Date: 2016-07-02
From: High Point Shelter

To: Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: clear sky

I love the AT in New Jersey! I woke up to the beautiful sunlight (and to some less than considerate people blowing cigarette smoke in my direction), but the weather was absolutely perfect. The rain really cooled everything off and gave it all new life. Verge and I had our oatmeal and headed out. Just a few miles in, we made it to the "Secret Shelter" or the "Jim Murray Shelter," which is a non-official shelter where this guy (Jim Murray) has a cabin and well water that he lets AT hikers use. It was so beautiful and relaxing that we snacked and laid in the grass in the sunshine for over an hour. We never saw the famous donkeys that are known for freely wandering around the property, but we saw a whole little family of turkeys! So cute!We grudgingly continued on (we could have stayed for hours!) and leapfrogged a bit with a couple hikers named Blanco and Kactus as well as a couple of guys leading an older Boy Scout troop. The terrain treated us so well; there were rolling hills and miles of fields, and the breeze had my spirits soaring.We did some unexpected road walking and ran into El Tejano's wife Yvonne doing trail magic! It was a delicious little treat (and we ran into El Tejano himself as well), but soon after, my stomach started bothering me again and it was very slow going for the next couple miles, though it was gorgeous scenery near a wildlife park. New Jersey saved me again with easy board-walking (sections of boards laid over mud to make it easier to walk) and more trail magic! I was feeling my worst when we came upon a cooler full of carrots, cherries, and cookies! I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect! Thank you Trail Angels! We walked a little further and were worried about where we'd get our next water when we saw that someone had left a huge gallon jug of water for people to fill up with. My goodness! So much luck (and great helpful people!) Sadly, because of my day off with Kate, we are just about half a day behind our friends Jingle, Sweets, Wheels, Great P, and Mountain Goat. Sweets was texting me asking where we'd be that night, and when I told her we were aiming for Vernon, she sent me the name and number of a trail angel she had just met in a grocery store who she thought would love to help us out with a ride to the church hostel in town. Awesome!We contacted Trail Angel Dori and she told us it'd be no problem to pick us up (even though we wouldn't be there until 7:30ish)! She even told us she would love to have us stay at her house with her and tell her all about the trail instead of having to go to the hostel. Wow! I'm amazed at how perfectly that worked out. We busted our butts to get there in a good amount of time, and thankfully, we hit the famous 2.5 miles of flat, beautiful boardwalk on the trail where we ran into a friendly gentleman named Michael, who helped us pass the time with comfortable chit chat. He walked us right to the pastures full of cows before the highway, and we parted ways. Time to meet Dori! Dori picked us up at Heaven Hills Farm and drove us to her sweet log cabin in the Highland Lakes area in Vernon. She made us right at home with setting up a futon with sheets, sharing pajama shirts for us to wear while we had showers and did laundry, giving us TONS of delicious fresh fruit (pineapple, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, apples), and watching Wimbledon on her tv. So relaxing and fun! Thank you Dori! (and thank you Sweets!) (and thank you New Jersey!)