Sunday, 29 May

Today’s title is courtesy of Bob.

A big thunderstorm arrived last night after Bob and I were snuggled in our tents. The price of a good backpacking tent seems steep but when you are in a deluge and stay dry you see the value. No ranger arrived overnight concerned about our “illegal” campsite. Things were still wet when we packed up. We awoke to a sunny clear day.

First stop was the park office. We filled water bottles and charged phones. After four miles we left New Jersey behind for good at Prospect Rock. This is the highest point on the AT in New York. Welcome to New York. What New York lacks in vertical challenges it makes up in rocks. We spent several miles climbing up and over school bus sized rocks. One place has a ladder made of rebar. Bob slipped on one of the rocks and we had to put a couple bandaids on his hand. We did have nice views of a lake with many boats out on the holiday weekend.

Finally the rocks were fewer. Bob and I decided last night that we had enough food to skip today’s planned resupply since it was 0.8 miles off the trail so it would have added over a mile and a half round trip. There was a hot dog place 200 yards of the trail and ice cream another 200 yards but we know how our luck had been running with restaurants along the trail. Today we hit the jackpot. Tops Dogs was open, two chili dogs for me and two with kraut for Bob. The owner was wonderful to hikers, offering to charge phones, and giving a free bag of pretzels. After the dogs it was up the hill for “the best ice cream in New York”. The line looked over an hour long so no ice cream today. They did have a spigot with water so we filled up.

Bob and I had caught up to the Scouts who camped near us last night. We were a little worried about finding a tentsite if they arrived ahead of us. We took the side trails at Eastern Pinnacles and Cat Rocks. The side trails did not shorten the miles but we had enough rock climbing for the day.

We found nice tentsites before the Scouts arrived. We find them a little loud but entertaining. It should be dry and warm overnight. Looking forward to another dry day tomorrow.