A Day in the Woods

A Day in the Woods

I took advantage of a business trip to New Rochelle to take a fine (but chilly) day off hiking and camping in Harriman State Park on Tuesday-Wednesday, Nov. 28-29 before driving home to Maryland.

Southbound AT & Ramapo-Dunderberg on the ridge of Fingerboard Mt.

Both days were sunny but chilly.  The air temp was in the low 40s, but a pretty good wind blowing made it feel colder.  Since these were weekdays, there weren’t a lot of hikers out.  On each day I saw a party of Koreans (about a dozen in each group), up from NYC or elsewhere.  It seems you can’t hike anywhere in Harriman and Bear Mt.’s 52,000 acres without running into large groups of Koreans—church outings or other social groups.  God bless them for getting out into God's wonderful nature!  Otherwise, at the shelter 1 elderly couple passed by at lunch time on Tuesday and 1 chap at breakfast time on Wednesday.

I parked at Lake Tiorati (big parking lot and picnic area, and site of the park ranger station), took the very short Tiorati Trail (about .3 mile) uphill to a junction with the Appalachian and Ramapo-Dunderberg trails, and followed them south for a mile, up to and along the ridge of Fingerboard Mt.  The Fingerboard shelter is a couple of hundred yards off and downhill from the trails (350', according to a sign posted there).  I covered the 1.3 miles in less than an hour.

Many readers (but not all) know that the AT runs 2,100 miles from Springer Mt. in north Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in central Maine.  According to entries in the log book (see below), the shelter is 800 miles from Katahdin.  The RD Trail goes from Tuxedo Park, N.Y., to the Dunderberg (Thunder Mt.), south of Bear Mt. on the Hudson, a mere 23 miles.  Over the years I’ve hiked almost all the AT and RD miles within Harriman and Bear Mt.

Fr. Jim Mulloy and I have camped at the Fingerboard shelter several times, but I was rather surprised to see from my markings in the Harriman Trails guidebook (after I got home) and my photos that we were there last in May 2009, quite a bit longer than I thought.  It was a nice surprise to see that the NY-NJ Trail Conference recently completely replaced the roof (rafters, boards, the works) and maybe a little before that had installed a new floor.  The stonework had been re-mortared, and the fireplaces (2) were in great shape.  God bless the Trail Conference people!

A log book placed in the shelter in July or August (school copybook, visible on the mantel in the photo) records many thru hikers as well as weekenders passing thru.  Some had the temerity to hope they’d see a bear, and a couple wrote that they had seen one (I think they meant out on the trail).  In any case, when I’m in Harriman I always bear-bag (photo).  I have no desire to meet a bear (which I did in Sept. 2016 on a different section of the RD Trail--a mama and 2 cubs).

I estimated that my backpack weighed about 35 lbs., including water, tent (in case I didn’t secure the shelter), sleeping bag and pad, stove and fuel, food, mess kit, warm clothing, saw and hatchet (used both on firewood), trowel and TP (used those too!), 1st aid (didn’t use), soap (did use), tinder and matches, medications, paperback book, ipad (breviary, missal, and Bible), Mass kit (photo), rope (see bear bag), and a bit more.  I wished I’d brought my little stool so that I could’ve sat in front of the fire instead of to the side on the wood floor.

I don’t quite comprehend how Appalachian Trail hikers can go with less than 20 lbs. of clothes and gear, plus water, even in summer.  On the other hand, it's a major mistake to overload oneself; see the hilarious description offered by Bill Bryson in A Walk in the Woods (much better than the movie, which is funny enuf).

Lots of firewood--both kindling and more substantial stuff, thanks to the saw.

If I hadn’t got the shelter, which got me out of the wind and allowed a good fire, I’d have had to use my tent, and then I’d probably not have been willing to sit out by a fire for very long after the sun set and I finished my supper—which was around 4:15 p.m. (see photos for time indications).  There was a bright, more-than-half moon above and perfectly clear sky full of stars.  There must have been a 10-degree difference in temperature inside and outside (according to a little thermometer attached to my backpack, it was 41° inside).  As it was, I stayed up past 9:00 p.m. stoking the fire, reading (and finishing) my book, and praying.  And I slept pretty well, getting up twice to stoke or rekindle the fire.

 

Sun disappearing behind the ridge at 4:08 p.m.

Lingering sun reflection in the clouds, 4:29 p.m.

Roaring fire--and totally dark outside, before 6:00 p.m.

My Tuesday lunch was a PB & J sandwich and a granola bar, washed down with water.  Supper:  freeze dried chili and beans (photo), orange, Crystal Lite (later, a granola bar).  Breakfast:  oatmeal, apple, pastry, peanut butter, coffee (forgot to bring creamer, alas).

Experience has shown me that, while the coffee pot (sans innards) weighs a few extra ounces, it's worthwhile to bring it for boiling and pouring water. The fuel canister and a small towel fit conveniently inside for packing.

From inside the shelter, a view of dawn (not yet sunrise) at 6:55 a.m.

A bear warning sign was posted about 50' behind the shelter, but I saw only wild turkeys, chipmunks, and birds.  

The turkeys, up near the big rock, didn't wait around for me to get a good shot of them.

On the way back to the Marian Shrine (where I’d left my non-camping gear overnite), I passed by lovely little St. John’s in the Wilderness Church (Episcopalian); it’s on the last remaining private property within Harriman and Bear Mt. parks and is still an active parish with a Sunday service.  The Long Path (New York to Albany) passes nearby, and I’ve seen the church dozens of times—even been inside a couple of times.

The complete photo album: https://pix.sfly.com/neVUNM