Author Archives: atsioneva

Oh, brother.

We stayed last night at the Morgan Stewart shelter in New York. A nice shelter, but a smaller one, set in a forest of tall trees, interlaced with many footpaths, and one of those footpaths led to the privy. Another, to the water pump. God only knows where the rest went. The shelter itself was only a short distance from the AT. These details are very important.

Because thru-hiker Ziptie had to get up at 3:30 am to answer a call of nature. Headlight on, it was still half-awake stumbling around in the dark to try to find the privy path… and failing. Yes, the inevitable pee in the woods was inevitable. But after…

Could not find the shelter. Could not find the shelter. Could not find the shelter. It was pitch black still, and the headlight just could not penetrate the tree cover enough. I did stumble upon the AT, but in the dark, it was impossible to tell if I was facing north or south.

Fortunately for me, the wind had died down somewhat (it was downright chilly last night). I knew that the sky would be light enough to see by 5 am, and when calling out produced no result (my fellow hikers were deep asleep, and who could blame them?), I resigned myself to 90 minutes of waiting. Part of the time I sat on a rock, part of the time I paced from white blaze to white blaze, just to keep warm. Finally the sky was light enough to navigate by, and I was able to crawl back into the sleeping bag about 5 am, but in the first stage of hypothermia.

I just could not get warm. I woke up at 6 and 7 am, shivering still, until I crawled out and put on my rain jacket, and hiker Nova loaned me a knit cap. I was able to get warm and slept until about 8:30, then got up and made hot cocoa and oatmeal. Needless to say, very late start for me this morning, I did not leave until about 10:30.

Still, it was a good hike, easy terrain, 10 miles. I spent a fair bit of time on the shore of Nuclear Lake, it was beautiful. Tonight we are camped outside Tony’s Deli near Pawling, NY. Road on one side, metro rail track into NYC on the other, but the place is open 3a.m. – midnight, has excellent food and beer, a phone recharging station, flush toilets, and a comfortable lawn to camp on. All the comforts of home! Almost.

Tomorrow we will go into Pawling to get our maildrops, then hike five miles to the next shelter. It means I get to sleep in, if I can. With all the traffic and train noise. Unfortunately, Morning Song will be dropping off the trail on Sunday after we cross the CT border. I am really going to miss my hiking partner. Eight weeks of hiking together. More or less.

I hike on.

This was, quite simply, the best hiking day yet. All the pieces fell into place for a wonderful, near perfect day.

First, the weather. Mid-sixties, sunny to warm you, a near constant wind to cool you, keep the bugs away, make the trees dance in an ever-changing pattern of light and shadow. And dance they did… Sometimes I would just stop in the middle of the path and watch. It looked like something out of Lost.

Next, the trail itself. Dirt with stones or leaves, or both, most of the way, no hard climbs, no hard descents. The trail maintainers went above and beyond on this section of trail – as much as they could, they removed rocks from the path, and piled them into stone walls bordering the path. Blazes were well marked – sometimes even the rocks in the path had white splashes; when the path went along the road, blazes were painted on the road; in short, it was near impossible to get lost here.

Yesterday’s rainstorm taught us both that we could go faster if we wanted to, so I think we were both testing that today, covered the first 5 miles to the deli in 2.5 hours, or 2 mph, which is a good speed for the AT, particularly for me.

Oh, yes, did I mention a deli? Why, yes, I did! And much food was had by all! It didn’t stop me from being hungry again later, but I ate a huge lunch. And soda. And hung out at the picnic table, and recharged the phone. Hikers will walk the extra .8 miles for a deli, indeedy! Making it just about a 10 miler today.

I am already in the sleeping bag; it is chilly out there! It will be quieter tonight though – only three of us in the shelter. Last night was impossible – one of the hikers had a sleeping pad that I swear was made of bubble wrap. Every time he shifted position, everyone woke up. And he was a restless sleeper! Tonight, I think I will sleep very well, bundled up. Tomorrow, another 10 miles. And so it goes.

I hike on!

After an hour of curling up in my sleeping bag, half a large pizza, soda, and some very warming hot chocolate, I feel more coherent now.

This shelter is suddenly a happening place, and it became a social evening… All six bunks are filled, and there are five tents outside. Another pizza order just arrived for some later comers. There are 12-15 people here now, and I had fun chatting with previous thru-hiker Nova, and two southbound hikers who just started in CT, Copy and Write. I was able to pass on some info about trail highlights they might enjoy, so I feel very guru-ish tonight!

Things are beginning to settle down now, as the sun is dropping down, and so are tired hikers. MS is already asleep. Tomorrow is a new day! One without hypothermia, I hope.

Ah, another pizza order is being phoned in. We are a hungry lot… And thirsty, I think I will finish off the diet Pepsi before crashing.

Cheerio! I hike on!

Today was a perfect example of “be careful what you wish for”.

Me, at mile 4 of 10, “God, I am very low on energy, please help me.”

God, at mile 5 of 10 (on an exposed hilltop) –> epic rainstorm deluge that lasted half an hour.

Seldom has five miles been covered so quickly. First to just get there, and second to avoid hypothermia. Oh, yes, everything is soaked… But plenty of energy, no doubt! Gee, thanks, Lord! I am curled up in my sleeping bag now, trying to get warm.

Last night we had a visitor with loud breathing. It scared the living daylights out of me, to wake up and hear something snuffling/breathing outside the tent right by my head! Whatever it was knocked my water bottles over, then went on to snatch and eat the lifesavers and Rolaids out of Morning Song’s pack. Could have been a bear, or a sasquatch. Whatever it was, it did not get the good stuff, we bearbagged our food last night before turning in.

We are at RPH Shelter tonight, where we are taking full advantage of the fact that pizza can be delivered here. Extra mushrooms and green peppers, oh yeah! There are three Georgia hikers here as well, talking food, my stomach is rumbling. Tomorrow, we’ll do a 9-miler to the next shelter, which puts us in position for a nearo in Pawling in three days, to pick up mail and resupply. My very wrinkled toes will probably thank me.

I need food. I don’t know why I lost energy today, but the trail wasn’t that difficult, so I need to figure it out.

Short entry tonight. I am just tired from the five mile sprint to the shelter.

I hike on. With wet boots.

It was a day, taken all in all – I shall not look upon it’s like again.

(Okay, I probably will… )

As usual, I was up early, around 5 am, but MS wanted to sleep until 7, so I did not disturb him. We didn’t cook breakfast this morning! One of NY’s fabled delis, serving B/L/D, was only 3 miles of easy trail away and right on the trailhead! This we could not pass up! I snagged a coconut water and a delicious cinnamon raisin bagel with roast beef, egg, and cheese. My stomach sang. We covered the 3 miles in about an hour and a half, then hung around the deli/store/picnic tables for about an hour, I needed to get more than just food. Also partially recharged the phone.

The rest of the day was just hiking. Got the 12 miles in, but the last three were pretty brutally rocky. Not difficult, but very very rocky and hard to handle when tired. And I was tired. I even got sick of mountain laurel blossoms! They are very pretty, but they indicate you are at the top of the mountain/hill, and I very much wanted to be at the bottom, where the road and campsites were! The blasted trail would not go down! Or it would start to, and you’d start to hope… And then it would go right back up into the flowers again! I am coming to loathe New York’s constant abrupt ups and downs as much as PA’s knife rocks! And let’s not talk about the bugs…

Made it to the campsite about 5:15, which means, subtracting the hour at the deli, it took 9 hours to walk 12 miles. Something like that. My speed has not increased, which means that if I want to make more mileage in future, I need to walk more hours – start earlier, walk later. I can do that, but will not worry about it until Morning Song drops off trail in Kent, CT next week.

Anyway, the campsite is on a well-used road. I managed to get here, get the tent up, refill water bottles, take care of business, and get everything under cover, including me, literally one minute before a thunderstorm let loose. It was pleasant to lie and listen to the storm, but it has passed now. MS is taking a nap, and I am just relaxing. About 7 we’ll probably get the dinner thing going.

Add to the list of things I need to buy – new insoles. The gel insoles I bought back in Palmerton, can’t even remember which state that was, are in bad shape. We will be taking a nearo in Pawling in about three days, hopefully I can find a sports outfitter. If not, Kent, next week, has an outfitter.

I wants another roast beef bagel, precious! It’s my job to find those sort of places, since I have those detailed maps. Maybe tomorrow… Tomorrow, 10 miles to a shelter, and hopefully the bugs will not be too bad. But I might have to pitch the tent anyway, to dry it out. I’ll see how it is in the morning.

I really don’t feel like cooking tonight (again), but the supply of tortillas and Things To Put In Tortillas is getting low. Never underestimate the humble tortilla. It has an infinity of possibilities. I think I still have a tuna packet, I know I have Babybel cheese and some pepperoni left… Or I could cook a Knorr side dish, yum. Choices…

I hike on.

There is so much wrapped up in the words “Welcome Home”. On the trail, it has come to symbolize what Taps does… the hike is done for the day, time to lay the pack down, pull off the boots, and relax. Cook dinner, or eat a dry supper, pitch the tent, take a load off. Finished for the day.

Today started out with a hard decision… The temptation was very strong to be dropped off at Bear Mountain with everyone else, but I would have skipped 7 or 8 miles of trail, and, as it turned out, a very very enjoyable climb and descent of West Mountain, including some beautiful scenery. I made the right call!

The second mountain, Bear Mountain… Argh! Their idea of making it more accessible to dayhikers and tourists is over a thousand stone steps. And that is just on the way DOWN the mountain. I am not exaggerating the number. They actually had a plaque bragging about it! Going up was incredibly stepfull as well. Not fun! Great views though, particularly from the Perkins Memorial Tower.

Now, about the elephant in the room! I MADE IT ACROSS THAT HUDSON RIVER BRIDGE! Morning Song was with me – he had finished errands in Fort Montgomery, just about the time I summited Bear Mountain, so he decided to wait for me. No, I didn’t take any pictures, but I did get a good long look at the view. It really was quite stunning. And scary. I know I am making a big deal of this, but that bridge has been haunting me since I decided to do this, and now it is behind me. The relief, and sense of victory, is inconceivable…

The third mountain today is the one we are camped on now – I don’t know the name of it. Longest 1.7 mile hike ever, and more stone steps. *groan* and there is a train track below. Very active train track. I think earplugs tonight.

For those who sent me packages in Fort Montgomery – I am very sorry! For a number of reasons, I was not able to get to the post office, so I had to call and have everything forwarded to Pawling, NY, 4 days uptrail. I’m looking forward to seeing what is in them though!

Today was a 10 miler. 3 mountains, 1 bridge, and 3 separate instances of getting lost. The NY trail maintainers seem to like to make you guess if you are on the right trail or not. Often… not! It was a beautiful day for hiking though – high 70’s with a wonderfully cool breeze. Tomorrow, 12 miles to the next shelter.

Somehow I have to deal with an unexpected dental bill that insurance should have covered. That should be … not so much fun to deal with on the trail. Also, my shorts have a rip in them somehow. Can’t remember if I packed a sewing kit, I will worry about it later.

I hike on.

This entry is being typed on an actual desktop computer. I have not done that in a long, long time! And this will be a longer entry as a result.

Today we were ruled by the weather. Also by an urgent desire for a shower and clean clothes. They were predicting severe storms through this area tonight, and they were not wrong – it’s raining bears and rattlesnakes out there! We started the day off early – well, early for Morning Song anyway, an 8 am start. I’d’ve probably left earlier, but we pace each other.  Besides, where we were camping is full of trails, and I took the wrong one at first, of course, so he got ahead of me anyway! The first 5.3 miles, to the next shelter – piece of cake. But I knew better to let down my guard. Usually good early start lead to rough days.

I was not wrong. Between the shelter where we rested briefly, and the Palisades Pkwy, New York went back to being MEAN. The trail up from the shelter was literally UP from the shelter – steep rock steps, and then a rock scramble. About that point it started raining… we sat in the shelter a bit longer to wait out the worst of the rain squall, then started up, but the rain had turned a rock scramble into a very slippery rock scramble, and I fell trying to traverse a rock slab sideways to get to safer footing… fortunately, not in a place where I could have gone over the cliff, and I didn’t get hurt, but it shook me up and knocked the breath out of me. There were unavoidable puddles all over the trail for the first time since I began, and even my waterproof boots couldn’t keep out all the water.

And then. Black Mountain. Okay, we were in cloud/fog/mist most of the way, but on clear days you are supposed to be able to see the NYC skyline from Black Mountain. (Only 34 miles to NYC.) Not today! It was a steep climb up, a steep climb down, and all you could see off the viewpoints was solid white. The trail strayed closer to the edge than I find comfortable, and I had this bizarre feeling that if I slipped and fell over the edge into the fog, they’d never find my body. Like the fog would just make it vanish. I was very glad to get over that mountain!

I FINALLY made it to the bottom, where MS was patiently waiting, and we walked .4 miles west to the visitor center in the median between the Palisades Pkwy’s divided lanes. We made it across the road safely, with a substantial break in traffic, then contacted Stony Point Center, where we’d decided to get rooms for tonight. SHOWER! LAUNDRY! HOT FOOD THAT IS MORE THAN BOILED WATER AND DEHYDRATED SUBSTANCES! And, oh, my gosh, a real bed! Literally weeks since I slept on a real bed. They have a nice discount for hikers as well. And it was a good decision, because the skies have already opened up at least twice while we were eating, and will definitely do it again. This place has kinda a New Age feeling to it, but to each his own. I will pass on the women’s New Moon Event I was invited to though. (I think that was it.)

We still need to work on the plans for tomorrow – I have maildrops in Fort Montgomery, but first I have to hike the section from the Palisades Pkwy to Ft. Montgomery, about 7 miles, including at least one more difficult mountain. With the rain tonight, I am particularly not thrilled about this, especially alone, but I’ll manage. MS is going to go straight into Bear Mountain / Ft. Montgomery and hang out and wait for me. I will get an early start, I hope – him not so much. Then he has to shove me across the Hudson River Bridge. Okay, this has been one of my most dreaded things since the very beginning. 124 ft above the water, unobstructed views, and it’s a suspension bridge to boot. I am going to feel it move, I am going to have massive vertigo, and I will freeze up often, if past experiences foretell this one. Camp tomorrow night will be 3 miles across the river at Hemlock Campsite – a 10 mile day for me.

Also, for some reason, my phone has decided that it is time for a firmware update, only it won’t update – it is stuck at 0% and been that way for hours. It is a Verizon LG Android phone, and I can’t even get it to reboot. Nor can I remove the battery on this model. ;( I don’t want to take it to a repair shop. Anyone have any ideas?

Well, gotta get the laundry into the dryer, and spread out the sleeping bag to let it air out and hopefully dry overnight, it is incredibly damp inside. It’s too warm for a 20 degree bag now, so I will have to send it home for a while, and buy a lighter summer bag… once I can find a outfitter. Inside the bag, you are too warm; outside the bag, the bugs swarm. Tenting becomes a necessity!

New York will not beat me! I hike on.

Another 6.6 miles deeper into New York! Okay, it’s not exactly huge distances each day, but we get farther each day, and New York hasn’t stopped us yet!

We are staying at the Fingerboard shelter tonight, thirteen miles out of Fort Montgomery. It is supposed to storm tonight, and strong T-storms tomorrow, so we are still trying to figure out what we will do. I have several packages waiting in Fort Montgomery that I can’t pick up until Monday. Plus, we both stink. A lot! And so forth. And I don’t even want to think about the state of my hiking clothes!

These young fit hikers keep blowing past… It’s a sad reality to face, but I am never going to be a young, fit hiker. A middle-aged fit hiker, maybe. But it can be quite aggravating! You finish a hard climb, stop to guzzle water, and they appear as if summoned. “Oh, yes, that was quite a climb, wasn’t it? Good place for a break.” AND THEN THEY CRUISE ON BY WITHOUT STOPPING, NOT EVEN BREATHING HARD! Aaargh!!!

Okay, now I have that off my chest… This is a very old, cool shelter. Rock walls, with two built in fireplaces. Though we’re not allowed to make open fires. Morning Song and I are here, thru-hiker Stash and his girlfriend, and another hiker with a dog just showed up. The water source is a lake half a mile downtrail, so I might opt for a dry supper tonight – tuna and/or pepperoni and cheese in tortillas. I just don’t feel walkable right now. I haven’t had to chemicalize water yet since hitting NY… Bless you, trail angels! Water jugs galore at every road crossing.

My feet hurt. It’s going to rain. I keep smelling BBQ!

I hike on.

The battery is at 59% and the recharger has no juice left. If I can’t find a place to recharge, I might not post for a few days. Maybe I’ll be able to in Fort Montgomery, we’ll see!

I have come to the conclusion that the person who wrote “Climb Every Mountain” was a NY AT trail maintainer. Today was a very tough day – three mountains, complete with hand over hand vertical rock scrambles, steep descents, and other tricky bits. We’d planned ten miles, then camp, but the day ended at the 8 mile mark, with Morning Song coming out to greet me with a “Welcome Home!”

Our campsite tonight is on the side of Arden Mountain. Lovely view, and we cooked dinner on the rocks, but the view disappeared into a sudden rain squall, and it rained in my stroganoff (with bacon) before we could get everything under a tree. Relaxing in my tent now, my feet are enjoying being bootless. My knees hurt though, from all the up and down – the missing two miles would have contained a lot more of that.

If this is a foretaste of what the mountains in New Hampshire and Maine are going to be like, I need to seriously toughen up, or get off trail. It was so hard today, I was having serious doubts about the chances of me getting through New England. But it wouldn’t be worth doing if it was always easy!

I have to put in a word here about New York trail angels. They rock! Every time the trail crossed a paved road, there were jugs of water there for hikers to fill up. At least 3 times. One even had a table with chairs set up, with a citronella candle! The kindness of people never ceases to amaze!

We’re seeing a lot more thru-hikers on trail these days – some who started in Harper’s Ferry, some from Georgia. Both good and bad – New faces, even if I don’t remember trail names, but the shelters often fill up before we get there. I’m doing a lot more tent camping, both because of the space issue, and because of the bugs! Swarmy little bugs and skeeters.

Tomorrow we’ll try to make it to a shelter. Odds are good, as there are two within striking distance. Fort Montgomery by Monday at the latest, depending on terrain.

I hike on.