Rainy Day on the A.T.

Rainy Day on the A.T. 

Photos from a wet 6-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail on Sunday, Nov. 6: https://link.shutterfly.com/ViYawgjlLub

My only Sunday Mass was at 8:00 a.m., after which I changed and headed north on the Taconic State Parkway.

My hike was 3 miles in, 3 miles back, most of it ascending and descending Shenandoah Mt. in Dutchess County.  

Starting up Shenandoah Mt.

I hiked this section in August 2021 and meant to resume my coverage of the AT starting from where I’d left off, at the Ralph’s Peak Hikers (RPH) shelter on Hortontown Rd.  But there was no place to park there, and I drove almost 2 miles to the nearest parking lot on my AT map, where the AT crosses Longhill Rd.  There were 4 other cars there, and I think I met all their owners on my trek.

The woods are full of old stone walls.

I hiked over the same ground as 15 months earlier—not that I remembered much of it.  Most of the trees were bare.  

There were a few splashes of color.

It rained off and on, including a heavy half-hour; so I had to be extra careful treading all the wet leaves, especially on ascents and descents.

Boardwalk approaching a bridge, close to RPH shelter

I met 3 fellows who are volunteers of the NYNJ Trail Conference, doing trail and shelter maintenance.  They’re what the hiking community knows as “trail angels,” looking after hikers’ needs like water and snacks, and trash removal.  They informed me that I could have parked at the Taconic Pkwy underpass and hiked .3 mile down to the shelter! 

The Taconic underpass at the Miller Rd. exit

Once I made it to the shelter and finished my lunch there, I hiked up to the parkway (and it was up, with a staircase); that little bit was my only new section of trail.  At RPH are bunk beds, picnic tables, a back porch, and even a privy; in season, a water pump (sealed up by now).

 

Some info outside the RPH shelter

The shelter's neighbors include this handsome horse farm.

Heading back south, looking at that bridge

and the long ascent of Shenandoah Mt.

The entire hike covered took 4.5 hours, including lunch/snack stops and photography.  I met only one day hiker.  It’s past the season for AT thru hikers.