Saint Francis of the Injured Feet

Stealth Camp to Greymoor Friary 19.6 Miles
I just wanted to sit there and wait until whatever it was outside my tent went away but then I heard another one farther down the hill from me. I was hoping they might go chase each other around so I could pack up and get the hell out of there while they battled each other in territorial combat, claws and fangs locked in mortal struggle so that they never notice the lone hiker skirt their blueberry-covered arena. I eventually mustered the emotional strength to get out of the tent to look around and a deer went bounding away. I hate being scared of a deer. Here I am all wide awake at 6AM and even out of my tent! I packed it up and got out of there by 7. Some guys passing me before I got on the trail found my headlamp on the trail, right where I pulled out my sleeping bag to look for it. Oh well, at least I got it back. There were blueberries everywhere. Only a few of them were ripe but I decided to start eating them. I could use the vitamins and stuff. Ramen and tuna and Vitamins aren’t going to cut it I think. The trail was nasty as usual. New York’s trail system seems to have been blazed by someone who really had something to prove; like, “I’ll show you guys we have tough terrain in New York even though the altitude doesn’t go over 1300 feet, I use all 1300 feet, over and over again.” The terrain was wearing on my still-wet feet and I’m getting this pain in my pad of my right foot that’s starting to feel serious. I got new boots and I don’t think they are working well with my feet. I don’t have the money to get more new boots so I’ll just deal with it until something falls off. As I was climbing Bear Mountain the automatic gunfire began. I wasn’t expecting to hear .50 cal fire and an M249 SAW going off in the woods below but it was unmistakable. Then I heard the claymores and a few grenades. I was having visions of a takeover, a coup d’etat where the Marines finally take back the country and ask me to join back up. OF COURSE! Later someone informed me that West Point is over there and I guess they were exercising their right to automatic weapons. I love that! I ate blueberries all the way up Bear mountain and the downhill into Bear Mountain The Town was extreme and the foot was really going crazy. By the time I got to the town I was limping. Fortunately there was a kid there selling Italian Ice on the promenade next to Hessian lake and I sat myself down a spell to enjoy it, paying with two of the dollar coins I got from the Soda machine in Lake Tiorati, briefly wondering once again if they were real before the kid took them, without a word to their authenticity. I got a burger and “Blue” Doritos as they call the Cool Ranch style here in New York, Ostensibly because they come in a Blue Bag VS the Red of the Nacho Cheese. Briefly I wondered if this was a regional bastardization or a freak occurrence. There is a Zoo here that the Appalachian Trail passes through. They have the blazes right there on the path that runs through the zoo, which is stocked with animals who are injured to the pint that they wouldn’t be able to make it in the wild. The bears had been put to bed and I had to sneak past the closed gate to get through but there were still people walking around so I figured it was OK. I made it through the zoo without getting stuck for too long. I’m interested in identifying the types of plants I’ve been passing, especially edible ones J The path let out at the Hudson River Bridge and I crossed it instead of staying in town there. I wanted to get toe the Friary. Greymoor Friary is an old Franciscan worship center that has housed AT Thru Hikers since 1972. They used to feed people here but at some point they discontinued that and now they offer a shelter at the ballfield that you can stay, recharge cellphones and take a cold shower, all for free. It was nice; but, a lot further from the trail than they let on and by the time I walked the 7 miles from the zoo to the Friary, I was limping badly. I hope I don’t have to zero here. I would love to see the Friary though. They have services for hikers at 7:30 PM I just couldn’t get up the oomph to go tonight but it would be something I’d like to see. In the guide book it says you can order food from a local pizza place here and we tried but their driver was absent tonight. I had already gotten it in my head to eat pizza so Magnus and I searched the internet until we found something. I got a big pepperoni pizza, wings, a salad and two bottles of Coke. We feasted like kings and the pizza was a really good East Coast Pizza. I haven’t had really good East Coast Pizza in a long time. I wish my foot wasn’t so jacked up, I’d be a lot happier right now if I didn’t think I was going to have to Zero tomorrow. The keyboard for this computer hasn’t been working very well. The USB port rarely recognizes it and I’ve been forced to wait until I can figure it out. Well, off to bed and I’ll see how the foot feels in the morning.Windjammer, Brühawk and Magnus stayed here with Toad and a couple of other guys I didn’t know

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
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