Day 56 - Sunday, August 7

Linda

I slept like a rock last night. Didn't wake up once until morning, which is very unusual for me. I tried to wake Ronald up, but he was still zonked, so I went on to take my morning shower - a great luxury. Woke Ronald up again around 7:00. We both got ready and went down to breakfast. The rain was pouring this morning, so we hated the thought of leaving even more. Mass wasn't until 12:30 on Sundays, so it was pretty quiet around the friary. Didn't see too many friars who looked like they'd been up before dawn for morning prayers or anything. Probably needing a bit more sleep to recover from last night. Breakfast was set up buffet style, so we helped ourselves to juice, bacon, eggs, toast, cereal and milk. I must have eaten 10 pieces of bacon, it was so good. Ronald figured he had eaten 2,500 calories just for breakfast. Wouldn't even hazard a guess on yesterday's total.

During breakfast we chatted with a few of the friars who were actually up and around. They told us more about the many different programs they have there. They are very involved in the community and with social programs. Almost everyone we spoke with said they hoped we had enjoyed our rest stay there. That seems to be a central theme of the monastery - to provide a place of rest and rejuvenation for travelers. We were so impressed that we decided we wanted to leave a donation. On the way out we left a check with some of the friars in the dining room. We certainly hated to leave, but were grateful for the time we had there.

We walked down the hill in the downpour and headed for Bear Mountain. The trail was fairly easy along that section, and it stopped raining before too long, so we got across the famous Bear Mountain Bridge across the Hudson River by 10:30. Took some pictures of the Hudson from the bridge. It's an impressive structure. We tried John Babcock again from a phone booth at the end of the bridge and made contact this time. He said he'd come and meet us at the traffic circle where we were. We put our packs down and waited for a while, then Ronald decided we might not be in the right place, so I stayed there while he walked toward Bear Mountain Inn. He met John on the way down to the Inn and sent him back up to get me. I got to ride in air-conditioned comfort in his cousin's new Chrysler LeBaron. We met up with Ronald who was waiting at the Inn, then went to the snack bar and chatted for over an hour. It was good to see John. He's a big bear of a man - kind of a good-old-boy, but one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet. He was all decked out in his Bermuda shorts and canvas hat with his woodpecker pin on it. After catching up with all the news, we asked him if he'd mind shuttling our packs to Tiorati Lake, so we could do the Bear Mountain section faster. He said he'd be happy to.

We grabbed the camera and a few things to munch, and arranged to meet John at the lake at 4:00. We would have to average 3 miles per hour to get there, and we would almost have made it, but we stood around talking for an extra half hour, then didn't change the schedule. The area is packed with refugees from New York City, so it is a sea of people everywhere. It was nice to be able to pass as day hikers for a change, since we didn't have our heavy packs. In tourist areas like this, people tend to come up and ask all manner of stupid and embarrassing questions. This way we more or less blended in with the crowds. We bought Italian ices, and headed up the mountain, slurping as we went. It was pretty steep, but we blitzed the 1.6 miles in a record 25 minutes. We were rewarded with a so-so view from the tower at the top, but it was too overcast to see very far - must be smog from New York City.

The rest of the section was up and down over several other mountains on a ridge. Nothing awful, but tiring, even with no packs. We also got soaked in another rain shower (the rain gear was with the backpacks), but luckily it didn't last long, and we dried out quickly in the warm air. We arrived at the lake at 4:45, but luckily John and his cousin had only been there a few minutes. We slurped down a Coke and some ice cream while we talked and watched the fat ladies waddle around the beach in bathing suits. Tiorati Lake is a real hang-out, with a very high sleaze factor. It's populated by everyone who can't afford to go anywhere else, but I guess it beats New York City on weekends.

When we met John this morning, he commented on Ronald's baggy and tattered shorts. This afternoon he went out and bought Ronald a new pair and presented them to him. What a nice thing to do! When we offered to pay, he said he'd collect from Dad - which means he didn't want to be paid for them. He's really a super guy. He and his wife Sarah want to retire up here. Hope they can find a place, but know Mom and Dad will miss them if they move away from Richmond. John has been such a good friend to Dad.

We said good-bye to them about 6:00 and fixed dinner at the picnic grounds before going on the 1.5 miles to Fingerboard Shelter, our destination for the night. In just that short distance from the lake to the shelter, we saw 13 deer. It was right around dusk, so they were grazing everywhere. What a disappointment when we got to Fingerboard Shelter! It was a complete trash dump. The shelter was made of stone, which wasn't bad in itself, but it was also built on a huge uneven slab of rock. Consequently, there wasn't a flat space large enough to put even one sleeping bag. There were piles of trash all around - inside and outside of the shelter. We ended sleeping outside on the flattest rock we could find outside, and hoped it wouldn't rain. Not terribly comfortable, and a far cry from our accommodations last night. Instead of the soothing stillness of our rooms at Graymoor, we were lulled to sleep by the distant blaring of a rock group playing down by the lake. Came 16.2 miles today.

Ron

After a delightful and full sleep I awoke this morning around 7:00 to the smell of breakfast wafting in. I haven't slept this well since we left home, but I wasn't about to let sleep keep me from food. We soon packed up and headed down for breakfast. We ate scrambled eggs, bacon, cereal, toast, and juice - just enough to fill us up but not slow us down. The falling rain provided very little incentive to leave, plus Father Besco's invitation to stay another night didn't help either. Since we were planning on meeting John Babcock at Bear Mountain Bridge Park, we said our good-byes and headed out into the rain.

Rain was not destined to be the order for the day. Shortly after we left Graymoor, the sky cleared away for the sun. We easily hiked the short distance from Graymoor to the Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson. At the end of the bridge I called John, who was staying nearby. We had tried to call last night with no luck. We agreed to meet at the inn at the park. After talking for a while, John agreed to carry our packs in his car while we hiked the next 10 mile section through the park. We figured about three and a half hours for a stroll through the park and agreed to meet John at Lake Tiorati around 4:00. The next 10 miles were rough, over numerous small mountains. We hiked Bear Mountain in short order, but lost time walking around the top. The next few miles were just up and down, with parts of it through rain showers. We still made good time and only missed our mark by a few minutes.

We sat around the lake for a while talking with John and his cousin. John must have felt sorry for me because he bought me a pair of shorts while we were hiking. They fit great. The last pair had gotten so big I had to tie them around my waist with rope. I didn't carry a belt since it would weigh too much. They finally had to go, so we said good-byes and headed off into the park to fix dinner. During dinner several other through hikers came by and talked until they had to go on. We ate our dinner to the sounds of Italian music and people speaking in many foreign languages.

Bear Mountain Park is located only 50 miles from New York City. Because of its location, it's a prime recreational center for people from New York. Much of the park is just like a city park, with wide open grassy areas under trees. Several times on our walk through the park we almost stepped on couples lying on the ground in an embrace. One of the reasons I wanted to hike this section without packs was so we wouldn't stand out too much.

After dinner we sauntered to Fingerboard shelter. It's a stone shelter built on a large but very uneven rock slab. I don't believe it was built with the intention of anyone sleeping in it. It's hard to image how anyone could. We chose to sleep out under the stars on a reasonably flat spot. Due to the proximity to civilization, the shelter was littered with trash and broken glass. We are trying to go to sleep tonight to the sound of someone's boom box down by the lake.

(16.2 Miles - 778.6 Total)