The VPo man and I thought it'd be a great idea to go hiking Sunday after 3 inches of rain fell the previous day. It was a brilliant idea. If we weren't walking in a foot of snow, we were walking in a foot of water.
We started in Harriman, close to where the A.T. crosses the Thruway. On this day the Thruway was backed up due to flooding south of the Harriman exit. From the start there was a ton of water. Right at the edge of the parking lot there was a mini stream. A short walk up the trail (in actuality a stream) there was a river flowing down the mountain. It took a bit of navigation to cross.
After a half hour of climbing we hit this great spot. Nice spot for a break. VPo learned he did not have a map. So, it was improvisation time. We continued on the same trail to a spot that was completely flooded. We basically said, "fuck it." We ended up walking in ice cold water up to our thighs. Not quite what I had planned for. My feet would be cold the rest of the day. I also didn't have a rain jacket and it started to rain. Stupid. On this day I found out that a man died in the Catskills. I really have to start taking some of these hikes a bit more seriously.
We rang out our socks and empty out our boots and continued on. We had a few more raging stream crossings that required some balance to walk over the wet logs. Despite the puddle in my boots it was still an enjoyable hike.
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Best hike I've been on in over a year and a half. Braving the elements. Toughing it out. Building character. Trying to make me laugh when I was crossing that log.
ReplyDeleteDeepwoods potty time. Yellow and brown snow. Egg sandwich. VPo magic.
Boots still not dry 4 days later. Deer fur. Lightning. Thunder.