Canopus Lake, NY (USA)

When I got up this morning, it was 35 degrees! Very glad I drove north so I could enjoy the brisk weather. Checked out of hotel at 0645.  The sun was shining brightly and it warmed up to the mid 40s by the time I reached the trailhead on NY-301, at the south end of Canopus Lake. I headed NOBO at 0730, bound for the top of Shenandoah Mountain (where I turned around on Thursday). The trail followed the western shore of the lake and climbed a pretty good amount but I didn't see many good views - oh well. Made good time to the summit (better views this morning) and immediately headed down again. I was startled when another hiker, "Dan" came up behind me. Actually, if I hadn't stopped to adjust my pack I wouldn't have seen anyone. It was nice to have company, though. He was a local (Navy Bubblehead) who was training for his upcoming trip to climb Rainier, Adams, St. Helens and Hood (wow!). He confirmed something that I'd wondered about (from evidence along the trail) for the last few days: there were, indeed, bears in the area. I had planned to use the snowshoe trails in the State Park and the road to get back to my car so I wished Dan luck with his climbing tour and headed to the east side of the lake. My decision saved me a little more than half a mile on the backtrack and I was driving towards home by 1100 after 7.5 miles for the day. Glad I left then, too, because the park was filling up with day hikers. Retraced my tracks on the road, wishing I didn't live so far away... Got a special treat as I passed Stewart ANG Base on I-84: Patrouille de France was performing their air show maneuvers (complete with red, white and blue smoke) - spectacular! Gas top-off in Cold Spring, NY (1045) and a full gas tank (1200) and lunch at McDonalds (1210) at Montague, NJ.  Made it home (narrowly dodging a major accident by just a hundred yards - I've had too many close calls this year...) by 1700. As I was sitting at the light near my apartment, I felt Mr. Tick biting me - think I managed to get him loose in time (we'll see)... Great trip: over 40 miles hiked in cool temperatures and quiet mountain solitude. Can't wait for the next trip! AT Today = 4.20 miles / G.T. AT = 922.56 miles