6 Miles on the AT in Dutchess
On Saturday, Aug., I had my Sunday homily drafted before our morning Mass. So when Bro. Bill asked me, "Mikey, are you going hiking today?" I took his hint, and around 9:00 a.m. I was heading north toward the Appalachian Trail crossing of Long Hill Road on the boundary between Putnam and Dutchess counties, where I halted on my last wee stretch of the AT (from Fahnestock State Park).
It took me quite a while to find the spot; I didn't do a good job at reading the maps. So it was 11:10 before I was parked and putting on my gear. I hiked north 3 miles, taking a lunch stop at the Shenandoah tenting area 1.1 mile from the parking area. That's a mown meadow .1 mile off the trail, taken care of by a kind soul who calls himself (herself?) the "caretaker." There's a picnic table, grill, fire ring, 3 Adirondack chairs, a register inside a mailbox, and a supply of bottled water. Since I had my canteen, I didn't take any of the water.
Shenandoah tenting area
The trail was pretty easy; I scarcely noticed the little rises and falls. It was very pleasantly shaded.
After the lunch stop, I was soon passed by 2 thru hikers, up more than 1,400 miles from Springer Mt. in Georgia and moving at a good clip. Happy Meal and Hickory (their trail names) are hoping to reach Mt. Katahdin before the snow comes.
When I reached Ralph's Peak Hikers Cabin, just before Hortontown Road, I stopped to check it out and to have a little snack. It's a sturdy concrete block structure with bunk beds within, a writing table, a very small library, a big supply of water, etc., well cared for. It's 3 miles from Long Hill Rd. and was my turnaround point.
The approach to the cabin is down a long downhill (and uphill returning) that I compared to going down/up Bear Mt., till one comes to a delightful creek crossed by bridge (and approached by some boardwalks over what must be boggy ground after a rain.
Happy Meal, a young woman, agreed with my comparison of the hill (Shenandoah Mt.) to Bear Mt.; in fact, she moaned that New York's section of the AT was the worst she'd encountered so far--for the ups and downs.
But I have say, again, that NY-NJ Trail Conference--God bless 'em!--does a terrific job of trail maintenance.
At the shelter I was joined by 3 more thru hikers. There was a couple who'd started in Tennessee and hope to reach Mt. Katahdin; I got a photo of them as they lunched at the shelter. They were the only hikers who were on the older side. The 3d was a woman, probably 40-ish, who was southbound (the only one of all whom I met today), from the Conn. state line to Bear Mt.; when we met again at the parking area, I used my map and guide book to help her plot the rest of her day's hike (hoping to get to Dennytown Rd. to camp and replenish her water).
On my way back to the car, I met 5 more full-geared hikers, a bunch of 3 and then a young couple. They may all have been thru hikers, or they may just have been heading to the cabin for the weekend--there were 2 cars besides mine in the parking area when I got there (at 3:10 p.m). Fully-loaded hikers tend not to want to stop for chit-chat.
Link to today's AT photos: https://link.shutterfly.com/ 0jiEFlaExib
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