to hope for the best. 

We only had .6 (plus another .4 off the trail) to get to our destination for the night. The Graymoor Spiritual Life Center has allowed hikers to camp in the ballfield for many years. There is water, and even a cold water shower (it felt great on this hot day). Siddhartha has been here for two days because his foot has been hurting (he had a stress fracture early on). He doesn’t want to take a chance of reinjuring it. 

I set up my tent in a most appropriate place. 

Just under the big “T” for Two Wheels, of course!

Tomorrow we head to a state park that allows thru-hikers to camp for free for one night.