Date: 2012-07-01
From: NY 17A

To: NY 17 Southfields, NY
Miles today: 12.0

Got going from the hostel earlier than most... but then again I wasn't up drinking as they were the night before. After packing up I was headed for the trail at about 7 am... but ran into a small problem before I even left the house. As it turns out I didn't tighten the hose attachment onto my water bladder which promptly started to leak all over the inside of my backpack. Thankfully I use a trash compactor bag (heavy plastic trash bag) inside my pack to protect from leaking bladder and rain storms, so most of my gear stayed dry. The only stuff that got soaked my rain gear which was on the bottom of my pack outside the liner bag. I decided against going back around the house for more water since I had filled my bladder all the way meaning I started with 2.5 liters, and it appeared I had only lost about half a liter. And with only 12 miles to hike I figured I would be just fine. Since I had slackpacked yesterday I knew the long hike out of the hostel back to the trail was going to be much harder than it was last night... and since no one was up to shuttle me I just started to walk out. Just about the time I was hitting the trail I ran into one of the people from the hostel who has a car and but by that time I might as well keep walking. When I was approaching the trail I noticed a young guy shouting to his mom who appeared to be hiking up a blue blaze trail looking for the AT, I helped them find the AT and sent them south per their request. About the time I started up the trail, I realized I had forgotten to eat breakfast... and since I hadn't really eaten much for dinner I should have sat right down and eaten, but of course that isn't what I did. Maybe that was a bad idea, but since I didn't feel all that hungry I figured I would hike on for a bit before stopping. When I had climbed out from the road and hit the 2 miles mark I was finally at the trail to the shelter and although I didn't hike down to the shelter, I decided to sit down there and snack before heading on. I'm not sure it really did me any good even though I ate over 500 calories I really didn't get the boost form a good snack that I normally get. Not sure if it was the heat, dehydration or that I should have eaten 1000 calories, but that morning's hike continued to be SLOW going. By the time I had made it 4 miles I knew 2 liters of water was never going to be enough... but thankfully the water trail angels were working hard to keep the hikers hydrated! At mile 6 there was a water cache with about 6 gallons still remaining, so I again guzzled the rest of my water and filled up my bladder, this time making sure the top was tight so as not to leak again! Early in the day I was passed by "DW" but never saw another nobo hiker all day. There were a few sobo sectioners, but over all it was a quiet day of hiking alone. Which might have been good since I was going SO SLOW! I really would have felt bad for anyone forced to hike with me that day. I'm sure my pace would have really angered just about anyone. There were lots of rock scrambles, and tons of little ups and downs... it seems new yorkers placed the trail in a way just to anger all the hikers. When they looked that the terrain it seems they said "which path is the worst? That one? Perfect!" Like the have to prove they are from NY and are not only tough but really mean. Only I know the truth about new yorkers... everyone of them I know is really not mean or tough! My only really scary moment of the day came at about mile 9, when I almost fell off a cliff. Now, it's not like it was 80 feet high or anything, but I'm not sure if I would have survived anyway. It was a rock scramble that went straight up. STRAIGHT UP. I am just glad when I come to these, at least I'm not afraid of heights, and I have a background in rock climbing. As I was trying to pull myself up over a ledge, I got my pack stuck on a rock above my head and was "pushed" back down... which would have been no big deal except I whacked my knee and even harder my shin on the rocks too. The knee wasn't too big of a deal, scraped the skin slightly but not even enough to bleed, the shin how ever had me cursing loudly in pain. I tried again to get up the ledge, and thankfully this time I made it, but when I looked down, I could see my shin swelling before my eyes. But I guess that's what happens when you hit the bone on a 90 degree corner of a rock! Again thankfully, it was only bruised. Like I said it all could have been much worse. I can hike with a lump... but I'm not so sure about a broken bone... so happy it was the first and nothing worse!With the heat as bad as it was, I had decided to head into the city earlier than originally planned. And since a friend was willing and able to come meet me at the trail head, I made plans to head into the ac for a few days and to visit with friends in NYC. After a thank you dinner (for the ride) I was dropped off at the ferry which would take me from NJ to NY. And after a short bus ride to Times Square (now that's a strange feeling... trail to Times Square!) I met up with Dave and Jonathan for a few days of fun.Looking forward to a few days of rest and air conditioning. As well as resupply and visiting with friends. More to come when I'm back on the trail again! Thanks for reading so far and although I know I'm no author, I hope you are enjoying reading about my adventures. And I'm pretty sure in the future my entries may not be nearly this long!