A New York State of Mind – Our AT Section Hike Day One

NYC Skyline from the Appalachian Trail

Frosty and I headed to New York in April 2021 for a section hike. We had a long section hike planned for Virginia during the summer, so this trip was dual purpose. I needed to hike the southern part of the AT in NY for my overall mileage of the AT, but this was also a shakedown for our summer hike.

Frosty on a Ledge

We drove down to Connecticut and spent the night. The next day we headed to Stormville, NY. Our planned end point. We stopped for breakfast at a local restaurant. It was a disappointing “last meal,” as it lacked flavor. I didn’t know that could be said about standard breakfast fare, but now I do. Our shuttle driver picked us up and brought us to our starting point, an AT parking lot on route 17A.

Our Hiking Day Started with Ledge-y Rocks

Not long after starting, there were a few rock scrambles and some nice ledges with views as we started. I’m not sure how the views would be later in the year, but the trees were still barren of leaves at this point. I spotted two buzzard enjoying the air currents, or maybe they sensed that I frequently struggle with my footing and were hoping for a big meal.

Frosty on Trail

We went into the Wildcat shelter as it was a convenient place to use the privy and have a snack. One of the highlights today were some great views of the NYC skyline from the trail. Strange how exciting that was. You could see the skyline better with your bare eyes, even my bad bare eyes. It just didn’t come out well in the photos on my camera phone. But it does record the memory.

Made by Man – Framed by Nature

We spent the night at a stealth spot. This was a great site with a nice view. It was a well established spot complete with a fire ring. There were flowers and flowering trees adjacent to the site. Our total mileage for the day was 10.4 trail miles.

There Were Lots of Flowering Trees Around

Once we stopped moving though, it was COLD! We had freeze dried chicken alfredo for supper. There was a short light sprinkle right after we crawled into the tent for the evening.