6/21 What a view

19.7 hiked today, 1382.5 miles N, 791.5 miles left
West Mountain Shelter

A good nights sleep in NY. When Caps and I woke we found McGyver was already gone. We packed up and left. Early on we came across a pond where there were more huge bull frogs. When we would got near they would let out a great croak that sounded like someone plucking the bass note of a guitar before hopping into the water. In addition to the frogs there were small blue gill fish swimming around in the water. Later on the trail Caps' sharp eyes spotted a tiny toad no bigger than my thumb nail. At about 9AM we crossed a road where I did the half mile walk to the deli while caps stayed behind and relaxed. While waiting for my sandwich I saw they have TV bingo now and decided I will stay in the back-country for at least another 7 weeks.
I got my sandwich, hiked back to the trail, and packed it up for lunch.
We have been hearing booms all day and at first I thought it was gun fire from local shooting range though it was louder than I had heard before. At the deli I found out West Point is only 20 miles away and what we had been hearing was cannon fire. Wow, if that is what it sounds like here I wonder how loud it is by the cannon.
Caps I I hiked very slowly in the morning. After four hours we had only covered six miles. I knew we were coming up on a stretch of trail called Agony Grind. I never knew if we had reached it yet though because all the trail was rough continuously steep up and down over boulders and rock piles. It was insane. We never changed elevation more than 100' at a time but I swear we climb near a 1000' in a couple miles there. After that slow part we decided to take a break at NY17. I had my sandwich and we took naps. I got up first to make calls and take care of email from a nearby pay phone.
After that we hiked into another rough stretch of trail, the Lemon Squeezer. That wasn't so bad, just a narrow slot between some boulders but after that the trail was routed right over a vertical 8' rock face. There was a an easy path around it but I decided to go over the "true" AT and after a few attempts I managed to haul myself over it almost completely by using my atrophied upper body.
After that the trail mellowed out and we made good time once more. That doesn't mean that it flattened though. It feels a lot like Georgia where one is always going up or down hill. For people who started in GA this is not much of a big deal but I suspect this is the first terrain of this sort Caps has hiked as he got really annoyed. To add to his bad temperment was the rain which had whipped up. We put on our pack covers and trudged on up and down the mountains. The rain stopped for a while but that did not mean we dried out. In some parts there were dense bushes growing into the trail and when we brushed up against them we got soaked anew. In fact we had stayed comfortably dry in the rain but from the bushes we were soaked through. Then again it started to rain as we hiked. The lightning was cool at least. It seemed to be staying mostly in clouds. I would hear a rumble of thunder overhead to one side and then I would hear it expand until the sound was coming from all directions. Then there would be a sort wave of crackling before it died off. I am glad I was in the trees for this!
The shelter is way off the trail tonight. Just at the turnoff there is a great overlook to the west and we arrived just in time to see the sun descend from the ceiling of clouds into the red void that separated them for the earth. I stayed behind to watch and take pictures while Caps pushed on to the shelter. The sun set was stunning and when it finally finished dipping below the horizon I headed to the shelter too.
The shelter is indeed a long walk off trail but it is worth it. It is on top of a huge flat rock that commands a wide view of the horizon. Below and to my left is the Hudson river meandering through the mountains. To my right New York is again visible on the horizon.
After I cooked my dinner I forgot to pick up my stove. As a result I accidentally stepped on it and sort of crushed it. I tried to pop out the dents and we will see if it still works when I make dinner tomorrow.