Date: 2022-06-10
From: Canopus Lake Beach Shelter (Raymond Torrey Memorial Shelter)

To: CorrnadoÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Pizzeria in Stormville, NY
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: clear sky

We woke at 5:30am. I was up first and let Coffeebean sleep a few more minutes. The traffic noise from the Tatonic State Parkway was horrible. It sounded like the road was right next to us! Coffeebean had trouble sleeping again. The canopy was dewy but the sun was out so we knew it would dry soon. We ate breakfast first (I had chocolate Instant Breakfast and a strawberry oatmeal pkt. Coffeebean had his 3 oatmeal and a cup of instant coffee.) and then walked the short way to the concession stand hoping that the bathrooms would still be open. They were! No catholes for us this morning!! We filled our water bottles at the drinking fountain. As we turned to leave we noticed food wrappers all over the patio area. A hiker (We could tell by the food.) had put his garbage in one of the trash cans but didn¢t tie the bag closed. The cans are upside down until the weekend when everything opens and he/she just turned it right-side up and dumped their trash. Coffeebean and I spent about 15 minutes picking up all the trash and then tying the bag closed. I know the birds weren¢t happy but at least the folks there wouldn¢t be cussing out thru-hikers.By 7:35 we had a packed dry canopy, full water bottles, and were on the trail. The trail was a little drier today compared to yesterday. And the weather was beautiful! Not humid and not too hot. Even a nice breeze. Why can¢t every day be like this?I believe we were at the top of Shenandoah Mountain, on a rocky summit. The view was amazing. Green mountains all around. Also, there was an American flag painted onto the rocks with the words ¢In memory of Sept 11¢. It was beautifully drawn. Then it was time to go down the mountain after climbing up it. I walked right past a turtle hiking the trail. Coffeebean called me back to look at it and then he carefully put it in the bushes on the side so he wouldn¢t get squished by an unobservant hiker (like me!)I would also like to give a shoutout to my awesome niece, Kaitlyn, for the great socks she gave me for Christmas. I was afraid they might be a bit too heavy and crowd the little toes on each foot, but I put them on today and had my most comfortable foot day yet. My socks were nice and soft and cushy on my poor feet. (Speaking of little toes. Lost the toenail on my left pinky toe. Haven¢t had a long distance hike yet that I didn¢t lose both of them. Just a matter of time before the right pinky toe follows suit. °)Another shoutout to our youngest, Megan, starting her first professional job. Welcome to the grind, Meg!Yesterday we had planned to stop at the Shenandoah Campsite. I¢m glad we didn¢t because we would have been mad at ourselves for not pushing a little further to the RPH Shelter. span class="Apple-converted-space"> not be an elevator but it was a fallout shelter and first aid station! ° And it was right on the AT! There was also a sign showing that we are 26.8 miles from the Connecticut border!After oohing and ahhing about the RPH Shelter, we moved onward and, of course, upward. Coffeebean has had an upset stomach since yesterday and I am worried that he may have gotten some bad water. We always filter but the filter is only 99%. He is struggling on the ups and I don¢t think we are going to do 13 today, which is fine. I would rather have him feeling better. Another thing that amazes us on our hikes through the woods are when we come across handmade stone walls or fences. You can tell they are not random because they are put together like puzzle pieces. Some are only 3-4 feet high and others are 15-20 feet. Some only stretch for 50 yards or so and others go farther than we can see. Yesterday we were walking on a trail that was about 5 feet wide but nothing on either side, just straight down. We looked over the side and realized that we were actually walking along the top of a 15 foot high stone wall! It was beautiful wall and we walked for several minutes on it. That¢s how long it was. The work that was put into making these walls, with some of the rocks being heavy enough that 2 men at least would be needed to move them. And why were they created where they were? Were farms here at one time or we they used during a war? I would love to talk to an historian about them. We hit NY 52 and went down the road 1/2 a mile to Cornnado¢s Pizzeria. It is widely touted on Guthook as being delicious and having super hiker friendly owners. We ordered spaghetti for Coffeebean and I had the baked ziti. They came with side salads too. Then they brought out complimentary garlic knots with marinara sauce!  We ate every bite and washed it down with Pepsi. We sat there just chilling for a bit and they brought us cups of complimentary lemon sorbet. How awesome is that?! We were told there was a shady grassy area out back to put up our tents. There was water and an outlet to charge your phones too!We got the tent up and CoffeeBean laid down. I went to buy him a bottle of cold water and the lady in the pizzeria waved my money away and said not to worry about it! This place totally rocks!!Coffeebean is laying next to me now asleep but is totally zipped up in his bag and complaining that it is cold and he is shivering. I am sitting here in shorts and a t-shirt. It is not cold out. I have turned off the alarm. We will see what what tomorrow brings. I wish there was a hotel near but I think we are 2-3 days out. Even still, we hiked 10.1 miles today.