Date: 2014-08-29
From: Bear Mountain/Fort Montgomery, NY

To: Blairstown, NJ
Miles today: 92.3
Weather: few clouds

In the morning a family that had been camping close by came over to eat breakfast by the shelter so they could enjoy the view as well. I was so impressed by the father taking out his young children (5 and 3 years of age) out hiking and camping. The kids asked tons of questions about thru-hiking. I think the son was in the "why?" stage of his life because every question I answered only spawned another. The kids also had great fun playing with my gear as I packed up. My poles became swords! It made me smile. I miss being around children. They have such an innocence and positivity about them that really refuels me.From there I headed out in search of water. I had filled up at Bear Mountain but was now running low and the temperatures were soaring. None was to be found though. This was the first day of a very dry stretch along the trail. I had heard about water sources running dry in summer in NY, NJ, and PA from other hikers but had been so spoiled with plentiful water sources so far so found myself unprepared. I normally go through three to four liters a day, six to seven on really hot days. That means I "camel up" once or twice a day, typically in the morning and evening since my reservoir is a bit of a pain to get to once I'm all packed up. I found myself checking every water source listed in the guide book, even the ones marked as unreliable which I normally skip. One such place was at the next shelter. The spring-fed well was dry of course, but I did get to meet two fun cousins from NJ who were out scouting places to take their kids camping. I spent an exorbitant amount of time chatting with them about being a thru-hiker. They were lots of fun though and had me smiling and laughing the whole time. The heat and humidity were completely draining my energy levels. Combine that with the scarcity of water and you get a tired Moxie! The next few days I felt myself struggling to put one foot in front of the other. All I could think about was where the next water source was. I passed creeks that were simply rock beds, dry waterfalls, streams so low the water was only stagnant puddles, wells full of spider webs. Even the woods felt the effects of the weather and lack of water. No cloud cover. No breeze. Just baking in the August summer heat all day long. The air so thick with humidity that it clung to your skin. All but the most hardy of plants hung limply, slowly entering a vegetative state. Thankfully there are some kind and thoughtful trail angels in the southern part of NY who left large amounts of bottled water along the trail. To all of them: THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! Without those caches of water hikers would really be in trouble on this section. Every time I passed one I would fill up and not care about how much extra weight I was carrying. Not having water is really humbling and helps you focus on what is truly important in life. We are so spoiled by being able to just walk over and turn on a tap with potable water running freely out of it back home. This experience has definitely changed my feelings on water waste, contamination, and conservation.During this section I was largely by myself most of the time, both while hiking and at camp. No southbounders passed me, and I didn't catch up to any. The northbound bubble had largely gone by. No sane people were out day hiking in this kind of heat. If I saw more than two people a day on the trail I was flabbergasted. One person I did encounter was a trail volunteer. Having passed trail maintenance crews in the past I saw first hand the back breaking labor that goes into building, rerouting, and repairing the trail. However I had not considered other types of trail maintenance. This volunteer was out surveying non-native, invasive species of plants so they could be marked for removal. Talking with him blew me away with the amount of detail that goes into trail projects, which are largely done by an army of volunteers. Kudos to everyone who has pitched in their time, efforts, and energy to such a worthy cause.      One bright point for me was crossing the border from NY to NJ. It is always a boost for a thru-hiker to cross another state off the list. I also really enjoyed the Wallkill Preserve. Walking around it in the blistering heat with little to no shade was not much fun, but it was quite beautiful and a welcome change of pace from the woods I was used to hiking in all day. I also passed through the Murray property, a place so lovely I almost stopped for the rest of the day. The Murray property is open to long-distance hikers to stay at for free. There is a cabin, plenty of room for tenting, an outdoor shower, and a well with lots and lots of water. All on acres of rolling, grassy hills edged with wildflowers. Part of me really wanted to stay right there and for almost an hour I debated doing just that. In the end though the desire to finish off another state won out and I moved on. I have had a hankering to sleep in a fire tower for hundreds of miles. I saw in my guidebook an indication for the Culver fire tower and decided to try to do so there since there was no chance of rain (though rain is what I prayed for daily) overnight. When I arrived I discovered that unlike all the other fire towers I had passed on the trail so far this one was still in active use and therefore locked. There will be other fire towers I'm sure, but in the end I just tented at the base of it. The sunset that night was just phenomenal. I stared out west as the sky turned all the colors of the rainbow in brilliant hues. There is such peace in watching the sun go down at the end of the day, gently ending another chapter in the book of life. On my last full day in NJ the trail gave me a huge present. Early in the morning I passed through Stokes State Park near Culvers Gap. I'm not the quietest hiker and my clacking poles just make it worst. As I trundled along noisily I heard the snap of branches to my left. Looking over a saw a bear no more than100 feet from me! She began running uphill away from me. So fast and graceful for such a large animal! When she got to a distance that she felt comfortable with she stopped and turned her head to look at me. I froze, every bit of me tingling with excitement. I resisted the urge to try to fish out my camera knowing that doing so would only scare her off. Instead I talked to her gently, introducing myself and explaining that I was no threat to her but rather in awe of her. She held my gaze for a full couple of minutes before slowly moving off and cresting the hill. If she had not moved I would have walked right past her without noticing. It was a powerful moment and one I am grateful for.   Later that day I ran into Grandpa George who was also going south. Having had no company for so many days in a row I excitedly hiked with him for several hours and then we camped together that night. I guess my enthusiasm at having another person around was overly abundant. He kind of made a comment to that effect anyway, but I didn't care. It was really nice to have company and gave my spirits a boost. I love the trail and being out on it alone doesn't bother me. Every once in a while though talking to someone other than yourself is therapeutic. Swapping trail stories at camp is one of my favorite pastimes, and he had recently seen hikers that I hadn't seen for hundreds of miles so I kept plying him with questions. Going to sleep that night was hard despite the 19.6 mile day!