Date: 2010-06-30
From: Vista after West Mtn. Shelter

To: Dried up spring!
Miles today: 26.1

Cold night finally! Wore my thermals. Wind whipped all night and then let up right before sunrise. Felt so good leaving camp early with the sunrise! Shining bright red lights through the leaves on the steep downhill trail. I could feel the sting of the cold mountain air burning my nostrils! Wow, that¢s the first time I¢ve felt that since North Carolina!We could see Bear Mtn. tower from our campsite so I thought I was in for a hard climb today. It looked difficult from 3 miles away. Actually most of is was on the paved highway spiraling up the side of Bear Mtn. I could see the Hudson River so clearly! Saw my first velvet covered deer antlers! Two 6 point bucks were startled by me coming around the corner. Saw a Doe and fawn on the way up also.Rest Stop told me that I could have seen New York City had I looked out of the tower at a certain angle. Thought I didn¢t have cash or change for the vending machines again! Found a $5 bill and $1.75 in change later. A day full of regrets! Nah, I just wanted water but the bathrooms there were closed for renovations. The trail is also under construction leading off Bear Mtn. Fantastic craftsmanship so much so that I surmise that one could have taken a wheel chair down that mountain. Well, maybe not a complete paraplegic, more like a broken leg in a cast kind of wheel chair.Saw another 2 Does and got so close to one that I could count her respiration. Had to do the doo so I hid off the trail where I thought I¢d be invisible but sure enough, Orbit comes tromping along down right when I¢m in the middle of handling business. How embarrassing!Hessian lake was okay, lots of trash everywhere and the squirrels and buzzards were dumpster diving. The water from the bathroom tasted like 6 month old aquarium water! I changed back into my wet shorts for the first time in 3 days! I¢d been rocking Superhero tights! No chaffage today! No humidity on this gorgeous day! Finally!!Walked by the Zoo. Two kids were jumping over the fence. They¢d spent the night in the Zoo! Crazy! I saw a white blaze leading through a locked gate, so I hoped the fence. Wasn¢t entirely sure that I should have done that. I¢m guessing (at the time) that I¢m not suppose to be here. Oh well, saw my first coyote, bobcat, and porcupine on the trail!When I left the Zoo I didn¢t see the sign saying not to go straight through the turn-styles at the toll bridge. The operator yelled at me! I said, ¢Come on man, I¢m not sue to these signs and your rules, I hiked here from Georgia!¢Long bridge walk across the Hudson River! Pretty scenery! Looked at the scaffolding in the hopes of seeing a Peregrine falcon, but none were to be found.Sucking oxygen climbing uphill after the Hudson river bridge and I caught Rest Stop. I¢d been passed by him because I goofed off at the Zoo. He laughed that I¢d broken in and still didn¢t see a Bald Eagle!Met a bunch of lazy 9am starting thru-hikers today. War Cry, Abolitionist (who¢s peeing out his butt with a stomach bug), Veggie, and Listener. We beat them all to the convenience store. One days worth of food needed. I¢ve fallen in love with Stove Top Stuffing! Made a phone call and got a note from Brooklyn that said, ¢Say it ain¢t so!¢ because he got my register note when I thought I was leaving the trail in Unionville, NY. Nice that someone cares!Up and down and up and down over rocks and slides until our second break for the day. Talked about Rest Stop and Orbit¢s favorite movies and books. Rest Stop likes Fight Club. Orbit just read Ishmael. Told them about Lish¢s favorite movie, ¢Life is Beautiful¢. I knew I¢d be able to love her when I watched that movie! Unbelievably sad yet gut wrenching hopeful and optimistic! Wow, far cry from the other girls I¢ve dated.Orbit likes Raptilla,¢¦oh, um¢¦she meant, Godzilla! Time passed so quickly while talking about philosophy and how different books affected our lives. I sat in the dirt watching the shadows dancing on the ground from the cool breeze and was so glad to be having a good, pleasant day for once in a long while! The bad makes the good even better!Posed the question to Rest Stop if he thought we were the hammer or the anvil out here. We¢re pretty sure that we¢re the anvil. Sometimes, I think I like it when my life is spinning out of control because it feels like something or someone wraps their hands around me and holds me up.Following Orbit, we left Rest Stop in the dust. I think it¢s the Nathan¢s hot dogs, but I don¢t mention it to Orbit. Rest Stop complains when she leads because she walks so fast. She¢s a runner in real life. He caught up with us at Dennytown Rd, no wait, at the creek afterward. I was enjoying my favorite past time out here when he came up. I thoroughly enjoy killing mosquitoes! I was provoking them by hitting the log I was sitting on and they¢d hover off of it. When they landed on my leg I¢d smack and kill them! Ahhhhhh, so pleasant ridding the world of one more pest!Nice little lake side camping available tonight. Looking for a vista overlooking the lake but they sucked so we¢re in a valley close to the trail tonight.Saw 4 dried up streams today! I had to get water from a scummy pond/lake.We talked about ocean sunrises, plans for Chinese dinner tomorrow, our favorite real life meals, my plan to hike up a whole red velvet cake to Katahdin¢s summit, manual labor, and how I missed coming home physically exhausted at my last job, pecans vs. pecahns, and Bull riding.