Day 152

Day 152
Friday 7/31/09

Weather:
Rain all day

Today's Hike:
Green Mountain House Hostel - 0.0 miles

It is hard to find the words to describe what it feels like to sit still for two days when your body is use to walking 10 - 12 hours a day. By the end of day one your nerves twitch and you can't keep your legs still. It's what we image the very definition of restless leg syndrome to feel like. By day two not only are you restless, but you become stir crazy. Insanity. So why take more then a day off? Rain, rain, and more rain. We have started a pattern we can not seem to break. Take a day off, our day off is nice, then our departure date is rain and severe thunderstorms. Maybe we shouldn't take anymore days off???!!?? Yeah right.

We had all intentions on leaving today. The forecast said it would rain until early evening, so we hung around the hostel all morning and were ready to leave after lunch. By then, Jeff (the hostel owner) was dealing with some plumbing issues so we patiently waited around for another hour or so. By 2pm the plumbers left and Storm asked Jeff when it would be a good time to leave, then Jeff replied "why not stay another night?" Are you kidding? So we did some quick planning, and came up with a schedule that would still permit us to hike into Rutland by August 3rd. They'll be long days, but doable.

So here were are, another night in luxury. Tomorrow's forcast is sunny; a good forcast for hiking twenty-miles.

Day 151

Day 151
Thursday 7/30/09

Weather:
Morning rain showers. Partly cloudy rest of the day.

Today's Hike:
Green Mountain House Hostel - 0.0 miles

This hostel is so incredible we had to stay another day. The five of us feel like we're at home. We started this wonderful day off with an egg, cheese, and potato scramble made by our own Ms. Muster. Afterwardswe spent the morning relaxing and listening to Rocket go completely school girl in love with Richard Gere in "An Officer and a Gentleman".

When the movie was over it was time to tackle the chore of planning out the rest of our hike. The five of us put our heads together to come up with a draft timeline to reach our desired summit date of September 10th. Once the draft was done and we tossed around some ideas Muster took the lead in developing a final plan. All we need to do is hike 90 miles/week to make it; completely feasible. We even scheduled in target dates for resupply.

Once business was over it was back to an entire afternoon of relaxing; reading and watching movies.

For dinner, Muster and I are making the crew bean and cheese quesadilla's. Can't wait, I'm starving!

Day 150

Weather:
Humid. Rain all afternoon and evening.

Today's Hike:
Stratton Pond Shelter to Manchester Center, VT - 10.5 miles

Today was a town day which means we were up and out early and hauling butt to town. Today was the first time we got to shower or do laundry in 8 days, and we were well past ripe. We were so ripe that when people sat next to us at the cafe we were eating lunch at they immediately got up and moved to the other side. Nice.

After finishing all our town chores Jeff Taussing, owner of the Green Mountain House hiker hostel, picked us up and brought us back to begin the best hostel experience ever. The hostel only takes 10 hikers which means it's quite, and for 15 dollars we get our own room, a shower, laundry, Internet, free long distance phone calls, ice cream, and a ride back to the trailhead. Amazing. In addition, there's a kitchen in the hiker house so the Packadivas made all of us wonderful pasta dinner, chicken n' dumplings (for the meat eatters), and brownies. Yummy!

So we're spending the night catching up on some communication, and getting repacked for tomorrow. It's been raining since 2pm...... Hope it's done by tomorrow.

Day 149

Weather:
Beautiful - sunny and cool. No humidity.

Today's Hike:
Goddard Shelter to Stratton Pond Shelter - 13.0 miles

Today's was an absolutely beautiful day. The trail was fairly dry and my shoes are actually beginning to dry out. This morning we climbed to the top of Glastenbury Mountain, which is known as the Bermuda trangle of the Green Mountains. In the 60's and 70's there are a dozen documented cases of people who have mysteriously disappeared. Despite it's reputation, the observation tower had spectacular views of the Green Mountains.

Tonight, we are tenting at Stratton Pond Shelter with the Packadiva's, Billy Hoot, and Nutmeg. The pond is known for moose and loon sitings. I can hear the loons which sound cool and a little creepy, but no moose yet. We have to cross the pond in morning to head back north on the trail, so hopefully I'll see one then.

Day 148

Weather:Partly cloudy and humid all morning. Thunderstorms afternoon and evening.

Today's Hike:
Congdon Shelter to Goddard Shelter - 14.4 miles

Well, Vermont is welcoming us with mosquito's, biting flies, rain, rain, and more rain. Oh, and did I mention the muddy trail that feels like we're walking on butter? Ugh. Not the best hiking. I hear that VT is beautiful, but considering that we spend so much time running from the rain and slapping the flies that are buzzing around our heads it's been to hard to notice.

For example, it started thundering after lunch today, and we took off, racing the thunderstorm for 8 miles to Goddard Shelter. During my eight mile race I had at least four flies follow and torment me the entire way. I lost the race. A mile and a half before reaching the shelter Muster and I got dumped on. Soaking wet.....and there goes another pair of dry socks. Between the mud and the rain my feet haven't been dry in like three days. My socks are tearing my feet up and my toes look like they belong on a corpse. Yuck!

The Packadiva's and ourselves tenting at Goddard Shelter tonight. If the skies clear up it looks like we'll have a beautiful view of an evergreen forest.

Day 147

Weather:
Overcast. Late night thunderstorms.

Today's Hike:
Hoosic River to Congdon Shelter - 14.0 miles

We walked into Vermont today, 11 states down and 3 more to go. It is still to surreal to conceptualize that I've walked almost 1600 miles. Insane. We're tenting at Congdon shelter tonight, and Billy Hoot and Nutmeg are with us again. Yippie! Hopefully we'll stick together for a few days.

I'm exhausted and turning in early tonight. It's 8:45pm; lights out.

Day 146

Weather:
Sunny and humid. No rain.

Today's Hike:
Chesire, MA to Hoosic River - 14.0 miles

There are days when we climb many mountains, and there are days when we will only climb one. Today was a one mountain day, but it was a big one. Starting at 9am and 988 ft. we hiked toward the summit of Mt. Greylock, the highest point on the trail in MA reaching 3,491 ft. The hike was 8 miles uphill, not hard just long. Very, very long. 

We reached the summit around 12:30pm and as luck would have it the lodge was open and it was serving lunch. We all inhaled a plate of food then sat outside for about an hour to enjoy the fruits of our labor. By 2:15pm we started the 6.5 mile decent of Mt. Greylock of which the last 3.0 miles were down right awful. The trail was so steep that I actually asked Grommet if we had missed a turn and gotten off the trail. To top it off the trail was nothing but mud. In Storm's words, it was like trying to walk on butter. Slick as snot. It sucked. We wouldn't want to do that part again.

When we finally reached the bottom we had to go into Williamsburg to resupply for the next 3.5 days. By the time we were done it was 8pm, we were sore and tired, and we didn't want to hike anymore. So we walked to the first flat spot on the trail and set up camp. We're about four miles short of the VT border. Tomorrow will be a new day in a new state.

Day 145

Weather:
Overcast all day. Rain all night.

Today's Hike:
Kay Wood Lean-To to Chesire, MA - 11.9 miles

The rain started at 9:20pm last night and continued until 5:30am this morning, which means we didn't have to setup are take down camp in the rain. Not to shabby. 

We hiked three miles into Dalton, MA, this morning where we ate breakfast and resupplied. From there we hiked 9 miles to Chesire, MA. It started sprinkling around 3:30pm and the skies were black. I realized we could stay at St. Mary's church for free and pitched the idea to Muster. She accepted and pitched the idea to the Divas. They accepted, so we cut our day short. So tonight it's just the five of us and McBride. Tomorrow we're climbing Mt. Greylock, the highest point on MA. For us that means nearly a 2,000 foot climb over nearly six miles. Good times. The weather is suppose to be good tomorrow so hopefully we can pull the 18 miles to Vermont.

Day 144

Weather:
Overcast and breezy all day. Late evening thunderstorms.

 Today's Hike:
Upper Goose Pond Cabin to Kay Woods Lean-To - 17.6 miles

Today was a day of trail magic. We started off our morning with pancakes and french pressed coffee thanks to Hal; the cabins caretaker. By 8:45am were headed north.

After a mile we came across trail magic bucket #1; soda's and little debbies thanks to Gimpy (thru-hiker 2003). We sat for a quick snack, then tackled our biggest climb for the day; 600 feet. Not to shabby.
Trail magic #2 occurred shortly after our late lunch when we arrived at the "cookie lady's" house. The cookie lady, Marilyn Wiley, bakes cookies for hikers during thru-hiker season and you can buy farm fresh hard boiled eggs for $2.50/dozen. We must have eaten a dozen cookies and a dozen hard boiled eggs between the five of us. By this time the overcast skies were being joined by ugly dark rain clouds so we took their arrival as our que to finish off our last 6.6 miles.

Three miles into our final stretch we reached trail magic #3, also sodas, Gatorade, and snacks. This time it was from Birch, a section hiker from this year who was paying it forward. By this time rain was starting to roll in so we all took one for the road and raced the last 3.7 miles to the shelter.
We made it to camp by 7pm, got the tent up, and ate dinner before the rain came. Right now it's 9pm, and the wind is howling, but no rain yet. I know it's coming, a front like this passing over without dumping on us would be the best trail magic to ever occur, and we don't think we'll be that lucky. Hope we're not taking down the tent in the rain in the morning.

Day 143

Weather:
Partly Cloudy. No rain.

Today's Hike:
Tryingham, MA to Upper Goose Cabin-7.0 miles

After taking two days off the trail we eased our way back in with a short seven mile day to Upper Goose Pond Cabin. This place is awesome! After we set up camp we went canoeing and swimming. Afterwards we made a community dinner of vegetarian fajita's. I ate five of them!!! It was so good. The bugs are horrible here so we've shuttled ourselves off to our tents early. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, time to get some shut-eye.

Day 142

Weather:
Rain all day.

Today's Hike:
Angela's House - 0.0 miles

We woke up at 7:45am this morning, 15 minutes before our scheduled time to leave. The sky was overcast and the wind was blowing strong. I'm sure we all noticed the unpleasant state of affairs, but none of is mummed a word. Better not to complain. So we all packed our bags and were completely ready to leave when Angela called us to say a final good-bye and provide us with a weather report; rain. The words were mummed and the current weather was up for discussion.

Storm suggested slackpacking our miles and returning to Angela's that night to dry out. Angela suggested we take another zero day at her house and actually zero. After some discussion about what to do the choice came down to just leaving and hike in the rain (not slackpacking) or take the day off. A big sigh, we all really did want to hike, but hiking in the rain is miserable. So that left the option of taking the day off. So here we all are, showered and laying in Angela's living room actually taking a zero day. It's pouring outside, and we’re dry and restful inside.

Rain or not, we'll be back out tomorrow.

Day 141

Weather:
Sunny and warm. No rain.

Today's Hike:
Angela's - 0.0 miles

Today was a typical zero day despite our best efforts to make it a real day off. We were all awake by 7am; sleeping in is impossible even when you really want to. Storm and Rocket made a wonderful french toast breakfast which was a wonderful tasty surprise.

After breakfast we all got ready and headed to REI. The drive there was awful. We got stuck in a traffic jam for an hour. Let's just say that being stuck in a traffic jam after consuming large amounts of coffee is an unbearable situation. It may force you to do things you never thought you would out of shear humiliation. Still, I give thanks to empty 16oz. coffee cup that was in the car.

REI was also challenging. I got new shoes for the last leg of the trip. I also had to buy a new pack, since the waist-belt broke on my current pack. This was way more complicated then I anticipated. I tried on five different packs which took forever but finally settled on an Osprey Ariel 65. The pack is comfortable which is an important plus, but it's heavy which is a huge disappointment. So much for reducing my pack weight. At least I know the pack will get me to Katadhin and it has a lifetime warranty.

We ate lunch at Moe's, a huge surprise. I’ve been dreaming about Moe's for months and finally gave up the idea of ever finding one along the trail. It was so good! It made me realize just how much food I can consume in one sitting now. Before the trail, I could only eat half of a burrito, but today I ate the whole thing, some chips, and a scoop of ice cream and still felt hungry. Ridiculous. Muster thinks I have a tapeworm.

After lunch we finished our chores and were back at Angela's by 5pm. After we dropped off our groceries, we headed over to Angela's parents for dinner and a movie. Angela made us a wonderful meal of citrus marinated flounder, orzo salad, and a tomato, mozzarella, fresh dill, and balsamic vinaigrette salad. Her mom also grilled me up some yummy spicy black bean burgers. The entire meal was out of this world. The evening feature presentation was Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Storm and Rocket's favorite childhood movie which they quote constantly. Now we can all relate :)

The night ran late; way past hiker midnight. We were back at Angela's and in bed by 11:15pm.

Day 140

Weather:
Partly cloudy. No rain.

Today's Hike:
Mt. Wilcox shelter South to Tyringham, MA - 8.8 miles

Day 139

Weather:
Sunny and hot. Small evening rainshower.

Today's Hike:
Campsite to Wilcox Mtn. Shelter South - 18.5 miles

Today was horribly hot and muggy, and the mosquito's were down right awful! It was like a freakin' blood bath. There is not enough deet to keep them away.

Not only has all the rain helped create the largest mosquito breeding grounds in the history of mankind, but it has also completely washed out all our water sources. The streams look like chocolate milk; completely undrinkable. This became a problem after hiking several miles in the heat and we ran out of water. We would have another four miles and a 1,000 foot climb before we would come to another spring. There was no way we could make it. Conveniently we were walking through a neighborhood and Rocket decided to knock on someone's door to ask them if we could refill our water. Completely homeless. To make matters worse the people weren't even home, but we saw their garden hose on the side of their house and filled up anyway. What could we do? Homeless, homeless, homeless.

When all five of us met up for lunch, Grommet and Storm surprised us with cold Pepsi's and our favorite candy bars that they picked up at the previous road crossing. It was like trail magic :) By 5pm we still had five miles to go. We ate dinner at a shelter then continued north. We made it to camp by 8:30pm and got the tent up before the rain started. We can't wait until tomorrow when we get picked up by Angela. It's going to be an awesome day off!

Day 138

Weather:
Partly cloudy in the morning. Late afternoon/Evening thunderstorms.

Today's Hike:
Rega Lean-To to Campsite - 11.5 miles

There's nothing like putting on wet smelly clothes in the morning! Yippie Skippie! At least the sun was out to help dry stuff out.

Today was a big day; we climbed 4 mountains, crossed into Massachusetts (state #11), and crossed the 1500 mile mark.

The rain came again, cutting our day short. At least this time we found shelter before the storm. Tomorrow's going to be a big day to make up for the short days we've been having; 18.5 miles.

Day 137

Weather:
Light rain showers in the morning. Partly Cloudy afternoon. Thunder & Hail storms in the evening.

Today's Hike:
Iron Bridge/Falls Village to Rega Lean-To - 11.6 miles

After packing up camp this morning we walk 20 yards into the Toymaker Cafe with toothbrushes in hand. After using the restroom and brushing our teeth we started our day off with a nice cup of coffee and a home cooked breakfast. Fantastic.

By 9am we were headed back out to the trail, but first we made a pit stop at a "Hydro-shower", a cold "shower" that consisted of a shower head on the outside of a building and no shower stall/curtain. The girls stopped to wash off all visible body parts; then we were on our way....kind of. We made it about a mile down the trail when we crossed a series of waterfalls near the hydro-dam. We took our packs off to play in the water and enjoy the scenery before the morning rain showers started. Once the rain came it didn't take long for us to start some serious hiking.

The first part of the day was a two-mile climb up. It wasn't hard, just long and mosquito infested. Spraying on deet has certainly become a common daily task. I reached the summit of our first climb within an hour. It was rather uneventful until we head down the hill and reached the grand view; an open view of rolling hills and patches of trees scattered in the distance. In the mist of early morning haze it really was a "grand view."

By noon we were at the road crossing for Salisbury, CT, and we headed into town to resupply and grab lunch. Deli sandwiches and a cold coke. What could be better?

We had a few hiker friends staying the night in town, and Lil' Dipper offered to let us take showers in her room before we headed back to the trail for the evening. We all quickly packed up and headed over to her room. An hour and a half later we were all freshly showered and watching Dragonheart in a cozy room. It was hard to leave, but at 5:15pm we were headed back out to finish off our day.

Thunder started rolling in overhead after about 30 minutes of being back out, and within an hour rain and dime sized hail started coming down. We raced to the Rega Lean-To, 1.2 miles short of our original destination. Rocket and I made it just in time to miss the golf ball sized hail. Muster insisted on being a marter and wait at the shelter turn off for Grommet and Storm as if they couldn't find their way to the shelter themselves. really? At some point you have to have some self-preservation. Whatever. I wasn't in it.

By 7:30pm the second storm had passed through and we raced to put our tents up. Everything was soaked. We were soaked, our packs were soaked, and despite having a pack liner and pack cover, just about everything in our packs were soaked. It sucked. Our only goal for the rest of the night was to warm and stay warm. Not the easiest task, but by 10pm we were all sound asleep.

Day 136

Weather:
Sunny. High in the lower 80's. No Rain.

Today's Hike:
Caesar's Brook Campsite to Iron Bridge/Falls Village, CT - 11.6 miles

Today was a true testament that even the best made plan go awry. The day started out typical. We got up, got dressed, broke down camp and headed north. Sometime early on in the day someone noticed that there was a deli close to the trail. The seeds were planted.

By the time we reached the road crossing a little past noon all Muster, Billy Hoot, and Nutmeg could think about was french fries. However, a hiker notice of a trail detour put a crimp in the plans. The deli was over the bridge which was closed to foot traffic and the detour went in the opposite direction of the deli. Game over, or so we thought. Somehow in the midst of the disappointment and chaos the three driven by their stomachs went in the direction toward the bridge while the Divas and myself went in the direction of the detour. Thinking that Muster would inevitably return, the Divas and myself stopped and waited for about an hour and a half. Finally, I was able to get a signal on my cell phone and checked messages. Muster had called and left a voicemail that the deli was closed and she would meet us at the shelter that evening. I was pissed. I took off and burned off some steam on the 2 mile detour and met back up with the Divas at the end of the detour. By this time Grommet was slowly letting her stomach get the best of her. Pizza was on her mind and nothing else. As I stood waiting across the road for them they went off toward falls village. Are you kidding me? What is going on!??! It was 5pm and we still had at least 2 hours of hiking. But when I inquired about what the heck was going on I was told to shut-up and follow (with a smile of course). So I did; why the heck not?!!? As we round the corner into the village who do see? None other then Muster, Billy Hoot, and Nutmeg taking a nap on the park lawn. Incredible; caught red handed. So why not take it one step further and not only eat pizza, but let's just not hike the other four miles at all? And we didn't. We set up camp behind the Toymakers Cafe and will be eating breakfast there in the morning. Oh well, at least we won't ever forget today.

Day 135

Weather:
Sunny. No rain.

Today's Hike:
Kent, CT to Caesar's Brook Campsite - 13.6 miles

Day 134

Weather:
Sunny and hot. No rain.

Today's Hike:
Ten Mile River Campsite to Kent, CT - 8.6 miles

Day 133

Weather:
Breezy and Partly Cloudy.

Today's Hike:
Pawling, NY to Ten Mile River Campsite - 12.2 miles

What an awesome day after a rather interesting midnight. Since New Jersey the biting insect situation has been more than unbearable. For whatever reason the bugs weren't bad at the park last night so we all decided to not set up our tents. By 11:30pm we were getting eaten alive, and Rocket and Storm were being invaded by maggots and millipedes. Needless to say there was a lot of girly screams and complaints as we all began to pitch our tents; except for Grommet who somehow managed to sleep through the entire event.

Given the unexpected late night festivities we all slept in. Around 9:30am we made our way to the Corner Bakery and had a fantastic breakfast and the best coffee on the trail to date. For the road we got a loaf of zucchini bread and chocolate croissants, and Grommet couldn't resist buying an entire strawberry shortcake cake. Ridiculously funny.

After breakfast Billy Hoot, Nutmeg, Muster, and myself decided to rail blaze; skipping 2.5 miles on the AT. We all took the train from Pawling to the AT. The ride only took 3.5 minutes but it was a cool experience.

Next to the AT train station is a garden center that let's hikers take hot showers. So while we waited on the Packadivas we took showers and made some phone calls home. By 2pm we were all clean and ready to go. Muster and I were hiking ahead if the Divas. We were about 1.5 miles into the trail when a girl passed us and asked if we had seen the Packadivas. The minute she asked I knew she had to be Angela, a friend of Storms who was out to surprise her.

I was right, it was Angela and the girls were totally surprised. She hiked with us for most of the afternoon, and welcomed us into our 10th state of Connecticut. We all had a blast. To bad she's not hiking with us this year - she's a total diva. At least I'll have someone to journal stalk and support next year when she does her thru-hike.

We made into camp after dark and quickly went to bed. I’m looking forward to a short day tomorrow into Kent, CT, and hope the church is letting hikers camp on their lawn.

Day 132

Weather:
Sunny and cool in the morning. Partly cloudy afternoon. Thunderstorms in the evening.

Today's Hike:
Morgan Shelter to Pawling, NY - 8.6 miles

Today's hike was quick and beautiful. We knocked out almost nine miles in a little over three hours. At mile nine was the Dover Oak, the largest oak tree on the AT. The oak is estimated to be over 300 years old and measures somewhere around 20 feet in diameter. It was awesome, and unlike the Keffer Oak (the second largest oak on the AT) in Virginia, I managed to actually see this one. Very cool.

After spending some time under the Dover we made our way to the village of Pawling, NY where I consumed large amounts of greasy chinese food. Following lunch we did our usual town chores. On our way out we met one of the many wonderful local residents, Sydney, who showed us down to the park where we would be camping and brought us homemade cupcakes. What a wonderful and unexpected surprise!

Tonight the seven of us are sleeping by the Lions building at the local park. It's currently raining.....hope it's done by the morning!

Day 131

Weather:
Sunny, cool, no rain.

Today's Hike:
Fahnestock State Park to Morgan Shelter - 16.0 miles

Day 130

Weather:
Overcast, no rain.

Today's Hike:
Graymoor Center to Fahnestock State Park - 11.8 miles

Today was Grommet's birthday so to start the day off properly when all the ladies (Rocket, Storm, Muster, Nutmeg, Billy Hoot, and myself) surrounded Grommets tent at 7:30am and allowed her to be awaken to the sounds of us serenading happy birthday to her. Afterwards we presented her with her first round of birthday presents; water-guns and candy, every girls 28th birthday wish.

After the birthday morning festivities ended we packed our stuff and took a few moments to explore the Greymoore Spiritual Life Center. I had heard that the grounds were beautiful, and the rumors were true. The prayer garden was in full bloom, and some of the statues were really neat. We spent some time in the bookstore, but quickly decided not to add additional weight to our packs. By 10:00am we were back at the pavillion to grab our packs and started heading north for the day.

Today's destination was the Fahnesstock State Park where we could take hot showers, tent for free, and begin round two of Grommets birthday festivities. Billy Hoot and Nutmeg got a ride into town and picked up a black forest birthday cake and drinks. Meanwhile, the rest of us prepared the rest of the presents.

Grommet had mentioned weeks ago that we needed walkie-talkies so that they always knew were Muster and I were throughout the day. When we went into Harriman a few days earlier Muster picked up a set in Wally World and managed to keep it a secret until today. Grommet was totally thrilled. It didn't take long for her and Muster to scatter themselves throughout the campground to start "testing" out the walkie-talkie abilities. It was a late night filled with huge bonfire, cake, and other goodies.

We went to bed past hiker midnight (10:30pm), and slept well through the night.

Day 129

Weather:
Partly Cloudy, cool, no rain

Today's Hike:
Black Mtn. to Graymoore Spiritual Life Center - 14.0 miles

Day 128

Weather:
Thunderstorms on and off all day.

Todays Hike:
NY17 to Black Mtn. - 11.0 miles

The rain is relentless. It just won't stop coming. Ugh! I’m tired of being wet, tired of not hiking any miles, and tired of the mosquito's. In short, I’m just freakin' tired.

Despite the overall downfall of the current situation, today was not to shabby. Clear skies, and a Dunkin' Donuts breakfast. Fabulous. We also met back up with the Georgia Girls which helped boost the groups spirits. However, shortly after our reunion the t-storms began. So, we made our way to a vending area in Harriman St. Park and took shelter. By 5:00p of was still raining and we still had 6.5 miles to go. Errrrrrr.

We made it to camp by 8:30pm, a beautiful site with a view. There's lightening flashing south of us and thunder rolling in the distance. Hope it passes us by tonight.

I’m really looking forward to crossing the Hudson River tomorrow; the lowest point on the AT, and staying at the Greymor Spiritual Life Center tomorrow night.

Day 127

Weather:
Sunny. Low in lower 60's. High upper 70's.

Today's Hike:
Wildcat Shelter to NY17 - 9.7 miles

I woke up today ready to hike. For the first time in awhile it looked like there was going to be good hiking weather. The five of us headed out of camp by 8:20a, but it wasn't long before the girls motivation began to dissipate. It took nearly 8 hours to hike 9.7 miles, in part because the terrain is getting much tougher and in part of the resistance to push forward. Sunbathing on the rocks was much more appealing and relaxing then climbing over them.

By noon the idea of going into Harriman was being tossed around. There were restaurants and a Wal-Mart there; the only two things that seemed to be of any motivation to the rest of the girls; especially Rocket and Storm. I was a little frustrated since I felt like I was the only one who really wanted to hike, but at the same time I was part of a larger group that didn’t feel the same way. My desire to stay with them was much stronger then the desire to much forward alone. When it became evident that we were going into town and the girls really didn’t want to hike at all anymore, I suggested getting a hotel in town. The idea was appealing to them so by they were a little more motivated to hike our last 4 miles to the road.

Our first stop was at Chili's for wonderful food and margaritas, then it was over to Wally world to resupply for the next 4.5 days. By 8pm we were headed toward the Budget Inn, and 30 minutes later a round of hot showers was in action. While the girls were taking showers Muster has suggested that it may be a good idea to take it easy for the next few days to help rebuild motivation. In response, I drafted a tentative hiking plan that required us to hike 10-12 miles/day; way short of the 17-20 miles/day that were feasible. The girls liked the plan and seemed pleased with the idea of taking it easy over the next few days. I guess we’ll see how it plays out.

Day 126

Weather:
Wonderful! Finally!

Today's Hike:
SR 17A to Wildcat Shelter - 2.1 miles

We woke up around 7am this morning after a wonderful night's sleep. We spent the majority of the day at Rocket's uncles relaxing in the sun. After a wonderful breakfast the five of us loaded into the boat and spent the morning tubing and Storm and Grommet attempted to water ski. It was so much fun! Grommet and Muster both got thrown out of the tub on some slick turns. To bad that wasn’t caught on video!

Around 4:30pm we finally got our stuff packed and headed back to the creamery where we all consumed some more ice cream before heading 2 miles to the shelter for the evening. What a day.

Day 125

Weather:
Partly Cloudy.

Today's Hike:
Waywayander Shelter to Ny17A/Greenwood Lake, NY - 9.9 miles

If the trail teaches you anything, it teaches you that life will happen as it should; your only job is to be aware enough to accept and take action toward whatever comes your way. When I woke up this morning, the plan was to hike 16.0 miles to the top of Mombasha mountain where we maybe able to see fireworks that evening from New
York City. Four miles into our day the five of us crossed over from New Jersey to New York and took a break at the border for the rest of the morning.

When we started into our ninth state we were welcomed with bouldery mountain climbs above tree line and beautiful views of Greenwood Lake where people were out celebrating independence day. What any one of us would have given to be there.

Six long exhausting miles later we reached NY state rd. 17A, turned left and walked .1 miles to a creamery to consume large quantities of ice cream in honor of the 4th and our NY state entrance. By now it was late afternoon and we were tired. Our first ten miles of the day took much longer then usual given the new terrain. The girls were not to keen on wanting to hike another six miles, especially if they were going to be anything like the previous six miles. So we sat outside the creamery staring at an amazing view of the valley trying to figure out a plan. The idea of going to the local drive in theater was appealing, but there wasn't a hotel in town so figuring out where we were going to call home for the night was up for discussion.

After about thirty minutes of contemplating our next move two men walk up to our table and ask Rocket if they could borrow money from her. After a minute of real confusion there was a moment of complete surprise and excitement. The men were Rocket's uncles whom she hadn't seen in nearly ten years. They knew she was on the trail and probably somewhere in the area but had no idea she would be at the creamery. It was an amazing reunion to witness. I could feel the excitement between the three of them.

After introductions we learned that her family was about ten minutes down the road at their lake house celebrating the fourth of July. It didn't take long for Rocket to ask if we could join them for the weekend. Before I knew it we were all sitting on a dock of an amazing home on Greenwood Lake staring at the ridgeline we had been hiking just hours before, and Rocket was catching up on lost time with her wonderful family. The evening was filled with fireworks, great food, and great weather. Way better than a drive-in movie.

Day 124

Weather:
Partly Cloudy with afternoon thunderstorms

Today's Hike:
Unionville, NY to Waywayander Shelter - 16.9 miles

Some of Storm's work friends came to visit her this afternoon and join her on a short hike up Waywayander Mountain. So, we were all up and out early. Storm and Muster led the way and raced to make it to Heaven Hill farms by 12:30 to meet Storm's friends. Rocket, Grommet, and myself were running about an hour behind and made the 11.5 mile trek by 1:30pm.

We were unexpectedly welcomed with a large cheese pizza. Yum! Our pizza lunch was promptly followed up with ice cream from Heaven Hill, and it definitely was heavenly :) A thunderstorm rolled in mid-afternoon and Grommet, Rocket, Muster, and myself stayed at Heaven Hill until it passed over. Storm and her friends had decided to make the hike about 30 minutes prior to the start of the storm. By 3:30 the four of us were climbing Waywayander Mountain and met back up with Storm at the shelter for a relaxing evening.

Day 123

Day 123
Thursday 7/2/09

Weather:
Partly Cloudy and cool

Todays Hike:
Sunrise Pavillion to Unionville, NY - 17.5 miles

Today was a race to Unionville, NY before the P.O. Closed at 5pm. We made it there by 4:25p. Whew!

The five of us are spending the night at The former mayor's house in Unionville; Dick Ludwick. What a great guy! For the past 2 years he has been taking hikers into his home and taking care of their basic needs. Him and his crew have cooked us dinner, let us shower, and do our laundry. We tented on his lawn for the evening then awoke to a wonderful breakfast of eggs, potato cakes, bagels, O.J., and coffee. What more could I have wished for?

Day 122

Day 122
Wednesday 7/1/09

Weather:
Partly Cloudy with afternoon and evening thunderstorms.

Today's Hike:
Blue Mtn. Rd./YMCA to Sunrise Pavillion - 16.0 miles