Date: 2004-06-22
From: Vernon, NJ

To: Great Barrington, MA
Miles today: 164.1
Weather: moderate rain

6/10/04 MondayThe Trail has left the long ridge it followed throughout PA and most of NJ,evidenced by the steep climb up Wawayanda Mtn. this morning, and the series ofmountains ascended and descended for the rest of the day. This morning wascool but humid, and the near-vertical climb first thing in the morning had megasping for air and dripping with sweat. Finally the climb was over, and theTrail followed a series of mountains. These are different from the southernmountains, because their tops are scraped clean of dirt to the bedrock,evidence of glaciers long ago.Finally it began to rain, nothing more than a drizzle, but it heralded coolertemperatures. It also made all that exposed bedrock slick. At one point theTrail crossed into New York, high on a mountaintop.When I got to the shelter for the night, Bigfoot was already there. As I wrotein the shelter register a bear passed by, not twenty feet away. It pulled outmy camera and followed it, and it didn't seem to notice. As I lined up theperfect shot I stepped on a twig, and at the sound the bear raced away. Iguess I'm fated not to have a picture of a bear. The bear ran across the pathwhich led to the shelter just as Stanimal was approaching, so I helped him seea bear (albeit a rapidly-moving one).6/11/04 FridayThe section of Trail today had even more mountains than yesterday - I seemed tobe always going up or going down. It's also the most-overblazed section andthe worst-defined section: in most places I could see at least two blazes atall times, and in some sectoins as many as four, yet I kept losing the trail infront of me, even with so many blazes, and then having to get back to where Ibelonged. Even in Pennsylvania, where the Trail is rockier, I didn't have somuch trouble following the Trail.There were also some great boulder climbs today, some almost sheer sectoins. Ilike these even though they slow me down, since I have to think about where I'mgoing to put my feet - and even my hands - in some of the steeper sections. One part of the Trail is called the Lemon Squeezer because it's so narrow. Ididn't have a problem fitting through it, but the crevasse is at a slight angleto the side, so I had to lean and shuffle through, instead of being able tostand up straight.Finally I got to the shelter, which is made of stone and was built in the 20s,making it one of the oldest shelters on the Trail. In fact, tomorrow I'm goingto enter Bear Mtn. State Park, where the first sections of the AT were built in1922 and 1923.6/12/04 SaturdayThe Trail started right out confusing again, with a false trail I followed untilI saw the blazes off to the side. Once I got sorted out I didn't have manymore problems, and followed the rugged ups and downs of the Trail.The next shelter was stone also, and was built into the rock face of a cliffbehind it. The sides of the shelter flared out, like the foundation of aJapanese castle. Water has been scares along this section, and the source atthis shelter was a shallow well, which I treated with my AquaMira chemicals asif it was bad water before drinking.I ended at West Mtn. shelter, six-tenths of a mile off the Trail - the furthestoff the Trail I've ever gone for a shelter - but with one of the best views sofar on the Trail from a shelter. Bulit on the edge of a cliff, New York Citywas visible in the distance, with the Hudson River in the foreground.As the afternoon waned more and more people showed up - two Boy Scout troops,and many weekend hikers. Most of them camped, so I couldn't see them from thecliffside view of the shelter. As night fell the city lights came on and Ifell asleep to the city glow.6/13/04 SundayIt was an easy morning hike over Bear Mtn. to get down to the Bear Mtn. Inn,where Sugar Daddy was throwing a barbecue. I helped him set up, and eventuallypeople started to show up. My sister and father and cousin came to visit me,Sugar Daddy's father, sister, and brother-in-law were there, MoonPie and hersister were there, and many other thru-hikers either hiked in or hitched aheador back from where they were on the Trail. It was a great party, and much foodwas consumed.After the barbecue Chestnut, Wolf Wind, MoonPie, her sister, my sister andfather went back to Sugar Daddy's sister's house. We hung out for a while,then MoonPie's sister gave my father a ride into the City, and the rest of usspent the night.6/14/04 MondayThe next shelter is quite a ways from Bear Mtn., so Chestnut, Wolf Wind, and Ihiked to the Graymoor Friary, a Franciscan center that has hosted thru-hikersfor decades. Chestnut decided to hike on, since it was such a short day, andMockingbird and a section hiker named Whistler arrived.The day before, there had been a huge Haitian celebration of St. Anthony's Dayhere, and the grounds of the Friary were covered with litter. There werepeople cleaning up, but I felt useless because I couldnh't get a trash bag tohelp clean, even after asking one of the residents of the Spiritual Center. Ijust hope it doesn't attract too many animals overnight.6/15/04 TuesdayThis was my first real long day in a while - 19 miles. The terrain wasforgiving, which was nice since the day was hot and humid. The water along theTrail was scarce, so when I got to a stream I drank a lot in order to stayhydrated.The Trail followed on an interesting route for a while: the trailbed had beenbult up and raised so it didn't have to dip down and follow the terrain. Atfirst I thought it might have been an old railway bed but it was far too narrowfor that, and the stonework that built up the trail didn't use mortar. Ifinally decided it looked like an old Roman wall or - the Great Wall of NewYork. That must be it. And it's doing an excellent job of holding back theMongol Horde, because I certainly haven't seen any signs of them.The shelter had a pump for a water source, but it still had sediment and tastedbad. A section hiker, Mat from Germany, was there and had his car nearby. Mockingbird, Wolf Wind, Chestnut, and I made out a shopping list that includedspring water, and then Mat and Wolf Wind went to the grocery store. They cameback with water and ice cream - what more could one want? I'd gotten an extragallon of water to leave at the shelter so others could use it.6/16/04 WednesdayFive miles from the shelter was a deli at a road crossing. The rest of thehikers left early so they could get there for breakfast, but I timed it for anearly lunch. Mmmm, huge egg salad sandwich and a quart of Gatorade.After eating, I walked very slowly for the next few miles. I took a break atthe next shelter, then got confused by an old set of blue blazes that had fadedto a light grey at the next road crossing. I went a little bit the wrong wayuntil I discovered my mistake and had to backgrack to get back to the Trail. Iended the day in the shelter with Wolf Wind and a sectoin hiker who slept outof the shelter.6/17/04 ThursdayIn the middle of the night the section hiker moved into the shelter from whereshe'd been sleeping outside. She'd said she might, and had left some of hergear at one side of the shelter. Except that when she came in she didn't sleepin one of the open sides, but instead lay down sideways across the front of theshelter, at our heads, and on top of the things we'd left up there, like myshoes and glasses. We woke up and had her move, but it made us feel a littleweird.I ate lunch at the next shelter, and just after leaving there I enteredConnecticut, my tenth state on the hike and the start of New England. This isalso the state I hiked my first section in nine years ago, so the memories arecoming back as I see familiar places.I stayed at the first shelter in CT. When I stayed here before there wasn't ashelter here, so I camped nearby. Tonight, however, I was very glad there wasa shelter because the skies opened up and a deluge of rain bucketed down, withthunder and lightning to add to the drama.After the storm the field in front of the shelter was filled with fireflies -hundreds of them in a neverending light show. They continued all night, and Ifell asleep with them flashing behind me.6/18/04 FridayI was meeting my sister at noon in Kent, so I left the shelter with plenty oftime to spare. They day was humid right from the start, and in no time I wasdripping and my shirt was drenched. The humidity also made it harder tobreathe, and slowed down my pace so that I had just enough time to check in atthe shelter just before the road crossing, and then get down to the road bynoon.My sister very nicely shuttled me around town to eat lunch, buy groceries, eatice cream, and go to the outfitter. We gave away sodas and shuttle some otherhikers to and from the trailhead. Finally I went back to the Trail, andinstead of hiking to the next shelter in the humidity and late hour I hiked theshort distance back up to the last shelter. Shortly after, MoonPie andEinstein showed up, and then the CT ridgerunner Leprechaun arrived. Once againthe skies opened up, even harder than the night before. The noise on the tinroof of the shelter was so loud that it drowned out the sound of the thunder.6/19/04 SaturdayToday's hike was highlighted by a five-mile stretch of trail along theHousatonic River, a flat, scenic walk that was a relief after some of thesteep, boulder-strewn mountains in Connecticut so far. In the river wereseveral herons, and I heard - but did not see - an eagle overhead.The day was humid once again, though once I took off my shirt to hike the breezekept me from overheating. At the top of one mountain was a grassy clearingwith a pavilion, a swing, and a pump. I camped here once before, but hadplanned only on stopping in for water today. Alas, the pump was dry, so I hadto move on after a short rest.One would think that, with a name like "Pine Swamp Hollow", it would be nosurprise that the water source for the shelter was a stream that ran between aswamp and a marsh, yet I was surprised, and so were many other hikers,according to the shelter register. I filtered it thorugh my bandana to get thefloaties out, and then treated it, and it seemed to turn out all right.6/20/04 SundayI wanted to stop in Salisbury, CT, to check my email today, so I left the shelter by 7:30. It was a pleasant morning, though a promised shower at a hydroelectric plant didn't pan out: it was an outside showerhead on the side of a bulding, in full view of the fishermen across the river. And I didn't have any soap.I got to town by 12:30, after sixteen miles. Unfortunately the library was closed because it was Sunday. I was chatting with one of the locals, and she made some phone calls to see if anyone she knew could let me check email. One call panned out, and I went to the local inn/tavern and was able to use the front desk computer for a few minutes. Great!I then sampled the local ice cream shop's wares, and then went to the deli to get a sandwich for lunch. I also bought a bar of chocolate only because it advertised that it contained a "classic love poem" inside. I stayed in town for a few hours, talking with CT ridgerunner Amos, and then hiked out for the last four miles to the shelter.At the top of the first mountain I encountered a day hiker who asked if I was a thru-hiker. When I said I was he pulled out an extra beer he'd carried up just for such an occasion. He hiked down while I drank it, and I chatted for a while with a lovely South African girl up for the day.The shelter sat on the edge of a cliff, and overlooked the valley below. It also faces east, so there should be a great view of the sunrise in the morning.6/21/04 MondayThe sunrise was everything I'd expected it to be. Wonderful, and I didn't even have to get out of bed to see it.It was a short hike over Connecticut's Bear Mtn. (different, of course, from New York's Bear Mtn.) to Sages Ravine and Massachusetts. Just outside of Sages Ravine was Camp Hi-Rock, where I worked ten years ago. I stopped in for a visit and found them in the midst of staff training. One of the directors was a camper I'd had in my cabin years ago! They offered me lunch with them and I of course accepted.After a few hours of walking around and looking at the camp I hiked on, and had a challenging hike up Mt. Everett, and then a nearly straight-downhill climb into the valley once more. A quick walk through the most mosquito-infested woods I've ever been in brought me to Great Barrington, MA, where I got a hotel room for the night and took a much-needed shower and ate out at a good restaurant.