A Walk in the Rain

Last night, we managed to find an abandoned lawn maintenance shed behind an abandoned Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, NY.  We set up the tent inside the shed, and waited for the rain predicted to fall during the evening.

We woke up this morning dry after spending the night in a tent in an abandoned garden shed in Carlisle, NY.

The weather prediction seemed to be in our favor.  There was a small chance of a thunderstorm starting at eight in the morning and a small chance of light rain after that until around eleven.  The weather was warm, and during the tent breakdown activities, I actually saw some blue skies. We headed down the road at about fifteen after seven.

Four miles into the trip, the thunderstorm hit.  We were across the US-20 from the Sharon Springs Garage, a Mahindra Tractor, Implement, and Off-road Vehicle dealer, and Dad needed to use the restroom anyway.  We popped across the highway, and I dropped my pack under their awning to wait out the rain.

Dad finished his business inside, and we both waited and watched the rain.  We watched, and we watched, and we watched. We talked to Jeff and Zach about the Roxor off-road vehicle based on the Jeep CJ3 design offered by Mahindra.  We talked about the international nature of the tractor trade globally. We ate a Clif bar and some Fritos. Still, the rain fell.

Eventually, we decided that there was no such thing as bad weather….only inappropriate clothing.  We threw on our rain jackets and pants and hit the trail.

Pictures were sparse because of the rain, but this sign tells the story of the rainy farm valleys beginning to show the first signs of spring under the gentle drumming of a warm spring rain.

US Highway 20 - Scenic Byway….all the way to Oregon.

We made our tent mile destination with time to spare.  We were soaked from top to bottom, but in relatively good spirits.  Tomorrow, we've got a good weather forecast for perfect walking weather so we're going to try to put up a twenty mile day.

Life on the road is not always ideal, but time after time, we're finding that the trail brings just what we need.

More Trail Angels on the March to Syracuse

Another long day where we covered almost seventeen miles from our campsite at the Duanesburg NY Airport to an undisclosed location near Carlisle, NY.  

Trail Angels: Bonnie, Susan, Brianna, Jeremiah, and Alec….We couldn't do it without you!

Once again, it is the people we met that have made all the steps worth it.  The lovely people on top met us with most welcome and cold bottles of water at the top of a two and a half mile hill coming up out of the valley at Sloansville, NY.  Brianna's brother Vince had bailed Dad out of an awkward restroom situation earlier, and he'd called ahead to his sister to make sure they were watching out for us. They did!  Incredible!

The ladies in the bottom of the photo met us outside the Esperance, NY Town Hall and later chased us down on our way out of town to get a photo and delivered some homemade Scott Shortbread.  I saved mine till the top of the previously mentioned hill, and then let the buttery sweetness just melt in my mouth and rejuvenate me as advertised. Thank you Susan and Bonnie. You made a challenging afternoon  a great deal more enjoyable.

I'm so grateful that I'm getting the opportunity to experience the people who have gone out of their way to make a couple strangers feel welcome!

Trail Angels and Magic West of Albany, NY

Today was such a great day.  We left Albany, NY and covered just a little less than nineteen miles on our trek to our camping spot at the Duanesburg, NY Airport.  Don’t worry….it’s a grass strip municipal airport, and I think we have permission to camp there. More on that later, but we have the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 3 set up well off the grass landing strip and apron, so I think we’re safe from any incoming flights.

Big Agnes at the Duanesburg, NY Airport….the best camping spot we’ve had to date.

The reason we’re at the airport is we met some great folks at the Chuck Wagon Diner in Altamont, NY who called ahead and secured permission for us to use a small strip of grass for our nightly accommodations.  If you ever find yourself on US-20 between Altamont and Duanesburg, NY you MUST stop and visit the Chuck Wagon Diner.

Chuck Wagon Diner...Old School Diner that’s run with love, great coffee, and great food in between Altamont and Duanesburg, NY.

We came into the diner fifteen minutes before closing and left fifteen minutes after closing with five new friends and a place to stay at the Duanesburg Airport.  True trail angels hang out at this place. The diner itself was transported to New York from Detroit, Michigan and restored with love. The sign came from California, and is also restored to its full functional glory.  This is the kind of spiritual place that Neil Gaiman described so eloquently in his novel American Gods.  Go.  Visit.  It will be magical, and you won’t regret the trip.  I walked over two hundred and twenty miles to get to the diner, and every step leading up to the experience was worth it.

We also met Elliott, another true trail angel at Cumberland Farms (a convenience store and gas station) between Altamont and Guilderland (no, not the sworn enemy of Florin from Princess Bride), NY.  He encouraged our trip, gave us his phone number, and told us to call if we needed anything between here and Syracuse. This walk is restoring my faith in humanity, my faith in the greatness of America, and mostly my faith in the wonderful people who are sharing our journey.  We are well and truly blessed.

I think one cannot walk this country without....

A) having their perspective both greatly shrunk, and  significantly expanded.  1) greatly shrunk as a consequence of traversing at what is really slow rates and having opportunity to observe in great detail the "things" in one's immediate vicinity;  2) greatly expanded for precisely the same reason.  It seems almost paradoxical -- but, nonetheless it's what I've been experiencing these passed 13 days.  B) observing and pondering the significance of the quantity and type of litter "cluttering" the roadways travelled. I've observed a difference in both as we've  travelled.   1) it's virtually undeniable that rural areas demonstrate MUCH less litter -- partially explainable by population density on the travel ways.  But is that.all the reason?
2) MY observation is that there is much lower incidents of "rural area" litter being containers that originally contained "empowered beverage" (as described by a long deceased and treasured acquaintance). Are this/these some indication of a social situational difference in the respective populations -- or a personal bias driving my cognition.    Hmmmm!

The Pilgrimage Starts to Get Real

Today, we had an eleven mile day from East Greenbush, New York into and through Albany, New York.  As the state capital, Albany is a beautiful city. It’s an eclectic mix of new and old with government offices, a rambling and interesting university, and all the cultural diversions that one might wish to see in a city.

Crossing the Hudson from Rensselaer, NY into Albany.

Just before crossing into Albany proper, we happened upon a park in Rensselaer, NY where artists had been allowed to decorate the pilings supporting the US Highway 20 bridge that passed over the Hudson and into the state capital. The exhibit looked a little weathered, but it captured my attention, and I just had to walk around a little and look at the murals.  That’s no small feat because I’m about the last person who would take an extra step on this journey across the continent. There are enough steps already.

Anyway, this display caught my attention, and I had to walk around.  The series of paintings were called Living Walls Albany.

And sometimes you find great art under a bridge - Living Walls - Albany, NY

Today something shifted for me.  Things got real. I don’t know how to describe it really.  We’ve been at this thing for a little over two weeks, and finally, it seems like we’re making progress.  I’m seeing the things that I hoped to see, and I’m meeting the people I hoped to meet when we were in the planning stages of things.

We’ve had the emotional and physical support of so many people along the way.  We’ve been offered rides, water, phone numbers if things got too tough and we needed some help, and I even got a five dollar bill from someone “for the cause.” Above an beyond all these things we’ve been offered friendship and camaraderie from complete strangers.  

It was a beautiful spring day, and with the art and the river and the good travel all of these gifts that have come our way really started to sink in.  The pilgrimage started to really feel real today.

Another reason that things started to feel real is that tomorrow we start a nine day push to Syracuse, NY.  My nephew is competing in an Irish Dance competition, and we’ve got to average about fourteen miles a day to make it on time to see him perform.  We’ve also got about three days of rain predicted starting day after tomorrow. It’s going to be a real challenge, but I’m optimistic we can make it.  

Wish us good luck, and if you can’t wish us good luck at least wish us dry camping.

Rory's observations, Tues 16 April

Josh's assessment is very correct.   We set out to and accomplished reaching the SE Albany outskirts.  We reached about 5 miles from central city in East Greenbush NY.   We selected the Victorian Inn Motel.  Clean, neat, but probably the most spartanly supplied motel room I've ever experienced: marginally adequate.  But inexpensive.   The walk up was
along US 20, pretty heavily traveled, noisy,  but with generally adequate shoulders to walk.  Our targeted distance precluded very much engagement with folks we encountered, which is one of the things I enjoy about this excursion.  I'm struck by the contrast in the living and business "establishments" we pass. Many are neat, tidy and attractive.  Some are such accumulation of items that apparently outlived their usefulness and appear "trashy".  I am struck by the thought that "this country has been and is being used hard".  And such are the musings of a man during and after a demanding day's walk.  But this is all part of "seeing the country from a different perspective".  Tomorrow - a slightly different  observation.   Jay

Sometimes You Just Have a Rough Day

Sometimes you just have a rough day.  We covered good distance at almost nineteen miles, but we had a twenty mile per hour wind in our face the whole time.  The temps weren’t cold, thank goodness, but the chilly wind just sapped the energy and kept you from ever being truly warm or comfortable all day long.

The scenery wasn’t bad, but there were quite a few houses and power lines in the mix.  In fact when we walked through Nassau (not the Bahamas), New York, we came across this creepy little gem.

The perfect haunted house.  Nassau, New York.

Yes, those are skeletons on the middle balcony.  Yes, the stair railings have skulls affixed at the top and bottom.  At least there are American flags flying on the porch. There are also “No Trespassing” signs prominently displayed.  No kidding. I’m not going to test their resolve on that statement.

Though it was a tough day, there are signs of changes for the better just around the corner.  As I sit in one of the shadiest motel rooms I’ve ever stayed in, the frog in the creek behind the property are cheeping up a storm.  As Dad likes to point out, the hills are getting softer. There are hues of greens and reds and whites as the trees start the process of budding out into the sun after a long cold winter.

We’re still meeting interesting people like the post mistress of Brainard, NY and Fred, the paving contractor who is also a New York state licensed wilderness guide.  We walked past the Lebanon Valley Speedway and learned that Tony Stewart is going to be back on the 14th of July to participate in sprint car racing. I also saw some ducks on a creek that I couldn’t recognize, and I was too slow to snap a picture.

Most of all, we’re back on the road and making good progress.  We’re trying to make a run for Syracuse to participate in a family event, so wish us luck, dry weather, and a little less wind would be a big plus as well.

Nothing to Report

Today we took another down day.  The weather was a little rough, so we holed up in “The Writer’s Cottage” just outside of New Lebanon, New York.

I spent the day reading and napping with brief forays into the kitchen for food.  For a restful location, you couldn’t have asked for more. Basically, there is nothing to report.

Tomorrow we head out toward Albany, NY and we’re hoping to have a high teens sort of day mileage wise.  I’m looking forward to getting back to the rhythm of the road. Rest in a dry warm location is one thing, but comfort is not always what it’s cracked up to be.  Time to get out and experience some more adventures. That, and I’ve finished my book.

Rory's Observations

Josh is pretty much right on. To me, one of the most positive aspects of the journey has been the brief interactions we have with individuals we encounter in our daily activities. And it's an interesting mix -- those we meet as part of purchase of needs, and those who initiate engagement with us as we walk. We're making acquaintances (too briefto become friends) Interesting realization! More later. Jay (AKA "Rory)

Another Day Walking

Today, we had a pretty short distance day and hiked a little over nine miles from just west of Pittsfield, Massachusetts to “The Writer’s Cottage” Airbnb location in New Lebanon, New York.

That’s right.  The big news of the day was that we put Massachusetts in the rearview mirror and have started our journey through New York.

We made it to the Empire State.  Two states down….only ten to go.

In other news, we spent about an hour at the Liberty Package Store at the base of Lebanon Mountain getting to know Bobby Jean, the owner’s daughter back from Bakersfield, CA helping her parents out for a spell.  Typical Dad, he went in for a chocolate milk, and came out thirty minutes later with a new friend. I’m beginning to think that he likes to talk as much as he does just to get a few (or more than a few) more minutes of rest.

We finished off by coming down the steep back side of Lebanon Mountain in to the valley town of New Lebanon on the New York Side of the border. It’s the last really high pass we have to clear in what I’m calling the East Coast mountains.  It’s basically all downhill from here into the basin of the Great Plains. There will be ups and downs, of course, but the high passes should be complete.

We finished up at “The Writer’s Cottage” and we’ll be holed up here for a couple of days while a relatively nasty line of thunderstorms clears the area.  The storms are what’s left of the system that hammered the west and northern Great Plains states with a significant amount of April snowfall. I’m not complaining.  Dad and I have separate rooms, and mine is a nice cozy loft where I can work on some reading and hopefully some writing.

“The Writer’s Cottage” Loft where I’ll spend the next couple of days.

The best part of today for me was that it was really just another day walking.  My blisters have healed. My back is feeling good. The weight of the pack has started to feel like an old friend.  The trekking poles go where I want them to go, and they actually help move me forward. When I’m heading down the road, I can get into this meditative place, and there’s nothing else but the road and the rhythmic sound of my pack riding on my hips and my shoulders.  It feels like I could keep up the pace indefinitely. Of course that’s not really true, but I’m beginning to finally get into the flow of walking the miles. It’s a great feeling to have just another day walking.