I was too exhausted from yesterday’s heat to sleep last night. I don’t think my body temperature got to a normal level until well past midnight. And sleep only came a few hours after that. So by the time morning rolled around, I wasn’t feeling great. To top it off, it had rained over night (without cooling things off at all) and was still drizzling a bit this morning. 

I left camp and moved slowly. I wanted to be excited because today was climbing bear mountain – a local NY landmark and site of some high school cross country races. I felt like it was supposed to be a big day but I just didn’t have the energy. So I walked off slowly. I looked down at the app to see how far I had gone after 2 hours and it was barely 4 miles. Not impressive, D’art. Not impressive at all. 

I started the climb up Bear Mountain still in my funk when I saw someone behind me starting to catch up to me. No way, I thought. I’m not about to get passed. I put my head down and started go. And just like that, I snapped out of it. I started to move and I felt good all of a sudden. All I needed, it turned out, was a little (un)healthy competition. 

As I climbed, the sun came out and it grew hot. I was soon, once again, drenched in sweat. My shirt plastered against my skin. But it was feeling good so it didn’t matter. And then I saw a dark shape under a tree 100 yard away or so. Mostly to myself I called out “hey bear, how ya doing?” And was shocked when the shape looked st me and then ran away. It was a bear! On bear mountain! 

When I reached the top of bear mountain, I walked straight over to all that mattered – the vending machines. I treated myself to two iced teas (I only meant to get one but… whoops!) and an ice cream bar. I sat on a bench and looked out over the Hudson River snaking through the valley far below me. 

The walk down the mountain was lovely. They had smoothed the path and put in perfectly heighted stairs with the result that I enjoyed that descent probably more than any yet. But even though it was smooth and well graded, I was still dripping sweat once again when I got to the bottom. So when I saw the sign for “pool” I figured, what the hell. 

As an entitled through hiker, I walked up to the front desk and asked the guy behind the counter “are there any discounts for thru hikers to swim?” He let me know that there actually were. It was free! He put a bracelet on my wrist and I walked in. I ended up skipping the pool (I didn’t really want to be the creepy bearded man in a pool full of 12 yr olds) and focused solely on the showers in the changing room. They were a bit gnarly, but the water came out clean and it was cold. As all the dirt, sweat and grime washed off my body, I couldn’t have been happier. 

Post shower, I got back on the trail for one of the most interesting sections of the AT. The trail actually goes through the bear mountain zoo. So while hiking, I saw another bear, a coyote, a beaver and many empty enclosures where the animals were surely hiding to get away from the heat. 

After the zoo, the trail went over the bear mountain bridge. As I walked over the bridge, I finally felt the excitement I had expected for bear mountain. As I crossed the Hudson, I found myself a bit overwhelmed. Not only was I walking the AT, but I had essentially walked home. From Georgia. I had driven here many times and often the trip had seemed far driving from the city. But now, I had done it on foot. From a whole lot farther. 

I met up with dad at a deli on the side of the trail where we chatted for a while with Nephew (grandma gatewoods nephew). He told us he had actually just summitted katadhin but had skipped a section to catch up with a friend so was now back finishing up his last 150 miles. 

Dad and I walked the last mile to a pavilion run by a church camp that lets you camp out there. This site is special because they have… wait for it… a shower! So I took my second cold shower of the day and rejoiced in the cooling sensation. Getting into hammock tonight was a lot easier without being so sticky. 

Key stats:

Miles: 18

Elevation gained: 3800 ft

Mile marker: 1416

Showers: 2