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.