Date: 2003-06-28
From: NY 301 Canopus Lake Fahnestock SP 

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 107 Avg Mls/Day 13.3Weather: Much more like it! Cooler, in the low 80's and less humid. Cool front did come through last night with no rain. Good sleeping weather.Today's Nature: Two fawns running through the woods did a 360 around me. Didn't see the mother but they were so cute.Falls Today 0 Total 4The State Park worked out fine except for some kids that drove around the campground at 2 in the morning with their boom boxes turned up. You could also hear them yelling and in the morning there I found an empty beer bottle by the road.I had to walk a mile from the park back to the Trail. The only consulation was a cold lemonade out of a machine as I was leaving the park.I was on the Trail a little before 7. The Trail wasn't bad today and the climbs mostly moderate. Early in the hike I met Old Corpus, a section hiker from Texas. We hiked and chatted for a while, taking each other's pictures when we were atop Shenandoah Mtn. He hasn't been doing big miles do to concerns about his knees. So, he has ran into a lot of the hikers that I have met and are now ahead of me. I believe he also said that he is on Trailjournals. A real nice fellow.Old Corpus had followed one of the same 2002 thru-hikers on Trailjournalsthat I followed...Blaze. And he told me something interesting I didn't know. Blaze actually took along a "clicker-counter" and counted every NOBO white blaze. He then posted the daily and running totals at the bottom of each day's journal. I'll have to go back and look sometime.Also ran into T.J. and Josh on the Trail today and that was it until tis evening when a young thru-hiker named Robb showed up at the shelter at 6:30. He started from Springer mid April so he is fast and passing just about everyone.Just before noon I thought I had reached SR 52 where the deli was 1/2 mile east. So, I walked up the road 10 - 15 minutes and nothing...I was on the wrong road. It was my own fault for not paying attention. I had gotten off on Hosner Mtn Rd which is nothing like the state route I should have been on. It was almost a mile and a half further down the Trail. I didn't get there until 1 p.m. Just as I was walking east on NY52 I caught up with TJ and Josh. We all ate together and Old Corpus also showed up in his truck and joined us. I had a great "reuben on a roll," chips, and a 1 litre soda. Then I finished it off with a pint of Ben & Jerry's. Trail runner Buckeye and his wife also stopped in. Old Corpus gave me a ride back to the Trail and I was hiking by 2:30.I arrived at Morgan Stewart Shelter around 4:30. Laid down on the shelter floor and got lazy. I was so close to hiking on 4 miles or so to Nuclear Lake...but obviously didn't. The tent sites here are nice and level and I decided to stay and get some rest. Also, nice cold well water at this shelter. Robb is staying in the shelter and it looks like it will only be the 2 of us for tonight.Tomorrow I'd like to get at least to Wingdale which is only about 19 miles. If the weather is nice and get started early, I may go further.Thought for the Day: Sometimes you think you've been bit and you haven't.