Date: 2016-05-16
From: NJ 23 - High Point State Park Headquarters

To: Wawayanda Sheler
Miles today: 23.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Really enjoyed today. There were many components to today's hike and once it was over today's hike seemed very satisfying. The morning was easy trail. I met Candle Maker after hiking solo a couple hours. Candle Maker received awesome trail magic yesterday as he was invited to spend the night in the home of a couple who he met at yesterday's shelter. The couple fed him, gave him a warm place to sleep on yesterday's freezing night, gave him a 1.5 hour canoe ride, and then returned him to the trail this morning. We moved through flat trail quickly. We stopped to let me gather myself after I fell. I stubbed my toe on a downhill and went flying. Nothing hurt. This was my first fall witnessed by someone and it must've made him concerned as he quickly came to offer me help. I fell on smooth trail and told him I've had at least a few falls worse than this. So we hiked on and came to trail magic in the form of a plastic container that was filled with water and an apple for both of us. Thanks to our anonymous trail angel! The walk around the Wallikill swamp was enjoyable. Candle Maker has good eyes and spotted a beaver, a beautiful bird, and a small snake. We hiked separately as we began to climb Pochunk Mountain. This mountain didn't look like much of a climb in AWOL's guide but I found it to be more tiring than expected. After this mountain came several ups and downs that also hadn't been anticipated based on the guide. Along the trail were various boardwalks over swampy areas. The Pochunk Creek boardwalk was a unique walk for almost a mile. Many people were out to enjoy this walk. A place one man called Turtle Bridge was particularly interesting and I easily counted twenty turtles basking in the day's sunlight. This walk's finish was through a pasture with a good number of cows. A couple young women were ahead of me and they went right up to the cows and were snapping selfies. Given their experience this walk through the cows was easy for me too. Today's main event came next. A substantial climb up boulders and rock steps. Climbs near the end of the day when I'm already tired are never easy and that was the case today. It was steep and took me an hour to finish it but it was very satisfying after it was done. Today's hike ended with more easy trail, trail that was now displayed in filtered sunlight and with a cooling temperature. It made for a nice finish to a long day of hiking. I was stunned by the number of hikers at the Wawayanda Shelter. Nobody had passed me so seeing at least a dozen hikers here was a shock. The only thru-hikers here were Candle Maker, me, and Bookworm, who I haven't seen for a couple weeks. The new hikers were easy to speak with. Standouts were John Henry, who played his guitar. He's from Utah and is resuming his AT section hike after suffering a heart attack off-trail a few years ago. Rose, a young daughter who began hiking with her Dad today, is from Canada. She just quit her airplane stewardess job to hike for a couple weeks. Then came POZ. It brought smiles to both of our faces when we realized that we live twenty minutes apart (he lives in East Granby). Great day today. Candle Maker is easy to talk with and we enjoyed reminiscing about Fresh Ground several times today. Tonight's shelter has a couple of the loudest snorers I've come across so far. It could be a fairly sleepless night but I have so many good moments of today's hike to think about that I'm hopeful that my sleep come easily.