NY/NJ AT solo section hike, day 3

April 13, 2014

Start: RPH shelter
End: Peekskill, NY

Mileage: 21.6 (19.4 on trail)

My day started early. I was up at 5:45 and on the trail by 6:30. The first hour and a half was spent climbing up Shenandoah Mountain. 

After that first assent, the trail frequently dipped and rose by 800-1000 feet at any given time. This was when I figured out that having the elevation of the road crossings and major mountains doesn't help when minor mountains happened in between every road crossing. It also rained off and on for much of the morning.  The first sun sighting was at 11am. After a lot of hill climbing while trying to ignore the pain in my feet, I arrived at Graymoor at 3:30pm which included the half mile walk to the shelter.

Originally, I'd planned to stay the night at Graymoor spiritual center, under their picnic shelter. But when I got there, I found the water turned off and no bathroom. 

Instead I hiked to US9/NY403 and the Appalachian Mart. From there,  I hitched a ride into Peekskill and booked a room at the Inn by the Hudson. 

View of Hudson River from the Inn by the Hudson

After showering, examining my feet, contemplating how much worse my feet were likely to get, and considering the proximity of the Metro North train station, I decided to head home and cut my hike short by quite a bit.

Grand Central Station on the train trip home

View out the train window