Day 106, Little Dam Lake to near West Mountain Shelter

After crossing the shallow inlet to Little Dam Lake, the trail followed along the shore for a short distance.

There were a couple of viewpoints from the top of the mountain, but the views were mostly obscured by thick, low clouds. At the second viewpoint I met Sunny Hedgehog, a hiker from Germany.

When we arrived at the bottom of the mountain we found a couple more hikers and several plastic jugs of water. The trail angel who provided those jugs was also there, so we had the opportunity to thank him.

He told us his name was Hike Man, and he regularly leaves water here because the other water sources nearby are less than ideal.

Hike Man shared some advice about hiking the next section of the trail, then asked us if we would help him carry some more water jugs from his car. We gladly agreed.

After crossing New York Highway 17, I entered Harriman State Park. For the first three tenths of a mile the trail went along a park road.

The park is named for railroad tycoon E. H. Harriman and his widow, Mary Averell Harriman, who donated much of the land for the park following his death.

After crossing Interstate 87, the trail began a steep climb of about 700 feet in elevation.

On the other side of the peak, the trail crossed an old sluiceway that flowed from Island Pond. Because of recent rain, and perhaps also because of its poor condition, water was flowing on both sides of the sluiceway’s walls.

From there the trail continued a short descent to a depression where there were a couple of giant boulders lying against each other. A white marker indicated that the trail went between these boulders.

This was the entrance of a spot known as the Lemon Squeezer. Though this passageway was narrow, it wasn’t restricted enough to prevent slipping between the boulders.

After finishing my conversations with Kim and Felix, and finishing my lunch, I continued up the trail. It went through a steep, jagged section of rocks, then rounded over the top of Island Pond Mountain.

RedEye, who was trying to catch up to Jason and Boomer, passed me going over the mountain.

After about three more miles, the trail rounded a curve.

And that’s where the big surprise of the day was revealed.

My friend Felix J McGillicuddy was sitting on the tailgate of his truck. This was the first time I had ever seen him in person, but I recognized him right away.

Felix is his trail name. He did a southbound thru-hike in 1998. Since then he has done a complete section hike and is now working on another.

I’ve known him for nearly 15 years, but as I said, I had never met him before. How can that be, you ask?

I got to know Felix through an email discussion list (back when email lists were still a thing) for Appalachian Trail thru-hikers and those who were interested thru-hiking. He was part of the former group, and of course, I was part of the latter.

The mailing list is mostly inactive now, but thanks to Facebook, Felix and I have been able to continue our online friendship.

I probably should have expected this unexpected surprise. For one thing, it was completely fitting in Felix’s character to drive all the way from Indiana to meet up with me. Secondly, I should have known that Kim was in on the surprise. She had been asking a lot of questions lately about where I was on the trail. I should have realized she was in a plot with Felix to find me.

Felix and I chatted for a long time. We talked about possibly hiking together, but he wasn’t sure he had the time. For now, he thought, he’d hang around and do some trail magic. As far as I was concerned, he’d already done something magical.

Finally, I needed to say goodbye because I thought I’d be able to catch up to Stick today.

The trail continued on an up-and-down path. The ups and downs weren’t too steep, but they began to get wearing.

At one point I passed William Brien Memorial Shelter, one of the oldest shelters on the trail. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Though the time was almost 6 p.m. when I passed it, no one had stopped here for the night.

One of the climbs the trail made through Harriman State Park was over Black Mountain. Hikers can sometimes see the Manhattan skyline from here, but it wasn’t clear enough today for that. I was able to see the Hudson River, though.

I received an excited message from Stick. He had reached a campsite near West Mountain Shelter, and as he was setting up camp he saw a bear.

At last.

I asked if he had gotten any photos. "If there are no pictures it didn’t happen," I told him, but he wouldn't let me get away with that claim.

After descending from Black Mountain, the trail crossed Palisades Interstate Parkway. This was a four-lane highway divided by a wide, tree-covered median. Crossing the southbound lanes wasn’t too difficult, but I had to wait at the side of the northbound lanes for several minutes before a gap in traffic opened for me to dash across. Rush hour was probably not the best time to cross that busy highway.

After crossing, I only had about one more mile to go to catch up to Stick, but first, I needed to collect water at a nearby stream.

The trail began a long climb, then followed a ledge on the side of West Mountain. Light quickly faded and I tried to hike without a headlamp. I became concerned about missing the blue-blazed trail to the campsite, though, so I stopped and put on my headlamp.

I finally arrived at the campsite at about 9 p.m. Stick was still up, so I got to hear all of the details about his bear sighting.

What a day.