New York

Everyone loves NYC but, how many love the State?  When one thinks of New York and places to visit they think of either the City or Up State.  How many think of the other areas?  I didn't.  I'm surprised by how easy the terrain is to cover and how beautiful the lower south east corner is.

Before crossing the Hudson River, I stopped at Bear Mountain.  The views showed the city in the distance.  The mix of hikers, great.  I met my first SoBo's, Spoons and Toey.  They summited Mnt K on May 31st, making them some of the first SoBo's of the season.  They're in now for the miles.  Their only rough spot is the first 150 miles of PA, then the psychological play afterwards.

Crossing the Hudson on the bridge is cool.  Not really, its's a road walk.  However in June and July of '94, 20 years ago, I sailed under this bridge with Mercy Ships.  The M/V Anastasis of Mercy Ships was enroute to and from Albany for a Public Relations Tour.  I tried to picture myself looking up and seeing hikers, I didn't recall seeing any then.  I hoped to see boats passing, I didn't.

I'm sitting in Pawling working on DVD photo burning and have a few minutes to write.  Like many towns I hit, T-Mobile isn't here.  I use the library later to post.

Yesterday I crossed over several points that gave an opportunity to get into the City by train.  However I found the ups and downs, the climbing through the rocky craigs and boardwalks through swamps more fun.  I didn't think NY had swamps.  The AT crosses many swampy areas.  Swamps equate to ticks and snakes, so far I haven't see either on me or on the ground.  The trail crews have placed boardwalks through many of the areas.  Thank you.

One highlight was the walk around Nuclear Lake.  Nuke Lake was the sight of a processing material spill in the 70's.  The plant is no longer but still fenced off.  The rest looks untouched by human intrusion less a rock wall at the northern end.  This wall looks constructed in haste as if there was a battle of old here.  The wall but 3 foot high close to the water's edge and zigzaging.  Other old stone walls I've seen are old property boundaries, not this one.

I think waiting on the memory card to load onto the DVD unit is hurting my hike time. I think I'll send the card home next time.  I'm sorry I'm not posting many photos.  Little connectivity through my service provider and slow Wi-Fi at other locals drag.