Low on the AT

We'll be in the Hudson...

Today we hiked a little over 9 miles. We had to start our hike about a mile from the actual AT, since the nearest parking area we could get to was a bit off-trail. It was very foggy this morning, so there wasn't very much to see when we got to the top of our first climb. We had another big climb to do later in the morning, though. Bear Mountain is one of the more popular outdoor destinations in the area, especially on a day like today. By the time the fog cleared, it was 80 degrees and very sunny. It was the first day so far that I got legitimately hot. Working to climb Bear Mountain in the heat was worth it once we got to the top though.

Bear Mountain

We spent the rest of the morning and a good bit of the afternoon climbing down the east side of Bear Mountain, the bottom of which hid some very interesting sights. First, the lowest elevation on the entire AT is at the bottom of Bear Mountain, at about 120 feet above sea level. I guess that means there will be a very big hill to climb tomorrow. Secondly, the AT at the base of Bear Mountain walks straight through a trailside museum and zoo. We saw minerals, fossils, historical artifacts, bears, hawks, eagles, owls, coyotes, porcupines, beavers and all manner of reptiles, amphibians and local birdlife. It's not every day something like that appears on the AT, so we definitely took our time strolling through. The only bad thing about it was that I didn't have any change on me to get a popsicle to cool me off in the zoo. After our educational afternoon, we spent a bit of time driving around the area rounding up our vehicles (we rented a car because the NY police officer who almost kicked us out two nights ago informed us the RV isn't allowed on one of the highways we have to drive on to get through this section of AT...thus a rental car), and stopped at a local diner for supper. If we have a few more days as beautiful as today, I just might get used to New York.

Zoo Hiking