George Steffanos

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40 years ago today: I left the Brien Shelter at 6:00. It had taken me an hour to regroup — psychologically more than physically. All day, I had been driving this out-of-shape body towards a single goal: that shelter. Then, I discovered I had to push it farther to water that probably did not exist. It was a somewhat discouraging prospect. A more immediate physical hurdle

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Aug 7, 2023 at 4:16pmWeb
Show threadGeorge SteffanosAug 7, 2023

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also confronted me: the depressingly impressive rock climb just past the shelter. I wanted no part of it.

After an hour of resting and staring at that daunting climb, I plodded doggedly back out on the trail. The climb was rough. A short while later, I hit another climb similar to the first, but longer. This one rewarded the effort. There were beautiful perspectives to the south and west from the top, followed by comparable views to the southeast a bit farther along.

Show threadGeorge SteffanosAug 7, 2023

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The humidity cut down on the visibility, however. I could barely make out the Hudson River less than ten miles away.

After quite a steep descent, I arrived at the crossing of the Palisades Interstate Parkway. It was an extremely busy, four-lane, divided highway, but the Appalachian Trail did not go over it or under it — it went directly across, making for an exciting experience of picking an opening and darting across the two southbound lanes with a fifty-pound pack on my back.

Show threadGeorge SteffanosAug 7, 2023

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I was immediately treated to a repeat of that adventure while crossing the northbound lanes from the center island a moment later.

A note was tucked up on a tree where the Appalachian Trail reentered the woods on the other side. I knew what it contained before I read it: bad news about Beechy Bottom Brook, the “reliable” water source.

More of My 1983 #AppalachianTrail Hike in Photos at https://www.georgesteffanos.com/places-i-ve-been

Places I've Been | Then The Hail Came George Steffanos

My 1983 Appalachian Trail Hike in Photos. There are around 750-800 photos here scanned from my 1983 slides. I believe this to be one of the oldest thru-hikes on the Internet to be documented in photos and words to this extent.