7/25/12 – 1404 miles
It was a nice easy day. Kleenex has a cold, I have a sprained ankle, we were kind of beat up from the last few days, so we decided to meet at Graymoor Spiritual Life Center only 6 miles up the trail.
The motel owner gave us a ride back to the trail at 9am, earlier than we wanted to leave but good that we didn’t have to walk. The trail enters the Trailside Museum and Zoo where the bear cage is the lowest point on the AT at 124 feet ASL. Visitors have to pay but thruhikers are allowed in free.
Then it was a long walk across the Hudson on the Bear Mountain Bridge and, other than a couple of climbs, fairly easy walking to the monastery. The friars let hikers stay at a shelter at their ball field. They used to give thruhikers a meal but stopped that practice a while ago.
We arrived about 2pm and sat around for a while resting. I wanted to explore the building on the hill after pulling up a map on my phone and discovering there was a gift shop listed. So I talked Kleenex into walking up with me and checking it out. We spent a while browsing the gift shop and looking at photos displayed down a hallway depicting the history of the monastery. What got my attention was the soda machine at the end of the hall.
Several hikers are here tonight and a few of them are southbounders. It’s neat to start meeting SOBO’s now and trading information on the trail ahead. They tell us we are coming to the most beautiful and challenging parts. Nobody said it was easy.
I think when you are the Kleenex, you should be immune to catching a cold. Haha. Hope you guys are feeling better and the weather improves. Thinking of you….