Date: 2003-08-07
From: Greenwood Lake, NY

To: Island Pond Outlet
Miles today: 13.7

Another day waking up in a motel...in a way, I guess I'm spoiled lately. I just wish I got better sleep when I stayed in a motel! Although, I was sleeping rather well last night till I woke up and had to go to the bathroom. Then I started thinking...and you know that always leads to trouble! I can NEVER sleep once my mind is going. I ended up writing in my journal (or typing, I should say), and getting somewhat updated. I'm afraid the days I missed when my Pocketmail was down won't be updated till I get home. It's all I can do now to stay on top of the day to day stuff! I got up after completing several journal entries, took a shower (what a luxury!) and went to a pay phone to call in the entries. By the time I got back, Gerri was up and getting dressed, and Randy was semi-awake. I laid back down for a little while to try and nap, but gave up after twenty minutes or so. Violet would be bringing us breakfast soon, and we needed to pack up so Tricia could take us to! the Trailhead. This is the greatest place! I'm so glad we stayed the extra day...it was nice to have a zero day. We said goodbye to Robert, and Tricia dropped us off...we said our goodbyes to her as well. I have business cards for their place with me to drop off along the way. We started back on the Trail, which was nice, smooth and well graded...for a deceptive little while. Lest we get lulled into a false sense of security, however, the rocks soon returned. At least today it wasn't raining, so all we had to contend with was negotiating some rock climbs. We quickly arrived at the first shelter to meet Roadie and Espy just leaving. After she'd gotten ahead of us two days before, Roadie said she'd pitched her tent just past the road, not realizing she was only 2 miles from the shelter. She would have had to climb the two sets of rocks that we had just done, though, in the rain and the dark, so she was better off. She had spent yesterday at the shelter, drying her! stuff out. Right after them, came Gray Matter and Ladybug. She cameback out to hike for awhile with him, and they were headed southbound. We warned them about the rocks and the possibility of snakes. We got to the shelter and I wrote about Anton's and left some cards...we moved on. We took a break near the highest point in NY on the Trail (1280'), then moved on. Very soon after, we got to a road crossing where we found...Iceberg Slim, Snot Rocket and Sage! They were "chillin'" with Mutant, Espy, Roadie, Viking and a SOBO (southbounder) named Waldo. They offered us beer, which we gratefully drank. We stayed for awhile, just catching up and having a great time. Probably too great a time...we needed to get hiking! The terrain today was really kicking our butts...a lot of ups and downs plus lots of rock climbing intermingled made for a tiring day. We were trying to make it to the next shelter, but ended up stopping a little under 3 miles short of it. It was 7:30, and we were at a water source where there was room to set up our tents!. Viking joined us, which was good...he has a water filter. The water in NJ and NY is not the most beautiful stuff I've ever seen. We decided to filter AND treat it with AquaMira. I ended up being the water girl, and pumped water for everyone, while they set up tents. I must say, I don't miss using the filter! Although it is a great tool for an upper body workout. After pumping seven liters of water, my biceps were sore! I set up my tent, then and we had another dinner-by-headlamp. I discovered that Lipton beef lo mein noodles do NOT taste good when mixed with salmon... live and learn, right? My dinner tomorrow night will surely be better. I hit the tent, got cleaned up, wrote a little bit for today's journal, then calculated the rest of my trip. I anticipate finishing on October 8...that includes the 4 days off the Trail to come home for Rally Sunday. Michael, I hope you've been practicing the song...I have! I also figure that I will be at the turnpike !crossing on the 18th or 19th of this month. I'll know better in another week. I'd love to meet up with MA people there! I went to sleep, then, and finished this in the morning after a fabu night's sleep in my lovely tent...