Date: 2004-07-30
From: High Point Mt.

To: Vernon NJ
Miles today: 19.6

Phew, what a tough day. I was dripping with sweat from the first hour. Eventually I developed rashes from the salt and wetness. If only there were some streams that I could have sponge bathed or jumped into. But most were very mirky or muddy. When I left camp, Rainbow and Amanda were a few minutes ahead. But they took the wrong trail immediately. I called them back but walked on. The three of us stopped at the High Point Shelter to find water. Fancy Free, T-Bot, and Sweet Leaf where packing up to go. A group of reluctant teenage girls were there with two counselors. The leaders were from Israel. It seems that American college kids don't like to work at camps because the pay is not high. The girls were complaining about having to pack their own gear and some of the shared equipment. They were getting ready to make breakfast. I was impressed that the leaders were having the campers prepare their own meals. Several boy scout groups that we encountered had the leaders preparing all of the meals. Some had the leaders boiling water and then the scouts used the hot water to do the rest. But these girls had to light their stoves and cook the entire meal. They were having pancakes this morning. A girl in a red top seemed to be the most reluctant. She told me the leaders made them hike a wapping 7 miles yesterday. There was a trail of tissue paper for 7 miles along the trail before High Point that I suspect came from this group. The Red Shirted girl has a cold. I asked them if they were enjoying their hike. Of course the girl in red said no. And most of the others agreed with her. But one very polite young lady said she likes hiking. She addressed me as "Sir". She was interested in my hike and seemed out of place with these whining girls. I joked around with her a bit, gathered water, then headed out. Rainbow left about 1/2 hour before me. She needed a head start because she was going into Unionville for a maildrop. I had no need to hike .4 miles off the trail so planned to meet her on the AT at the trail head. Soon Amanda passed me running down the trail. She was getting a maildrop in Vernon, about 20 miles ahead and needed to hit the post office before 4 PM when it closes or wait until Saturday, tomorrow. Pokey, Impulse and Katie are behind me. So, I'm hiking alone. Walking at first was down hill off of High Point. It was rocky in places but not too difficult. We crossed several roads, one was to water and the secret shelter. The next was to Unionville. I waited at the road to Unionville for awhile. Yoda and Mad Scientist was there with their dog Lucy. A young couple thru hiking came back to the trail from Unionville and informed me that no one else was in town when they left the post office. So I got ready to leave when Pokey and Impulse arrived. I tried to pick up the pace so I could catch up with Rainbow, Katie and Amanda. The trail went up over a small mountain then back down. After a road walk of 1/2 mile the trail runs through the Wallkill River Wild Life Preserve, an old sod farm. The trail is flat and straight with well manicured grass underfoot. Beautiful wild flowers have taken over the farm land. I picked up the pace even more hoping to catch up with my friends. After 45 minutes I came to the end of the preserve and was drowning in my own sweat. There was a nice bench beside the trail where I stopped to eat some tunafish and crackers. Off came my hiking shoes and socks. I took off my shirt and shook the sweat out as much as possible then sat down to enjoy my meal. Off in the distance I saw an orange shirt approching. I thought it must be Rainbow behind me. But when the hiker got closer I realized it was a man without his shirt and a good tan. Pokey and Impulse caught up with me. I packed up, got dressed and headed on to the water source, a faucet in a neighbors backyard. Then we headed up Pochuck Mountain. Checking into the shelter, I found no messages from the missing friends. I wrote in the book,"Where is Rainbow, Katie and Amanda? I've been ditched by my friends." Then scrambled on with Pokey to catch up with them. There was a raised wooden foot path across an amazing swamp. A suspension bridge brought us across the river and then more raised wooden path. Finaly we came to some stiles and crossed a cow field complete with grazing cows. Another stile gave us access to NJ 94 and a 2.4 mile walk into Vernon. Car headlights were already on when a Volvo wagon stopped and a lady got out to offer us a ride into town. Oviously we accepted her invitation.We found T-Bot, Fancy Free and Sweet Leaf at the local Pizza joint. They told us that Katie and Amanda went in to check out the secret shelter and Rainbow told T-Bot she may stay at the Pochuck Shelter tonight because it was too hot to hike 20 miles. That explains how I missed my friends. I guess I will take a zero tomorrow to stay out of the expected heat and allow them to catch up.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman