Date: 2019-07-05
From: High Point Shelter

To: Pochunk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

Holy crap, the stars last night! I left my rainfly folded back so that I could see out of my tent, and got a beautiful show every time I woke up. It was so beautiful! Likely, I'll try to do the same tonight.The trail today was mostly nice and flat. After an hour and a bit of walking, I came across a small pond surrounded by tall grasslands. 'The perfect chance to try out my new binoculars! (Thanks mom and dad!)The pond was teeming with life! Mostly, red winged black birds. They seemed mostly disinterested in me, which was perfect. I got the opportunity to really be a fly on the wall (or blade of grass?). I also got to watch two cardinals in the midst of mating dance; the female generally avoiding eye contact, the male doing his best to look as fluffy and colorful as possible.After a short break at the pond I headed on to "secret shelter", a privately owned cabin with outlets, a well, an outdoor shower, and a donkey! The donkey was friendly initially, but quickly turned to pushy when he realized that I had food. I had to go into the cabin and close the door just to eat in peace! After a couple of selfies, of course...After I said goodbye to the donkey, it was time to push the last seven miles to the shelter. At about mile 5, the trail walked through the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge. It was the most wildlife I have seen on the trail! Without even stopping and really searching, I found geese, ducks, a swan (with babies!!), a heron, six (six!) egrets, huge fish leaping into the air to catch bugs, and a beaver. There is so much more there to see, I'm sure. Without a doubt, I'll be returning some day to sit and watch the sun set on all of the creatures. For today, though, I had a huge long climb, and I was flirting with heat exhaustion. And here is where I made a giant mistake.Right at the bottom of a steep .4 mile climb, there was a water source slightly off the trail. I pushed right on past, knowing that I had enough water to get to the shelter. Except that was the closest water source to the shelter. The shelter has NO WATER which I would have known if I had bothered to read my guidebook. When I finally made it to the shelter, I was so exhausted from the climb and the heat that I could barely set my tent up. I laid out the tent, took a break, staked the tent, took a break, set up the poles, took a break, and I was spent. I was out of water and having trouble thinking through a simple task. I was very worried about heat stroke. So I called dad. As I lay in the tent, explaining my situation, he was able to listen to me talk and confirm that I was successfully making full sentences (a very good sign for not having heat stroke). He also gave me a bit of a pep talk and got me moving enough to go back down and get some water. When I got to the spigot, I was so relieved. I filled my bags and my stomach and splashed my face and arms with the cool water. The hike back up to the shelter was painful, but doable after getting my body temperature back down to a comfortable level.Now, I'm fed, cooled, watered, and exhausted. Man, does the sun take it out of me.Tomorrow is another 11 miles to the next shelter. Thunder storms in the forecast. Hopefully they hold off.