"You should not see the desert as simply a faraway place of little rain..."

"...There are many forms of thirst." -William Langewiesche

August 18, 2001

Very dry.  Fortunately Trail Angels are leaving water at roadsides.

It is finally too dry.  A lot of springs are not flowing now, making it hard to keep hydrated.

I thought for sure that Fitzgerald Falls between Mombasha High Point and Lakes Road in New York would be at least trickling:

from here

It was dry.

Thanks to New Yorkers all was not lost though.  I came to Lakes Road and someone had set up a sign saying to walk to their nearby house and use their hose.

I filled up my bottles and drank a gallon.

As I got ready to make the 1.5 mile jaunt to the Wildcat Shelter for the night some weekend hikers were coming the other way from that direction.  I asked if they knew if the shelter's spring was dry or not, to which they replied that it was dry.

However, when I arrived there was a decent mud puddle.  Those weekend hikers...don't they know how to filter water out of mud!?

Hah, there was plenty to make supper and add another quart to my stash.

"Zoo animals are ambassadors..."

"...for their cousins in the wild." -Jack Hanna

August 17, 2001

A very interesting day!  I went over the beautiful Bear Mountain Bridge...

Bear Mountain Bridge crossing the Hudson River

...and into the zoo [Trailside Museum and Zoo].  They had all the animals from the Trail in the zoo.

The AT literally goes through the zoo!

One of five black bears I would see on the AT...does it count if it's in a cage?

Although I would have to go around several beaver-made ponds, and cross a few beaver dams, I never saw one except here in the Trailside Zoo:

Trailside Zoo beaver

After leaving the zoo, I came across one more animal for the day:

Probably a black Rat Black Snake (thanks, Dad!)

Fortunately, I saw him crossing the log just before I was about to step on it!

At Tiorati Circle I met 3 new Southbounders...Twinklefeet, Giggles, and Beat who started June 1st.  They had gotten a pizza delivered so I helped them eat it.  Ed [who I had been hiking with] got a ride to Campmor so he is a little behind but should catch up soon.

Little did I know that I would finish the Trail with Twinklefeet, Giggles, and Beat, but never see Ed again.  Twinklefeet (Mac) and Giggles (Marge) were dating and had picked up Beat (Jason) along the way.  I became a fourth part of the group until we hit the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

"For it is in giving..."

"...that we receive." -St. Francis of Assisi

August 16, 2001

I'm at Graymoor Friary.  Very good dinner.  Yum!

They sat us down at a huge table in a dining hall fit for a story like Beowulf.  They put a full setting with extra forks for salads, desert, etc. and fed us a delicious meal.  This was all just to bless us.

We got a tour by the Fransiscan Friar of the center.  The first Friary and chapel was built around 1900.  Now, it's much bigger!

Hanging out with the Friars at the Friary's pavilion

The tour was excellent, and I thought much of it interesting of how the original friars lived and the marble alter from the St. Francis chapel in Italy.  Neato.

When a railroad was built along the Hudson River nearby, many men came along looking for shelter.  All the friars had to share at that point was a chicken coop which became known as St. Christopher's Inn.  I suppose the tradition continues with AT hikers!

The altar from the chapel was made in Florence, Italy and was at the St. Francis chapel there until it was given to the Graymoor Friary, arriving in 16 crates.  At the time the marble altar cost the same amount it cost to build the chapel.

Tomorrow: Surrounded by Animals!

"The Adirondack lean-to was developed by guides of the region...'

"...as convenient camp to house hunting and fishing parties.  The earliest of shelters....were quickly and crudely built and although they offered shelter from the elements, they could not have been very comfortable." -History of Adirondack Lean-tos

August 15, 2001

Stayed at RPH Cabin.  RPH: Ralph's Peak Hiker.  It is excellent with bunks and concrete block walls.  They had to knock out one wall to meet AT shelter building codes.  Okay.

RPH Shelter (from here)

New York is turning out to be a top-notch state to hike through!  Wait until you see where I end up tomorrow: marble altars, a meal served, and an order going back to 1209 AD...