Date: 2012-06-24
From: Wawayanda Shelter

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

Mental rest day! I decided that the cure for what ails me is to slow down and just enjoy the trail. so i sleet in and then wandered the .1 mile down to the park visitor center where i washed some clothing out using their water hose and sat charging my phone. I spent some time just sitting still, doing nothing but resting. There was good weather to enjoy, amusement provided by watching all the people coming in and out of the park, and stretching. we had some great trail magic at the shelter last night as some good soul had hiked in some oreos and left us a note saying have at it. score! While I munched on some, Dos and Five Pair came up and we spent some time talking. I haven't seen Dos in a while and it was good to catch up. somewhere in our conversation the thought of walking into the town of Greenwood Lake came up and we decided to hike together and then head down for a late lunch. I needed to do some resupply as i was just shy of having enough food to make it to bear mountain and with my new found milage attitude, didn't want to put myself in a bad situation supply wise. Hiking in a group again, the miles flew by, perhaps because i wasn't spending all the time in my head playing ring around the rosy with the same old thoughts. We crossed into New York today and got a brief glimpse of just the peaks of the tallest NYC skyline buildings. So cool to see them just barely over the next rise and know that i may be surrounded by woods, but urban civilization was so close. Dos and I took the vista blue blaze trail into town which was only a quick .8 miles right down the hill. it popped us out at the baseball field where a huge group of kids and their families were celebrating the end of their season with a pizza party. Must ..resist.....yoging. okay totally didn't try, mostly because getting 60 people to all offer food is just more of a challenge than i was up for. I checked out the local places to stay wondering if one would be cheap enough to justify the stop. no go. darn the north and their increased room prices. instead we all met up at the tavern where i had an amazing rue ban. soooo good. full but running short of time, we quickly resupplied and sent Five pair out to show some leg and get us a ride back to the trail. Success! must travel with attractive women friends more often. a quick, windy truck ride back up the ridge and we were two miles out from the shelter and it was already 7:30 at night. I practically ran the next two miles, thankful I had skipped alcohol consumption as i just barely got in before dark. With calls for rain tonight and all day tomorrow, i decided to sleep in the shelter rather than my hammock for the first time in a long time. A lot of the guys I've been seeing on and off are here: Wiffle Ball, Hawk, Blues CLues, All Smiles, Alpo, Honey Badger, and a few others tenting down below who I didn't see. Fun times tonight catching up with them and good conversations around the fire. As I walked today, i did a lot of thinking about the trail and how it changes you. I think it makes you much stronger mentally in that you learn to do what's best for you. I'm not talking about selfish decisions, or putting yourself over others, but that you stop basing decisions on what others might think. You just enjoy it and take care of yourself, going the pace that fits your body best, doing miles you want, hiking and talking with people you want to. perhaps it is that the trail is everyones and so neutral ground, but in general social rules are pretty well live and let live. Today was just what I needed. I'm ready to just keep going. As I write this last part of the entry, fireworks are going in off somewhere, so close but we can't see them. but we can feel their bangs vibrate the shelter. wonder if there's ever been a death by bright light explosion on the trail before? Well, I'm ready to take on NY.