Mon 13 Jun Day 95
Only 1.5miles to the Unionville access road. We headed down the hill to the town - hopefully to pick up my new pack and resupply.
The local store was limited and expensive but had great sub sandwiches! I packed one out for lunch. A definite bonus to having so many easy-to-access stores.
The post office trip was also so so. I was hoping that the outfitters would have forgotten to send a return slip (because it has taken so long to get it sorted) but they didn't - so I stuck their pack into the plastic bag (hoping that the stench builds up even more)!!
Snifur also caught us up again and walked with us for the day. The afternoon was awesome - Shoofly, Nero, Earl Grey, Legion, Snifur and I stopped into Heaven Hill Farm (which is a garden and ice-cream store) where we had the best ice-creams on trail so far!! Raspberry and blueberry - delicious. We all hung out at the picnic table scoffing our faces and decided that going into Vernon, NJ to stay at the free church hostel would be a super idea.
Hitching a ride was the hardest - it is illegal to hitch in NJ so we had to ask every customer in the car park. So frustrating not having transport. Luckily a wonderful lady with a pick up truck took us right into town to the church.
The St. Thomas Episcopal Church hostel is amazing. We had free reign of their kitchen, laundry, lounge and shower. There were lay-z-boy chairs and we just hung out eating BK and watching tv - fantastic. What a day.
Tues 14 Jun Day 96
We were even more fortunate to have a lady from the church come in at 8.30am to drop us back to the trail. There were 6 of us squished into a minivan - all showered and clean which was definitely a bonus.
The weather has turned and it has cooled off. It only took 5 miles into the trail until the rain hit AND more rocks. It slowed us down so much - parts were quite dangerous and I am glad the guys were with me to help.
The rare moment the sun shone we crossed the border - New Jersey into New York. But the rain just kept on coming.
By the time we had reached 15mi we dropped into the Bellvale creamery - another fantastic ice cream shop. It was here (while shivering) that we decided to dry off in Greenwood Lake.
Anton's on the lake was great. We picked up beer and ordered $85 worth of Chinese food (between 3 of us) and got 9 fortune cookies - I guess they thought there would be more of us. We were quite full!
Wed 15 Jun Day 97
Hardest miles for a long time! New York kicked our butts! Not really much more to say - it sucked.
We squeezed through the "lemon squeezer" which wasn't too tight and definitely not as steep/difficult as other parts.
We stayed at Fingerboard Shelter. Crazy rude section hikers was all we had to put up with!! The last of them showed up at 11.30pm and they didn't quieten down 'till 2am.
Thur 16 Jun Day 98
No sleep last night (barely 3hrs total) due to the noisy section hikers. Not a great start to a 21 mile day! We headed up the 5 mi to William Brien Memorial Shelter (where we had originally planned to stay).
At least it improved - we went up Bear Mountain today. It was the best manicured trail with steps and crushed stone. It was an awesome run up and down with a soda stop at the top and a blurry view of the NYC skyline. The lake at the bottom was also very beautiful. The Inn was being restored.
Next stop was the Trailside museum, the lowest point on the AT (124'). We cruised into Fort Montgomery to pick up mail - thanks Mum and Sharon :) then across the Hudson River and up the other side.
The Appalachian Market was a great stop - BLT, ice cream, soda, chocolate milk, and other stuff I can't remember. We crawled into the Graymoor Friary which was fairly full. There was a cold outdoor shower which was greatly appreciated!
A total of 1401.3 miles done.
779.2 mi to go :)
Fri 17 Jun Day 99
I was going to have a 'zero' today as I was tired, sore and it was raining lots - but did 18.4mi instead!! It was a long day - the miles just kept being there.
Nothing very interesting to see and still lots of rocks. It makes it hard on the feet. Plus many ups and downs (MUDs). I was tired by the time we reached the RPA Shelter - 6.20pm. The best thing though was being able to order pizza and coke to be delivered to the shelter. It was delicious.
The shelter is a concrete block shed with the garage door missing. It has 6 bunks and space on the floor. There are 9 of us staying tonight.
Sat 18 Jun Day 100
The plan was 16.8mi to Telephone Pioneers shelter however it turned out a bit differently than that. Another hot day where the sweat just poured off us all. Some section hikers at our lunch stop said they had left some beers at the Telephone shelter and that we could have them tonight - great trail magic.
I ended up having a great afternoon - zooming along, found my groove and was ahead of the guys for hours. We found Nuclear Lake at about 2pm - there was no hesitation about jumping in. It was gorgeous! Wonderful view and the temperature was perfect (warm on top and cooler underneath). I stayed in for at least 45mins.
On arriving at the shelter we discovered the beers in the stream and also the many boy scouts that where there already. The decision was made to push on and do a night hike of 8.7mi.
We passed the largest tree on the AT just before the Appalachian Train stop which heads into New York. It only stops on the weekends so isn't any good to get into NYC during the week.
It was a cruisy night hike - fairly flat trail and few rocks or tree roots. We made good time to Wiley Shelter - however, it too was packed with people who were still up at 10.30pm. Tents everywhere meant that we chose to move on again to find a camping spot.
We were lucky not to be in Connecticut yet as it is illegal to free camp anywhere, plus we found a nice flat spot within a mile from the shelter. Lights out by 11.30pm :)
Sun 19 Jun Day 101
Nice sleep in 'till 8am so we didn't leave until 9am. We crossed the NY-CT border within a mile and came across the road to a deli stop only 0.6mi away - or so it said in the book! We ended up hitching a ride as the deli was actually not on this road but there was a general store 2.5mi down the road. I had the yummiest Reuben sandwich!
We did a total of 11.4mi today and stayed at Mt Algo shelter. Jukebox showed up again tonight - I haven't seen him since before Harpers Ferry.
Mon 20 Jun Day 102
Earl Grey headed out early today to meet up with family for a couple of days off. He will no doubt catch up to me again soon.
Only 0.4mi into Kent today for a 'nero', resupply and laundry. We got a can of coke and a cookie as we left the trail this morning, then a guy who was parked there offered us a ride into Kent. Great start!
It is a lovely town - nice New England houses, a few shops and a nice grocery store. We battled with about 25 students who were also doing their laundry - far too many people!!!! While we were sorting out stuff at the ice cream shop another guy offered us a ride back to the trail - so lucky.
We did another 7.3mi to Stewart Hollow Brook shelter where I met German Shepard and Crop Duster. The trail in this area is on the Housatonic River and has been flat for ages. It's nice.
Tue 21 Jun Day 103
Another day hiking - I'm getting fairly bored with it now. It's hard to keep motivated - it's just about getting finished now. 50 or so days to go!
Today was a long day and by the time we reached Falls Village,CT I had had enough. We were really lucky and got picked up by a guy named Allen, taken to an inn for a beer then taken to his home where there was a shower and a bed for the night. Fantastic.
Passed the 700 miles to go mark today.
Wed 22 Jun Day 104
Scrambled eggs, toast and coffee were a great start to the day despite the rain that started. We resupplied in Salisbury and Allen dropped us back off near the trail.
It was a wet walk to Brassie Brook Shelter and wet gear was strung from end to end.
684.6mi to go
1496.4 done
Thu 23 Jun Day 105
It's still raining today! No incentive to do the planned 23.2mi plus the trail was wet rocks up and down two big hills. Very frustrating!
Crossed another state line today - Connecticut (CT) into Massachusetts (MA).
It was the slowest 8.8mi I have had for a while and was freezing by lunchtime so I called it a day. Snifur must have passed on through so I'm here in the shelter by myself.
A few other section hikers and a ridge runner have shown up. We are all wet and fairly miserable.
A very miserable day.
Fri 24 Jun Day 106
Had a wonderful sleep - I must have been knackered! Got up at 5.30 and was underway by 6am. It was a downhill to the Housatonic River then a small up to Tom Leonard Shelter. I zoomed through these miles so pushed on to Mt Wilcox Shelters. I was there by 3pm and then though I could push on some more so looked at my book and saw that there was a camping spot at 6mi, a clearing at 10mi and a hut at 15mi. If I could do 10 more miles, I could do an extra 15!
So it ended up that I just kept pushing on to the shelter - a grand total of 35.5 miles!!!! Yeeha. I arrived at Upper Goose Pond Shelter soaking wet as it started raining during the final hour of the hike, plus it got dark so I had my head lamp going. I was stoked. German Shepard, Sleepy Guy and Snifur couldn't believe I had done a 35+ day. It is one of the longest done by most people.
My legs ached something chronic when I went to bed but I took pain killers so that didn't last long.
Sat 25 June Day 107
Upper Goose Pond is amazing - it has a resident caretaker who makes pancakes and coffee for hikers in the morning. Just what I needed after a massive day. Yes, I can walk. I even made it down the stairs without using the hand rail! Feeling good.
Today was fairly flat but man was it muddy. The worst I have seen - loads of bogs and slippery rocks makes you get sick of it really quick. But we pushed on as Snifer had a friends sister picking him up.
Nancy arrived and I thought that she would just drop me into Dalton. However, she kindly offered a shower and laundry. That made my day, considering the mud and sore toe/foot I had.
It always amazes me how wonderful a shower is now. I was so lucky - not only did I end up getting a shower but she invited me to stay too. We had omlette and sodas for lunch while laundry was being done, oh and I had a foot spa. Then we went to get pizza for dinner. Crazy wonderful afternoon.
It was really nice being in a home with a family and I greatly appreciated their kindness.
Sun 26 June Day 108
Not only did we get the royal treatment yesterday, we got cooked breakfast and Nancy offered to drive us to get resupply and for me to find a new camera before dropping us in Dalton.
I eventually found a camera - Nikon point and shoot. Hopefully it will see me out.
We said our farewells and thanks to Nancy in Dalton and were sitting outside the Cumberland Farms store (convenience/petrol station) charging my camera battery and reading the paper when a guy shows up. He introduced himself as Tom and said that we were more than welcome to stay at his place that night.
He was very good at convincing us and we ended up having a zero. Tome Levardi is the nicest and most generous man on trail. He lets hikers stay in his home at no cost, feeds them, loans out bikes and drops people off everywhere.
We sat and talked and chilled out with other hikers - Battle Cat and OTT (reunited with Snifur as they had travelled together before), Diode, Charlie and Prescott.
Dinner was hot wings, sandwiches and beer at the local pub - it was delicious and so filling.
When we got back to Tom's he offered us ice-cream - cookies & cream with whipped cream and a cookie on the side (not sure if I could fit it in, but did) :) We even chose to watch Forest Gump. I gave up early though and went to bed around 10pm.
Mon 27 June Day 109
First sick day. All up the hill out of Dalton I wanted to spew or pass out. I'm not sure if it was breakfast, some random bug or my pack being heavy but it was awful. I arrived in Chershire and went to the postoffice and got rid of 5lbs then pushed on through to Mt Greylock. I was hoping to see the others so they could help me (as I felt terrible) but my luck was out and I scaled the most visited mountain nearly vomiting every 100m.
Mt Greylock, and in fact all of the trail today was beautiful - it is a shame I could't enjoy it. But fortunately I ran into OTT, Battle Cat and Snifur up at the monument. It was only three mikes to the shelter so I pushed on - not fast though. It ended up that Snifur took my pack and ran it down to the shelter, I trundled along and didn't arrive till after 7pm.
I don't know what it was but it was yuck. I hope it goes away quick.
We also had a random weird dude in the shelter - up cooking dinner for hours and kept staring at things.
I also passed the 600mile to go mark today.
Total miles done - 1581.8
Total miles to go - 599.2
Into a new state tomorrow!!
- posted by enzed :)
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