Date: 2003-08-19
From: Pawling NY- Murrow Park

To: Yellow Trail
Miles today: 3.5

Well, it was another one of those days that started with a plan and quickly took a left hand turn! We woke to a heavy fog settled over the park where we were camped. I did not sleep well at all, thanks to several interruptions. The scariest one was when the local police came to check on us. They drove up a small dirt road, and thanks to my haphazard tent placement, managed to get a little closer than I would like! I woke to see headlights bearing down on my tent, and thought to myself, "So....this is how it is going to end. Me getting run over by a policeman while I am in my tent!!". Luckily, though, he missed me and I have lived to hike another day.   We packed up our wet gear and headed into town for a quick breakfast. Upon entering the village, we came to an acupuncturists office. I have been in a lot of pain lately....hip pain, knee pain, foot pain....you name it. Bumpkin says that when I roll over at night I always groan in my sleep, and she has been encouraging me to try an acupuncture session. After a quick discussion, we agreed that I should see if she could fit me in.   After setting up the appointment, we did some quick schedule-finangling. We had a long list of errands to take care of when we got to Kent, but we figured since we had to wait for my appointment, we could do them now, and not spend all day in Kent. So, off we went to do laundry, banking, post office, etc. We got a lot done, and ended up feeling great about our decision to do it this way!   You know how at home, you always have this list of errands that needs to be run? Well, it is just like that on the trail!! And since we have to do all of our errands on foot, it tends to take all day! It is kind of a pain, since I really want to treat town time like down time, but this stuff has to be done. Oh well!   After sitting around in our rain gear, listening to classical music, and watching our clothes go through the spin cycle, we headed to my appointment. I had never been to an acupuncturist before, but I am willing to try it if it will help my pain. I spent two hours, first in consultation and then with needles stuck in me! I was very impressed with Julie, the acupuncturist. She was warm and gentle and inspired a geat deal of confidence. I think it is too soon to know how much it helped, but I will tell you this....when I got up after lunch, it was the first time in months that I could just walk. No staggering, no lurching around like an old woman, no groans of pain. Man, I hope it lasts!   After all of our errands, we went back to meet Julie, as she had offered to give us a ride back up to the trail. Isn't that nice? Acupuncture treatments and trail magic! It is just one small example of how friendly everyone is in this town. Bumpkin and I were approached by three different elderly women who all said the exact same thing to us...."Where are you going?" followed by, "Oh, that is WONDERFUL!!". It is such a shame that the trail was rerouted away from Pawling because this town has a huge heart.   5:30 in the evening found us setting of at last. We wanted to get a few miles in by dark, so we hurried down the trail. Big rolling cowfieldsstudded with stiles soon became forest ridge waking interspersed with long traverses over bog bridges. The trail was calm and peaceful and as the sun began to set we found a couple of flat spots to put our tents.Too full from lunch, we forego cooking and dive into our tents for an early night. Tomorrow...Connecticut!!Love, Anna aka Mud Buttwww.trailjournals.com