Fifth Hiking Day- May 27- Claryville to Denning TH

 
I'm going to start with a picture that was actually from the night before, but it was after we finished hiking. We were backtracking with one car to retrieve the other car. As we drove up Beaverkill Road, a mama bear and three cubs scattered like a cloud of mosquitoes! Two of the cubs went up trees faster than you can imagine. It was getting dark, and the picture was taken through the dirty windshield of a moving car, but at least I got one shot that is distinguishable as a cub.



Tuesday was another beautiful day, and we set about to do our final road miles in good time. We broke camp, packed up and headed for Claryville. Just 7.2 miles for the day. The red line on the map is the little bit of trail we did to the eastern terminus, as previously explained.



There are some aspects of road walking that are quite pleasant. Of course, one can make good time, but there are also sights that aren't as likely to be seen on trail. For example, the tiger swallowtail butterflies must have had a mass emergence. We saw group after group of them looking for damp patches on the shoulders.



The road followed the course of the East Branch of the Neversink River. I guess it gets its name because of how flat it is- somewhat unusual in the Catskills. I loved this dark spot beneath hemlocks.



Openings were filled with cheerful bluets (Quaker Ladies).



We also passed the Straus Center, which is part of the Frost Valley YMCA Camp. It's a farm and horse ranch, and seems to be set up for campers to stay in the yurts.



We were done hiking just after noon, and that was great because the day was beginning to heat up- into the 80s, our warmest day yet. We went back to Claryville for some lunch and cold drinks, then headed to Marie's house, just 90 minutes away. There we would do laundry, reorganize, and launch into the Vermont portion of the plan.

We made a scenic stop on the way to her house. Coming down out of the Catskills on the east, this is the impressive spillway for the Ashokan Reservoir, with the mountains nicely arranged behind.



I am pleased to report that I remain NOT bent out of shape at hiking the end before we got to the end. The whole adventure was extremely satisfying. Of course, the completion of the FLT is great. But spending time with Marie is always wonderful. We would willingly re-arrange a lot of schedules to be able to spend time together. If we have to walk slower, we will. If we have to walk fewer miles, we will. But we will do it together.

	See Fourth Hiking Day
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