Date: 2008-05-27
From: Wawayanda Shelter NJ

To: Campsite Fitzgerald Falls NY
Miles today: 13.8

Day 100 ¢ Tuesday May 27 ¢ Campsite Fitzgerald Falls NY ¢ Miles Today: 13.8 Total Miles: 1363.8We had a great day. We planned on only doing 12 miles but ended up doing about 14. When we woke up this morning at 5:00 it was sprinkling, so thinking we had a short day, we laid in the tent for an additional 45 minutes before getting up. We hit the trail about 6:15. It was already very hot and humid. Today the fall tally went up for both of us because, as the morning sprinkles made for some extremely slippery boulders. Brakeman went down once and Grasshopper twice, so I think the score is now 12 ¢ 3. However, we did not feel too bad about our falls when we learned that Trapper, a section hiker from Raleigh, fell 3 times today! We met a lot of casual hikers out today and scored some Trail Magic. Well to be truthful, it was really a yogi. We asked 2 casual hikers if they had any bug juice and they said "Huh?" We then explained that bug juice is bug repellant. The one guy was carrying 100% DEET, the other guy a bottle of OFF, 25% DEET. They decided to offer up their bottle of OFF!   We are quite pleased, especially Brakeman, AKA Bug Light. Our Yogi Angels told us about Bellvale Farms Creamery that was just off the trail. It looked like we would be in that general area about 12:30. Since it was a boiling hot day, we decided that the creamery was exactly where we needed to go. And boy did we enjoy it. It was worth every bit of the .2 miles extra that we hiked. We got a container of Oreo Mint and enjoyed every spoonful of it, although the mint flavor could have been stronger. The sign in the freezer window stated that the container sizes were quarts, but we¢re thinking that it might have been closer to a half-gallon size. We paid dearly for our delightfully cool treat - $8.00, which I think is more expensive than Hank's, but it was a nice break and we got to sit in an air-conditioned building! As we enjoyed our cool snack, we watched ominous clouds forming over us and realized that we would probably be wet before we got to camp. Before heading out, we filled our three water containers at the outdoor spigot and Grasshopper rinsed out her shirt in the restroom, which was unfortunately lacking soap in the dispenser. We hit the trail again about 1:00, after spending a few minutes talking to 4 young casual hikers who just arrived for their treats. The one guy found our hike quite interesting and pumped us for a lot of information. We enjoyed talking to him; a very nice guy.We were climbing the last of the exposed boulders before Wildcat Shelter, when the thunder and lightning arrived, perhaps a mile or so in the distance. Then a light rain arrived. We ducked into shelter just before 2:00 to let the storm pass and eat our warm meal of the day. Trapper, who opted out of the creamery treat, was already there. As the three of us sat in the shelter and talked, a couple lightning bolts hit right near by and made us all jump. Dang, the storm was right over us! Glad we were off the exposed rocks in time!More hikers continued to arrive, including thru-hikers (Don Juan, who had the same pack as Grasshopper and hiked w/out a shirt in the rain, and Boots) and the casual hikers that we met at the creamery. The one casual hiker was grinning ear to ear with adrenaline filled excitement of having just hiked in a huge storm. We watch in amusement as he first took off his boots and poured out the rainwater, and then extracted his wet leather wallet from his pants pocket. He was on cloud nine!   Ah, the true joys of new hiking experiences, before they become second hand events. Of course, what the thru-hikers really liked about this newbie was when he opened the top of his pack and offered left over pizza slices to us! Don Juan and Brakeman took advantage of the offerings!It took 2 hours for all the storms to roll through. After the storms passed, the skies cleared and we decided to head on. We were hoping to head on for 4 additional miles to Mombasha High Point, where we were supposed to able to see the New York City skyline, however we were not positive that we could find a camping spot there. Two miles down the trail, at Fitzgerald Falls, as the skies grayed up and the sprinkles arrived, we decided to pitch the tent for the night for numerous reasons - we figured that we had done 2 more miles than planned which would position us better for tomorrow; we weren¢t quite sure what the camping situation will be up on Mombasha High Point; and we really did not care to hike in the rain this afternoon. We attempted to quickly set up the tent before the rain started. We failed. We tried to set up the rain fly first, but we forgot the order in which we were to do things. We were supposed to do the middle pole first, but instead we did the end poles first. How¢d it work? Not so good. We eventually got it set up and threw the packs in. Of course, they were wet which made the inside of the tent wet. Since we were wet, we went ahead and hung the food bag rope before crawling in the tent for our burrito dinner.We waited for the rain to lighten up before heading back outdoors to hang the food bag and filter water near the falls. We're not quite sure if we like the looks of our filtered water. It has a bit of yellow color to it but our guidebook notes the falls as a valid water source, so I guess it¢s OK. Just tannins. We're hoping that we'll find a different water source tomorrow that looks normal and then we can toss this yellow stuff. As mentioned the other day, Brakeman could have a new trail name if so desired ¢ Bug Light, because he attracts all the bugs. Grasshopper can now also have a new trail name if desired ¢ Eddie. Why?   Well, because of the way Brakeman cut her hair, she has this pointy clump of hair coming down the middle of her forehead just like Eddie on The Munster¢s show. So very funny!We're not sure if we are camped legally tonight. I don't think we're supposed to be camping near the falls, but about 100 yards from the falls we found an irresistible camping area in a patch of pine trees.   It's about 6:30 and we're going to call it a night. It's hot and humid and the rain seems to have stopped for now. We've got a big day planned for tomorrow in the boulders that go through the Lemon Squeeze, so it could be a long day too. Good night.