AT Days 90 to 99 - Bagels, Bears, and Boardwalks: Hiking Through New York and into New England

Day 90

After our late night, we all slept in until it became too hot to keep sleeping. Once awake, we promptly left to seek out air conditioning and Brooklyn bagel sandwiches at a local bakery. We then returned to the stifling apartment to do laundry, repair gear, and tackle a few other chores to get back on the trail. After chores, Masochist and I took naps before we all hit the subway to head back to Port Authority. Back in Manhattan, I fruitlessly searched for another disposable camera, mailed a few items home, and then we all hopped on the bus back to Warwick. The bus back was much quicker, so we hoofed it down the road to the drive-in theater and arrived just in time to catch the first showing. We also ran into a bunch of friends camped out there: Groot, DJ Scratchums, Slinky, All Around, and Wizard! Predictably, just about everyone was in bed before the end of the first showings, but Groot, Wizard, and I stayed up late to watch Boogeyman and to kill a cake Wizard had purchased. An excellent day, and I highly recommend stopping off at the drive-in for the night for any other hikers!

Day 91

We all slept in a bit after movie night, but I woke up with a horribly upset stomach, which ate up a good chunk of our morning. Once I was finally feeling better, Groot, Masochist, Instigator, and I hit up the nearby grocery store before catching a hitch to the trailhead. Once there, we immediately hit the “Stairway to Heaven” climb, which was much easier than its name implied. There were a bunch of day hikers out, but as soon as we crested the top, we didn’t see another soul for hours. We then trudged on for a few more hours, only stopping to grab water at Wawayanda State Park and to have lunch at Wawayanda Shelter. As another added benefit of the day, we also officially crossed into New York, so we are done with the New Jersey section! After the border, we had a few fun little rock scrambles and a rebar ladder built into the rock to spice up the day. After the scramble, we started looking for stealth sites and water. Unfortunately, the water spots marked on Far Out were completely dry, but thankfully, we had just enough for dinner. We were then all tucked in reading when we saw a bear haul ass out of our campsite. Fingers crossed it doesn’t return later at night.

Day 92

Thankfully, we didn’t have any return visits from the bear! After a night of sound sleep, Instigator and I rolled out early, Groot slept in to go into town for fuel, and Masochist slept in a little bit. Our first stop of the day was the Bellvale Farm Creamery, which had a free water tap for hikers. Masochist also caught up to us there. From there on, we didn’t stop until lunch, where we just found a few decent-looking rocks around Mombasha High Point. The trail had been pretty rocky all day, with a few rougher downhills, so Instigator's feet were having a tough time of it. Not to mention, we had to carry extra water as most of the sources had been dry. Eventually, we made it to Island Pond, which was the first lake we’d seen in New York that wasn't stagnant or polluted. Because the shelter we were staying at had a dried-up spring, we stocked up on water here before slogging uphill and through the “Lemon Squeezer” rock scramble, which proved to be quite fun! Not long after that, we rolled into Fingerboard Shelter, where Groot caught up with us. Overall, a pretty fun day with the scrambles mixed in, but the sporadically rocky trail is still beating up our feet. Likewise, all of the dry water sources are a bit concerning!

Day 93

As planned, Instigator and I left camp earlier today from Fingerboard Shelter and headed down to Harriman State Park to grab water, use bathrooms with running water, and enjoy breakfast out near the lake. After breakfast, we continued down the trail, crossed a bog, and then hiked a section of the old AT that had recently been rerouted to check out the view from an old CCC shelter, the West Mountain Shelter. Since it was a clear day with very little smog, the climb up to it paid off, and we were rewarded with an amazing view of the New York City skyline 40ish miles away, and of the Hudson River. After a long lunch break there, we continued forward and climbed Bear Mountain, which ended up being a nice climb due to the more developed trails for heavy day hiker use. At the top, we admired the view from the tower and enjoyed ice cream from a vending machine before running into Groot. By this point, Instigator’s foot was bugging her, and my knee was in pain from the downhill we had been doing on rock day. Because of this, we made the call to meet up with Masochist at the lodge at Bear Mountain State Park, and then we ended up finding a nearby stealth site after Instigator and I had drinks at the lodge. Once again, the lack of stealth camping in this area and the sparseness of camping spots and shelters have added an unnecessary level of difficulty to this section. Likewise, there is still very little drinkable water available nearby, so we have been needing to haul around extra. Still, the New York section of the trail has proven to be by far one of the most gorgeous sections.

Day 94

Today was one of my favorite days on the trail so far. We woke up early to leave our stealth spot so that we wouldn’t be bothered by anyone and quickly set out. We quickly noticed that the air quality was terrible, but accepted it was normal because we were next to the Hudson. It was also difficult to tell how hazy it was because of some impending weather, which made the sky much darker than usual. We crossed the massive bridge over the Hudson before starting our climb up the mountain on the other side. The trail had decent switchbacks, so it was a much easier climb than it had looked on FarOut. Instigator and I were still moving slowly, so we sent Masochist and Groot ahead while we moseyed. We had plans to meet up at a deli called “The Appalachian Market” at the next road crossing, so we were in no real rush except to try and get a hot breakfast. Not long after reaching the top, though, we found a sense of urgency in the form of lightning and hail exploding from a thunderstorm that roared in. We quickly hustled down the mountain, were assaulted by mosquitoes (for the first time on trail), and then pulled up to our destination. The “market” turned out to be a gas station with a deli, but my god, that deli was good. So good that we all ordered large meals and decided to hang out for a bit. After 30 minutes or so, the Kiwis, Rosie, Rebecca, Hannah, and Wizard showed up and decided to all get tall boys. After another 20 minutes or so, Slinky, Scratchums, Bambi, and Allaround showed up as well! Now it was a party! Cases of beer and seltzers were purchased, breakfast turned into lunch, and lunch turned into dinner. Groot ended up leaving around 4 pm, and maybe around 5 or so, the rest of us decided we needed to at least find somewhere to sleep for the night before sunset. After perhaps a mile or two on trail, we found a huge secluded opening where we all set up, built a fire, and enjoyed each other's company for the evening while enjoying our roadies. So far, New York has been an incredible experience.

Day 95

After our “late” evening, most of the group slept in, but Instigator and I left our campsite at 6 am, as we always do, so that we would have a nice, long day instead of feeling rushed. Unfortunately, it was still incredibly smoky out, which made it difficult to breathe, so I was happy to go at a more leisurely pace. The whole morning, we practically saw no one on the trail, but eventually, we rolled up to Canopus Lake State Park, which supposedly had a restaurant and hot running water that we were excited for! When we made it to the park buildings, though, the restaurant was still closed for the season and all of the bathrooms were locked. This sucked, but the beach was quite lovely, so we decided to have an early lunch at one of the picnic benches there. While snacking down, we noticed that it was becoming incredibly smoky out over the lake, and that a caretaker was working on a stand across the beach. After chatting him up, we learned that the opening had been pushed back for some reason, but he was happy to let us into the bathrooms. Instigator and I pounced on the opportunity to do some sink laundry and camp chores. Sometime during our choring session, Masochist arrived along with the Kiwis. We all chatted for a bit, and then the Kiwis headed on ahead of us, and Masochist joined us for the day. At the nearby shelter, Masochist raided the hiker box and delightfully found (and consumed) a half-eaten bag of stale Funions… Further up the trail, Scratch, Slinky, and Bambi caught up to us, and we all ended up hiking together to our pre-arranged meeting point, the famous Corrado Pizzeria Gelateria! Our whole group from the night before met us there, where we demolished some delicious pizza, Ferrero Rocher gelato, a few cases of drinks, breadsticks, and god knows what else. The two Italian brothers who own the pizzeria and the Stormville Deli next door were absolute gems, cracking jokes and staying open late to hang out with us. At some point, Scratch also talked me into getting Staw-Ber-Rita tall boys, and the owners tried to talk us all into going to a strip club. We had an incredible night, before passing out in our tents on the lawn behind the businesses.

Day 96

This morning was a rough one. My pounding head could acutely feel the sugar and alcohol from the sickeningly sweet Straw-Ber-Rita, and my gut was not happy with how I had punished it. As I slowly emerged from the tent, I found Masochist half-dressed in his tent, with the door open, watching YouTube on his phone and eating leftover pizza from the night before. What an animal. As I wandered around looking for water and facilities, one of the proprietors greeted me and informed me that he had unlocked the pizzeria early just so that we could get into the bathroom. Again, bless these guys; they are the absolute best. Once I started feeling like a human again, I went to the deli where our little group was converging and noticed the beautiful breakfast sandwiches they were getting from the deli. Not wanting to miss out, I ignored my twisting stomach and ordered a hefty loaded sandwich and a Gatorade. While I was ordering, the brothers must have noticed how bad I looked, as they started razzing me and offering me another drink and to stay another day. After my sandwich, I finally felt better, so we said our goodbyes and hit the trail. Most of the group had gone on ahead of us, so it was just Instigator and me for a while. Despite the smoke, it was a pretty easy day, and the trail was gorgeous. We crossed over several large boardwalks, met some friendly dogs, and saw some beautiful, dignified old trees. We continued until we crossed a road, where supposedly there was a food truck. After road walking a bit, I found Price is Right waiting at the Malaysian food truck in the middle of nowhere, New York. The trail never fails to throw surprises! He headed out while we waited for my food, and then after I finished, Slinky and Scratch caught up to us. Perfect timing! The 4 of us then took our time cruising to Wiley Shelter, where we again rejoined Masochist and the Kiwis for an early night. I cannot believe that we will be in New England tomorrow!

Day 97

With the excitement of a town day ahead of us, and our desire not to stay in the expensive town of Kent, we all woke up early and knocked out the 13 miles into town, only stopping along the way for pictures at the Connecticut border sign and trail magic at Macedonia Road. The walk into town was strange as we passed an expensive boarding school and several preppy-looking individuals. Last night, something weird happened: a blood vessel had burst in my eye, so we made a beeline to the only eye doctor in town to get it checked out. Unfortunately, the doctor was out, so we went for the next best thing: brunch. While we had our cute little porch brunch, Masochist, Slinky, Scratch, the Kiwis, and Price is Right all walked past us, heading towards the Kent “Hiker Center.” After we finished brunch, we headed over as well to discover that it was just 2 single bathroom stalls and a coin-op shower around the back. We made the best of it before once again setting up on the stoop to hang out with our friends and enjoy the day. At some point during the day, a woman named Bonnie stopped by and offered to let us stay in her backyard if we were interested. Immediately after she left, Instigator mentioned that this person was infamous on Farout and that we should proceed cautiously. None of us were worried because we were all planning on getting back on the trail after lunch… As it now seems to always happen, hanging out turned into ice cream, drinks, snacks, and before you knew it, it was too late to make it back to the trail again. With no other options, we nervously called up Bonnie and then cautiously went over to her house in one big group. Power in numbers or something like that. Once we arrived, she was incredibly kind, offering up her finished shed to whoever wanted to crash there, and she provided us with cake and other treats! The only weird part of the experience was that we were not allowed to use the bathroom for some reason, which meant that we had to hop a fence, wade through some overgrown weeds, and go over near the railroad tracks? Who knows. It was still incredibly kind of her to open up her yard to strangers.

Day 98

I awoke fairly early, badly needing to find a bathroom (probably because of the tub of ice cream I had consumed the night before). Not wanting to use the train tracks, I instead opted to utilize Google Maps, and promptly located a gas station not too far away that was just about to open. I jogged down the street and patiently waited outside until the kind owner let me in before it opened. Once I returned to Bonnie’s yard, Instigator and I packed up camp and headed back to the gas station for a breakfast of hot drinks and pastries. We then started heading down the road back towards the trail. Along the way, while looking at the map, we noticed that the old AT followed the river instead of heading into the hills. Wanting to extend our wonderful streak of days and enjoy the gorgeous Housatonic River, we opted to take the old route. At some point, we stopped for a bit to air out our tent, and Slinky and Scratch caught up to us. We then cruised on in conversation, enjoying the beautiful morning before stopping where the trail departed from the river to have a quick bite and to stretch out in the sand. As we were wrapping up, Masochist caught up to us, and we all walked on together. The trail was well-maintained, and we met a friendly trail crew trimming up the sides for the hiking season. One of the volunteers chatted with us and told us about a beverage shop owner in Cornwall Bridge who sometimes gave out beers for conversion, so as a group, we decided to take the journey over there for lunch. The owner was incredibly friendly and offered us each a drink for the road while asking us about our hikes so far. Thankfully, the Kiwis had received our text, so right as we were setting up on a large rock outside for lunch, they arrived and joined us. On our way back to the trail, we took a little side road to avoid the main road we came in on, and we passed by a picturesque old church with an accompanying ancient graveyard. Once we hopped back on the trail, this side of the road was, unfortunately, incredibly buggy and overgrown with poison ivy and other unfriendly plants. At some point, Masochist and the Kiwis went on ahead while Instigator and I trudged on, trying to be careful not to rub up against anything. Since I was especially dragging, we ended up sending Slinky and Scratch ahead as well. Around sunset, we finally arrived at Sharon Mountain Campsite, where we found Masochist, Slinky, and Scratch waiting for us. The Kiwis had gone on ahead, wanting to make it to some sort of brunch restaurant that they had found on a map. What had started as an easy and fun day had quickly turned challenging, highlighting just how much terrain and trail conditions could change my mood. Hopefully, I just need some sleep, and tomorrow will be another good day.

Day 99

We didn't sleep too well due to a nearby racetrack, so it was a bit of a surprise when Instigator and I both woke up fairly early. While she enjoyed her coffee, I went out to enjoy the sunrise from the nearby open-air (wall-less) privy. After we had completed our respective morning rituals, we hit the trail, hoping to make some miles in the cool morning air. We hadn’t made it far down the trail when we heard an unmistakable, familiar chatter, the Kiwis! It turns out that they had also been pretty tired and only wound up a mile or so down the trail from us. After a quick conversation, we decided to text the others to all meet up at their breakfast spot, the Mountainside Cafe. The Cafe was a cute little spot with good standard breakfast fare, and as always, it was a blast eating with everyone. I was a bit peeved, though, when they told me the milkshake machine was down, and then proceeded to make a milkshake for a kid one table over… I’m not sure that they appreciated us stinking up the place! After breakfast, we split up into groups again based on pace, so Instigator and I walked with Slinky and Scratch. We got to see the gorgeous Great Falls of the Housatonic River, then proceeded to resume the up and down that is the AT. From there, we climbed up and over Mt. Prospect, Lion’s Head, and Bear Mountain (I feel like we’ve climbed a few Bear Mountains at this point…?). Between two of the climbs, I hosed down Scratch with a hose in a graveyard after filling up our water bottles. While hanging out and soaking in the view on Bear Mountain, we met Pokey, a local trail angel who shared some trail magic and gave us his number so we could get a ride into Great Barrington. While up top, we had regrouped with Masochist, so the five of us headed down to Sages Ravine, which was a really cool little backcountry campsite. We then crossed into Massachusetts and set up for the night, another state successfully behind us!