Today was like a field trip for Becca and me. And why not, there seemed to be a few dozen different groups having similar field trips along the way.
Our first trip of the day was up.to Bear Mountain Observatory, and though the views were fine, we still had no view of NYC as the fog had not yet lifted from the Hudson Valley. However, we did see a picture of the view one might see on a clear day, and NYC was tiny anyways. Views of NYC from the AT are probably overrated anyway. There were lots of groups up there.for their own field trips. Middle aged men in lycra biking suits complaining about how the steep climb seemed.to be endless... until it ended. Fundamentalist Muslims with women wearing black robes completely covering themselves despite the 90 plus degree weather and humidity. And day hikers that didn't seem to want to hike the trails, but curiously asked us how they might be able to just drive to wherever the trails went. Lots of field trips.
From bear mountain we descended into the Harriman state park inn where we got ice cream from the "Hikers Cafe." We didn't feel like paying $5 for a bottle of beer though, so we moved on. Outside, on the banks of Hessian lake, dozens of groups of elementary school aged kids were ending their lunch picnics. We got really crappy concession stand food and ate while they filtered over to the pool.
On our way to our next field trip event, the trail side zoo, we passed the big pool that was just saturated with bobbing screaming kids. I was kinda jealous, but we had to move on.
The trail side zoo was kinda cool, but kinda sad. It was sad because the animals are rehab animals. A 3 legged fox losing its hair, birds with broken wings, etc. But we finally got to see a bear, and I don't know know why it was broken, but it looked pretty happy chillin in its pool even though it was surrounded by vultures. One particularly amazing exhibit, the utility pole... ?
After the zoo, we walked over the Hudson River and back up the mountains, eventually finding our way to a convenience store with a deli where we ate dinner. This was supposed to be our resupply, but once again, AWOL has screwed us by putting a misleading symbol on a glorified gas station. Appalachian Market my ass.
We ended the day with a few more miles to walk to the baseball field of the greymoor spiritual life center, a Franciscan Convent / monastary. It was a sweet place to camp and we chilled with about 8 other hikers.
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