Date: 2018-06-23
From: Hemlock Springs Campsite

To: RalphÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Peak HikersÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ (RHP) Cabin 
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: light rain

I mentioned on the Father¢s Day Post that my Dad taught me the concept of deferred gratification. Today I had an opportunity to put the principle into practice. It rained on and off last night, but a break came at dawn, so I made a dash to get my stuff packed up and head to the Appalachian Market. It was about 3.5 miles to the intersection of US Route 9 and NY Route 403. It was here that the AT crossed the two roads. The Shell Service Station (Appalachian Market) is located at the same intersection. The market is open 24/7 and has a deli and grill that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. I deferred the dinner last night to have the gratification of breakfast this morning. This is not exactly what my Dad was trying to impart, but I¢m counting it as having applied the principle. Another opportunity would come later in the day. When I reached the Appalachian Market at 0715 the parking lot at the market was full. When I walked through the door, I was surprised to see a bunch of guys ordering up breakfast from the grill before they headed off to work. I took it as a good sign. I sat down with a couple of gentlemen from Puerto Rico. They had lots of questions about the trail. Two hours after arriving, I walked out with a full stomach, a mostly charged phone, and two days of food, to include a deli sandwich for lunch.The terrain and elevation profile were easy to moderate most of the day. Still I was sluggish most of the morning. 99 percent of the hike was under canopy. The path was often cut into hillsides just below ledges and rocky ridges. This was a nice reprieve from going up and over every ledge. However, there was still some of these apparent PUDs (pointless ups and downs) today. The forest contained an abundance of tall White and Red Oaks, Maple, Hickory and Birch Trees. Lush ferns, green tufts of grass, blueberry bushes, and mountain laurel lined the path. There were also miles of old stone walls again today. I speculate that early settlers cleared the land of rocks to make room for their crops. The trail also passed several blowdowns today. Each was about an eighth of a mile swath of fallen and sometimes snapped trees. The blowdowns resulted from a storm in mid-May that brought a lot of rain and wind. It had to take a lot to bring down these sturdy massive trees. The roots of the toppled behemoths were filled with tons of dirt and very large rocks. The NY/NJ Trail Conservancy has done a great job of responding to the natural disaster by cutting a path through the blowdowns. I hit the first blowdown at the base of Denning Hill. At the top was a grassy ledge with view to the east. I paused here for a snack. Lunch would come about 5 miles later. As I sat against a boulder enjoying my ham and salami on wheat, Pulitzer walked up and we chatted for several minutes. Epic was a few minutes behind her. They were both planning to stop at the Clarence Fahnestock SP about 8 miles up the trail. At the state park was a beach, snack bar, water spigot and a shower located just a quarter mile off the AT. I told them it would be a last minute decision based primarily on the time and weather. I finished up my lunch at 1:15PM and shot down a 5-hour energy in an effort to shake the cobwebs. It worked! I was finally able to kick into a higher gear, perhaps partially motivated by the thought of a burger at the beachside cafe. About five minutes in I passed by Epic and Pulitzer, who were taking a break of their own. About midway into the 8-mile stretch I came across a mother-daughter pair of thru hikers from Denmark. The Mom, Dirty Girl, was catching her breath at the top of a short PUD. I introduced myself and moved on. A burger and shower were waiting. It was around 4:15PM when I approached the side trail to the beach. A quick weather check indicated that rain was not moving in anytime soon. Earlier forecasts had called for late afternoon storms. I also surveyed camping options on Guthook. The three options were a campground next to the beach, the Shenandoah Campsite (4 miles north), or the Ralph¢s Peak Hikers¢ Cabin (RPH) located 5.2 miles north. I was also 22 miles from the road that would get me into a town Sunday night. More rain was forecast for Sunday afternoon and I was past due for a real shower. My feet were already hurting and I knew it would be difficult to get moving again if I stopped. I decided in an instant to keep moving and shoot for the RPH Shelter. I would defer the instant gratification of the burger for a shot at getting to bed earlier tonight and to town at a decent hour tomorrow. But, the gratification would come sooner than expected. Not even two minutes after I passed the side trail leading to the beach (and a water spigot), I sucked the last drink out of my 1.5 liter Platypus hydration bladder. I only had about two swigs of Gatorade left from my stop at the market. I checked water sources between here and the shelter. There were several options. While looking for Guthook comments on water at the RPH, something else caught my eye. The shelter (actually a cabin converted to a shelter) was located next to a gravel road with easy access from a nearby town. Wait for it...other hikers left comments about pizza and Chinese food being delivered to the cabin. Well, isn¢t that just dandy! Now I was praying for easy terrain for two reasons. First, I wanted the two swigs of Gatorade to get me to the RPH. Next, my dogs were already barking and I was really hoping to minimize any further pain to my flaming big toes and arches. I knew the real pain would not come until after I laid down for the night, but let¢s at least minimizing the yelping over this next 5 miles. The climb up Shenandoah Mountain started out a bit rocky, but then the ground turned gentle. I decided to turn two swigs into three sips, using one at the top of the climb. At the summit I got a view of the surrounding area and the clouds looked full of rain. It would end up holding off. However, the forest was both dark and tranquil from the thick clouds. A deer stopped to pose for me. Sorry, no time for pics, gotta keep these tired feet moving, The rest of the hike was mostly downhill, making it hard on my left knee that had been aching for about a week now. However, the ground was mostly soft, keeping the puppies at bay. One more small climb, second sip of Gatorade. Then I passed by the Shenandoah campsite, just 1.2 miles to go. Final sip...across a stream, I¢ll wait. When I arrived at the RPH there was quite a bit of activity. A work crew was finishing up some clean up from a blowdown that occurred at the shelter. There was also a Boy scout Troop camped here. Among the hikers already at the RHP were Lucky Boy, Quesadilla & Overdrive. Steamboat would arrive later. New decision point, pizza or Chinese? I¢m in the mood for Chinese about three times a year. This would be one of those times. I called the restaurant and ordered a General Taos, Egg Roll and a coke. $15 minimum. Give me two more egg rolls. It arrived in less than 45 minutes, before I had even finished my post hike ritual. I gave Lucky Boy the two extra spring rolls and inhaled the rest. We all sat around the picnic table and talked hiker trash. Good food, good company, good laughs and good times on the AT. Deferred gratification, a good thing. I followed the meal with an 800mg Vitamin I, in hopes of deferring some foot pain too. Good night!Peace & Blessings - NSElevation Data:Ascent - 4,350Descent - 4,440Grade - 7.2Weather:Day - 65 / Showers/StormsNight - 63 / RainOver The Horizon: Salisbury, CT (Rendezvous With Which Way)