Date: 2007-07-10
From: RPH Shelter

To: Wiley (Webatuk) Shelter
Miles today: 25.3

I had a much more relaxing nights sleep last night than the night before. A few hikers complained about the bugs in the trail register the night before, but I didn't have that much of a problem. I guess that my thick Maine skin and the combination of bats flying in the shelter kept them at bay. I woke at a reasonable hour and got on the trail at 7:00. There was a pretty good climb at the start of the day but nothing that terrible. It was the monotonous drone of thruway traffic that almost drove me nuts. It seemed to go on forever. Then just when you thought it was over it came back again from another road or interstate. It really affected me today for some reason. Eventually the roads became more sparse, but for a while it was pretty bad. I guess when all you're use to is birds and squirrels hopping about it can be a little overwelhming at times. Anyway, todays hiking was actually really nice. I started to pick up my old pace and was pleasantly surprised at how fast I was moving. It was real hot again so that slowed me down a bit. The humidity has been just awful lately. The good thing was that water was available if you stayed on top of things and got it when you could. There were some nice vistas today but visibility was very poor so I couldn't see all that far, but the hiking would have been perfect if only it was cooler. New York has really surprised me lately with it's terrain. I read something that Golden Boy, who I have not met yet, wrote that shed a different perspective on hiking in NY. He said that NY was like his ex wife. She treated him like crap until he wanted to leave and then at the last moment she was really nice and almost got him to stay. An odd way of looking at it, but I guess it gets the point across.   Later on in the day I was able to treat myself to a sandwich and snacks that weren't too far off the trail. The service stunk, but the food was great and the soda was satisfying. As I walked in the woods a little later, I contemplated how lucky I really was. Despite the harsh physical and mental abuse from hiking day to day, I really have it good. I am living my dream. While it isn't all that fun sometimes, the good times far out number the bad. I could be that girl, or guy in my case, working that counter and just being miserable and taking it out on anyone who walks in the door. Or I could be living a dream no matter how odd it may seem to people. I only had a short 6 mile hike to the shelter after the deli stop and was treated with ice cold water, cookies, and apples that some angel, named Mac and Cheese, left right before the shelter. Water never tasted so good in my life. Apparently the water pump near the shelter was unreliable becasue of sometimes testing positive for coliform bacteria. It was perfectly suitable for a makeshift shower though. Tonight I camp alone. Everybody that I was with last night didn't make it this far and neither did Laredo who I met today. I decided to stop at this shelter tonight so I fell short of the NY/Conn. border by 1.2 miles. So tommorrow I will head into the ninth state on my trek and will head into Kent for a maildrop from Jenn. Well it's getting rather late and when I mean late for me I mean 9:30. I've heard that 9:00 is referred to as hiker midnight and I'm starting to believe it