The trail crossed over a couple streams which were easy to walk over on intermittent stones. Crossing over a second stream I followed what I thought was the trail. What initially looked like a well traveled path began to dwindle. and white blazes were nowhere to be seen. NY is a little sparse with their white blazes and at times it would take some reconnoitering to determine where the trail led. I checked Guthook and found I was veering away from the trail so I backtracked to the stream. The trail takes a sharp left turn after crossing the stream and follows its rocky bank to a waterfall and then climbs rock steps up to the top. I didn’t see the marking for the turn but with Guthook’s help I found the way. Guthook came in handy again when the trail, while following the stream, suddenly took a left and crossed over it without much warning. There would be a couple other areas that could have used some more blazes but fortunatley my meanderings were shortlived and guthooks got me back on track without to much ado. The hike started great, lots of different features including marshes, streams, waterfall, forest and mountain.
Once past the falls the trail became a constant trek up and down steep rocky mountains or hills; not huge climbs but steep enough at times that I needed to use my hands to rock climb. It became a grueling up and down afternoon. The descents could be tricky as well. Apparently switchbacks are not popular in the North. My pace was slow but this was true for two other pairs of hikers who leapfrogged me along this section. The heat and humidity was extracting its toll. My Perspiration was so extensive that my clothing became soaked with it. You would think I had been under a hose. I would dry some when I stopped only to remoisten when I picked up hiking again.
Saw four snakes along the way. Three garter snakes and one black rat snake, all non venomous. There are timber rattlers in the area but I didn’t see any. This garter snake is hard to see in the picture. He is in the top center slithering to escape my intrusion.
I started the hike without using my knee brace but by noon had reverted to using it. The extra support was really helpful.
Around 3 pm I came down to the road crossing (NY rte 17) where the AT enters Harriman State Park. The two pairs of hikers and I got trail magic there. A guy had water, Gatorade and snacks. We made it just in time as he was getting ready to pack up and leave as we came to the road. He provided some historical information about the area while we ate and drank. His generosity was fantastic.
One pair of the hikers was doing a day hike and their car was parked nearby to take them home. The other had friends pick them up at this road juncture to stay overnight in a nearby town. I headed into the park.
My initial goal was to get to Fingerboard Shelter. It was shut down last year due to aggressive bear activity but they installed a bear hang and reopened it this year. It still had warnings posted I was told. One hiker I talked with said he heard that most were avoiding this shelter.
Being tired and worn out by the heat I opted to seek an earlier camp. Found an awesome camp site at Island Pond Outlet. Beautiful tent sites with a great view by the side of the lake. Went swimming in the lake to cool off before dinner. There were about 7 other tents nearby.
Generally I tie my Ursack food bag to a tree or, when available, use provided bear hangs. Given the warnings about bear activity nearby I decided to hang my bag. First time for me to use the PCT method to hang mine as there were no bear hangs or boxes.
Temperature dropped sufficiently to make it comfortable to sleep on top of my bag. Sleep came easy.
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