Date: 2016-06-11
From: Ten Mile River Shelter, NY

To: Kent, Ct.
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 518.5 miles in 5.5 hoursTen Mile River Shelter/Campsite (1458.4) to Kent, Conn. (1467.1)Weather: high 70s-80s, sunnyDinner: Broccoli-nut salad, blueberries and a Nut Brown Ale tallboy from the IGAHikers: Lots and lots; including skirt hikers Recon and Weird HorseWildlife: Three garter snakesI slept great last night. Wish that would have translated into a great day, but alas. I had a few ¢issues.¢ I ¢only¢ had 8.5 miles to hike today, eight of which¢for lack of a better term¢sucked. I slept in until 7 this morning. I took my time, made coffee, made a complicated egg thing. I was liking the sunlight and the river and the lack of bugs and was busy writing when a former thru-hiker and trail rat came calling. The next hour was spent trying to pack up while an evangelizing, pot-smoking apocalyptic tried to convince me that Barack (HUSSEIN) Obama and (Argentinian COMMUNIST) Pope Francis were biblically foreshadowed. Wait. I¢m the one that should worry about false prophets? It was pretty obvious that we shared very different world views. And, however you feel about smoking weed, 9 a.m. strikes me as being more than a wee bit early for that kind of activity. I headed out as he tucked into his second bowl. One thing I did follow, thanks to my pot-smoking prophet, was a blue blaze to the Bulls Bridge covered bridge. The AT veers away and misses it completely. I was heading to the nearby country store for a second breakfast when who should find me but the slack packer mom who gave me a lift to the Fahnestock State Park two days earlier. Her week spent with her daughter was over and she was taking the scenic way back home. So that was a good thing that happened today. She offered me another ride, but no. Silly me, I ¢only¢ had less than eight more miles to do. At this point, I should mention that the first mile following the river was very nice. And probably the next .3. Then we headed up. And down. And over rocks. And over more rocks. And then really up before heading down. Over rocks. I honestly think someone just painted arbitrary white blazes on random trees over boulder fields. In at least two places south of Kent, those EKG¢s of hills even surpassed Pennsylvania¢s lowest low. IMO. I used this time to be both annoyed with the trail and annoyed at how I can't seem to be more forceful about keeping monopolizing people from intruding upon my own sacred time and place. On the other hand my foot has been better and I haven't medicated the past three days. I also was passed by two NOBO women wearing skirts like me and we took selfies. So more good stuff.Then I arrived in Kent. I made a trip into town because a) there was ice cream and b) I had sent a food resupply box and had Ft. Montgomery forward my bounce box containing my other shoes, sunscreen, new socks, clean clothes¢basically stuff I was really looking forward to finally needing after weeks of bouncing it. The food was here. The bounce box was not. Tracking shows it went to Jersey City, NJ, White Plaines, NY, back to Jersey City, Springfield, MA, again back to Jersey City, and is currently again in Springfield. The nice local post office person doesn't know why. Grrrrrr. After calling the B&B for a pick-up, I downed a milkshake, followed by a lavender (sensible single scoop) cone that should have been good. Yet, I barely tasted either during my overall postal angst. Let's see what tomorrow brings.