Day 192: We are awake at 5:00 so we get up. We sign the guest book and take everything down to the car. There is no ice this morning, just moisture on the windows. We leave in the dark and pick up coffee at a service station. We stop at a restaurant that has been open since 6:00 and get breakfast, then continue to our start point. Bob is walking at 7:20. This lakeside area is very picturesque. There are a seemingly endless series of little cottage towns along the lake.
We stop at a small grocery in Silver Bay looking for some coffee and a washroom. The owner sends us to the Silver Bay Association. This turns out to be the Silver bay YMCA of the Adirondacks. It is a very large and fairly secluded resort type retreat on the Lake. We meet Marisa who makes us coffee and later some food as well. She introduces us to Marty, her husband who is the director of this YMCA. We take some photographs together and then Marty walks Bob to the road and I stay and use the wireless internet. These people have been very enthusiastic and generous.
Bob walks for over an hour before I catch up to him near the top of Tongue Mountain. It is a lovely, cold, sunny, fall day. He takes his time on the long, steep downhill. It is hard on the knees. At one point Bob comes across a sign that reads, ‘CAUTION, RATTLESNAKES, Unlawful to Disturb or Take.’
There are three strands of barbed wire encircling a ‘Protected Natural Area’ and a notice to that effect nailed to a tree and visible from both directions.
We arrive in Bolton’s Landing at about 35 km. Bob is getting very tired and decides to just keep going to the end. This is a very tourist oriented village. And it is full of people out for a Sunday drive to enjoy the fall colours. Bob gets to 40.1 km at 3:45, and climbs wearily into the car – happy to be done for the day. Today was the fifth day of walking without a break. We drive to Warrensburg to the Budget Motel where we have been billeted for tonight. Our host Roger is away on business but we take a photo of Diana from the front desk – with Roger’s children. We make dinner in the room and watch a little TV. I work on host photos and the blog. Tomorrow is another walk day, so we go to sleep. The motel is very quiet.