Date: 2011-06-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 405.2

Hey! I can't believe how fast I am rolling through states these days! After being in Virginia for so long, it feels weird to be hitting a new state after just a few days. As of now I am a little over 25 miles from CT! Which is nuts! I can't believe I walked all this way. It really hit me as I was crossing over the Hudson River. I walked there. I walked to NY. Who does that?! haha Well apparently I do and I loved every minute of it. Ok so maybe I didn't love EVERY minute wasn't, but I sure have loved most of them. We had a few hot days last week and that really made hiking less enjoyable, but since then the weather has cooled to a much more reasonable temperature and for that I am extremely grateful! After leaving Vernon I made my way to the NJ/NY boarder. That was really exciting! Though I must say I was sad to be leaving NJ... it is actually a really pretty state and the people there treated me so well! I had a lot of interesting conversations with people I ran into and the weather in Jersey was awesome while I was there. I guess, because the state is so small I didn't have enough time to get sick of it! hahaThe day I left Vernon was a really hot one and from the ridge we could see this big, beautiful lake that was just calling our names, so we ended up going into Greenwood Lake, NY and stayed at Anton's On The Lake. The place was awesome! It was right on the lake and to top it off at the road crossing to go into Greenwood Lake there is a Creamery! We all decided it would be a great day to do the Half Gallon Challenge. I can now say I have eaten an entire half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. It is not nearly as much fun as one would think. I didn't feel very well after completing the challenge... but I was glad I did it anyways.The next day was absolutely gorgeous! I got to go through the lemon squeezer, which for those of you that don't know is a point where the trail goes between two rocks that are really close together. It was less of a squeeze than I was expecting, but I think I'm ok with that. After the lemon squeezer the trail went straight up the side of a rock and on a tree just before the rock face there was a sign that said Easy Way and pointed to the left. I being the determined person that I am, was not about to go the easy way. I took the sign as a challenge, as though the sign thought I couldn't do it. I sure showed it! haha We stayed at the William Brian Memorial Shelter. That place is seriously disgusting. I opted to tent. I have actually found myself wanting to tent more, I think its to make carrying the tent weight feel worth it. The next day we got to go through the Trail Side Zoo and thus we hit the lowest point on the A.T. I am really glad the bears in that cage were not the first ones I had seen on the trail. I also saw an otter and its cage was really small, it had a tiny little pool of water to swim in and it just kept swimming around in circles. It was so graceful, but I couldn't help thinking the poor guy was going nuts! If I had to swim in circles all day I KNOW I would lose my mind... It was another beautiful day and since it was a Friday there were a bunch of kids at the zoo on a field trip, they asked me lots of questions and it was fun watching their jaws drop as I answered them.The next day I headed to the RPH Shelter and enjoyed yet another beautiful day! We are kind of hiking in a bubble of no people and haven't seen too many other thru-hikers recently. I'm sure all that will change though once I get back from orientation. Next week I am taking 4 days off to head home in order to take placement tests and such for school in the fall. I have mixed feelings about this forced break. It will be really nice to see people and be home even for a short period of time, but I also feel the trip home could be a curse. It may cause me to lose momentum. I am getting close to finishing this adventure and I most certainly don't want to quit, but the friends, family and amenities at home may prove to be a huge distraction... I guess time will tell! Hope all is well for everyone! I can't believe its JUNE! Yesterday was my 3 months on the trail date! THAT'S CRAZY!