Date: 2003-07-28
From: Mashipacong Shelter

To: Pochuck Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up early b/c we had a big day planned -- about 20 miles. The rain had stopped and the sun was out. We left the shelter at 6:40! 42 was pretty cranky(she didn't realize it would turn out to be a fantastic day), but we marched on.After 5.5 miles we reached High Point State Park, NJ, where Moo tried to cheer up 42 by taking a long break -- he even yogied a bagel from a tourist. We dried the tent, hung out in the sun, and 42 even dozed a bit. After 2 hours, Moo and a slightly less cranky 42 hit the trail again.We soon came to the High Point observation deck, where we got a great view and met a nice family from Rhode Island vacationing in NJ. They helped break 42's cranky mood, and we walked on in much better spirits. When we got to the High Point shelter, we stopped in to read the shelter register. We read that Sleepy Floyd, Pipes & Phlegm, Superman? & Torch were going on to a hostel in Vernon -- too far for us, but hopefuly we'll catch them in a day or so. We also learned that Bingo & Trucker had hiked 3 miles in the wrong direction -- bummer!We crossed some streams and walked through some beautiful fields. As we crossed one road, we saw a white-spotted fawn nearby, making some squeaking noises as it pranced across the street -- so cute! We decided that we would eat lunch in Unionville, NY, because we were going to stop by Horler's General Store anyway -- Moo's parents are friends with the Felsens, and the Felsens are friends with the Donders who own Horler's, so we were stopping by to say hello.We were getting pretty hungry by about 3:00, when we were about 2 miles away from Horler's, but then we came upon the sign for the "secret shelter." That might sound like an oxymoron, but the sign merely said "well water 100 yards" -- you had to be in the know (or own Wingfoot's book) to realize it was pointing the way to the secret shelter. Although we were eager to get to Unionville, we couldn't resist checking out the shelter. It was awesome! Jim Murray, a former thru-hiker, owns the property & makes it available to thru-hikers. We walked into a beautiful field, the kind of place we looked at and said "We'd love to live here!" There were several wood buildings and a well pump. We walked to one building that was unlocked and it turned out to be the shelter. Inside, it had a sleep loft, a huge sink, and a dryer. Outside there was a shower with hot water -- we couldn't resist and stripped to get clean. While Moo was showering, 42 washed our clothes in the sink and tossed them in the dryer. Then 42 took a shower -- it wasn't quite as relaxing as Moo's shower, though, because another hiker -- Spitz -- came along. Moo tried to run interference, but Spitz might have gotten a bit of a show (he was too polite to mention it). Btw, we later realized there was an indoor shower. We then dried off in the sun on the lawn, along with our clothes b/c the dryer didn't really work. Everything dried in almost no time in the strong sun, and we were on our way to Unionville by 4:00. Thank you, Jim!Arrived @ Lott Road & walked the 0.4 miles into Unionville. Our first stop was Horler's General Store. Turns out the Donders weren't there, but we left a note for them. We got sandwiches and went to a nearby park to eat them in a gazebo with Spitz. Nice gazebo, but tons of nasty graffiti all over. Then we went back to Horler's to resupply. As we were sitting outside putting the food away, a woman from the house across the street poked her head outside and asked if we wanted to come over for some chocolate cake and coffee -- we quickly answered "yes!" We went around to her patio and met Tessie and Donna, her neighbor, just as Tessie was putting a chocolate cake on the table. Delicious! A few minutes later we were joined by Tessie's husband, Frank, and another neighbor, George. We hung out for about an hour, enjoying the cake and conversation very much. Then we realized it was time to get back on the trail b/c it was 7:30pm and we had 5 more miles to the shelter.We (Moo, 42 & Spitz) walked through Walkill National Wildlife Preserve, which was beautiful but totally mosquito infested, and DEET didn't do much. We endured a full forces attack!Saw a gorgeous sunset, then had a tough but good climb to reach the shelter.Got there at about 9:30, waking Stocliff and Applejack, who had been sleeping in the shelter. They told us where the bear box (big metal boxes on the ground that latch closed -- NJ's bear bag method) was, mentioning that after they put their food in & closed the box, a bear came along, got on top of it and jumped on it trying to open it. We were a bit nervous putting our food in, but did so w/o incident. We set up our tent next to the shelter and went to bed.