What a glorious night of sleep. There is something amazingly comforting when you sleep in a bed with clean sheets and three pillows! Oh, how well I slept. Thank you Lord because I sure needed it.

Braveheart and I took showers in the morning because we could. We won’t be bathing ourselves for another week so you want to take full advantage of running warm water and plush towels. We packed up and Eddie and Couch picked us up at 9am. We headed down the road for breakfast at the Daily Bean. Great little cafe.

By 11am we were back on the trail. Well not before Braveheart saw her first bear. She decided to go alone in the woods to pee, and just before finding her perfect squating position, she heard it. She looked around and he was on all fours, looking just as scared as Braveheart. She yelled “Bear” and went running back to the car. Couch went to investigate but the big bad bear had fled the scene. Braveheart was shaking like a leaf!

After regrouping, we all hit the trail, with packs on and Braveheart had her Bear Spray at the ready! She is the life of the party, that girl of ours. She took the lead and within a mile or so, she screamed once again. But this time it was a big black rat snake. She ran behind Couch and there she stayed. No more leading, no more up front, she was content staying in the back of the pack.

Today when I checked the profile, it appeared to be fairly flat and manageable. We were so glad we had climbed Wawayanda Mountain the day before. All was good in our world. Or so we thought. We crossed over the NJ/NY State line and our trail took a turn.

We were back to bouldering before we could say New York. Mooch caught up with us and asked if he could join us. Heck yeah, as he really arrived as a guardian Angel. We got to a huge Rock Pile/Boulder Area and Braveheart went first. I attempted a foothold and before I could get my second foot up, I was falling backwards. Couch tried to stop me but momentum had taken over and Mooch leaped across the rock to catch me. I tumbled onto my back, which was protected by my backpack, and there I stopped. Thank the Lord I hadn’t climbed up a few more feet. I was shaking as badly as Braveheart, when she saw her bear.

I took an inventory of myself, not a scratch on me and no blood. I stood up and tried again. This time, I made it up without any crazy falls and took ahold of the metal ladder rungs, and up I went. That was the beginning of the Bouldering. And there was another two miles of that. Oh my goodness. Welcome to New York GG.

Mooch led the rest of the way through the maze of rocks and minimal trail. Needless to say, it was a long and arduous day. As we neared our destination, we started to see some day-hikers. Bellvale Creamery was in our sights and with only 2.7 miles to go, we were focused. It took us a bit over an hour to get there, which seemed like the longest hour ever. We arrived to find half of NY there. This place is utopia. I guess people come from near and far to have ice cream. It’s definitely not just a hiker destination as we were the only hikers and the other 100 people drove there. It’s a thing!

We all ordered some kind of ice cream sundae, shake or banana split. Oh my, it was well worth the wait. I had a two scoop hot fudge sundae with honey walnuts on top of Coffee and Coconut Ice Cream. It was incredibly good tasting. We all indulged and loved our ice cream dinner. What a treat!

After ice cream, we still needed to find a place to pitch our tents. Mooch went ahead and about a mile down the trail, he found a fine place to pitch for the night. Within ten minutes, we were able to stake down our temporary homes and fell inside. I decided ice cream was dinner. Enough said and tomorrow maybe I’ll have dinner for breakfast. I’m exhausted so off to bed I go.

There was no doubt that the sweet Lord had me in his grasp. He surrounded me with capable and wonderful friends, and he caught my fall. He kept me from harm and it appears he still has plans for me. Thank you Jesus for watching over me, for giving me strength and for surrounding me with earthly angels!