Date: 2014-06-19
From: murray property

To: wildcat shelter
Miles today: 30.6
Weather: light rain

So im being picked up in two days by my cousin tim and his wife brenda. All i need to do is get 52 miles in those two days. Shouldnt be too bad right? I planned and plotted and came up with the idea to hike thirty miles today and 22 miles to our meeting point on the palisades pkwy. I was up early to grab a quick breakfast. Breakfast is still oatmeal but ive become lazy and no longer cook it. I just pour in water do something else for a few minutes then eat it. Since it was still sprinkling i carried all my stuff to the cabin porch and packed up there. It worked pretty well but my tent was really wet and its amazing how heavy it feels that way. Was this really a good day to squeeze out thirty miles? Did i really want to walk thirty miles starting out in the rain? Apparently i did. I set of as it started to rain. Its difficult to force yourself out into the weather but its not all so bad once youre there. I walked along easy terrain for a while just listening to it rain on my head. Then i met a southbound section hiker named tonto. He took down my name to see if i would be on the list of finishers the atc puts out. After that i walked along thinking like one would do while walking in the rain. My first thought was if the lone ranger had tonto, how was he the lone ranger? Wouldnt he be 'the with somebody ranger'? How did this get past the editors? Then i thought, if a fish got his tail shut in a door, would it swim with a limp? Some days the trail does funny things to you. On i walked. About 5 miles in i got to the wallkill preserve, a wetlands area that we skirted. Hmmmm, oh look, a mosquito. Oh lord, this is not good. There was a whole herd coming in fast! I had to stop and dig out my insect repellant. I knew it would wash of in the rain but i had to do something. When i stopped it was like a stable landing field for them and they all took the opportunityo the sinner table. I fumble to get out the repellant and swat as many as i could at the same time. Finally i got myself covered in poison and it seemed to be doing the job. Relief. I threw on my pack and proceded. I saw a great blue heron coming in for a landing. When it touched down i noticed he was close to another one. This ended in the first blue heron dispute i had ever seen. They confronted eachother with wings spread and raspy honks. The one that was there first chased the new one and then flew away. It seemed to me like a big enough swamp for the both of them, must be not. I turned the corner and saw two swans and a marshkrat. The swans were just floating and the marshkrat was up on the bank chewing on some food. Then the trail took a turn into the woods and changed into a plank trail. It went right thru the swamp so you had to walk on the planks to avoid mud that would surely swallow a hiker. I was glad to finally be out of the marsh and heading up the hill and hopefully away from the mosquitos that had again started to feed. Halfway up the hill to the pochuck mtn shelter i stopped at a vacant house that has a spiggot for the hikers to get water from. Weirs but handy. Then on to finish the climb. By now the rain had stopped but the humidity was still high, not the best for climbing a hill. The sky looked like it might be clearing as i dropped down the other side, maybe things would dry up and i wouldnt have wet feet all day, that would be good. On the other side was the pochuck river, again a swampy area but no mosquitos, how did they do it? This place had a really nice boardwalk, the nice kind that two people could pass eachother on. The firat section was a half mile then a suspension bridge then a quarter mile after that of boardwalk. Just as i got to the bridge an older lady stopped me and asked some questions, trailname, how long i had been on the trail, and if i was gonna get ice cream? Ice cream? Where was that? She told me that the next road cross to take a left and it was a quarter mile . That was my new plan. I like getting the down low from locals. As i crossed the cow pasture to get to the road i could almost hear the ice cream becconing to me. I got to the riad, took a left and could see the place, it was only 0.1 from the trail! It was a farmers market that had lots of good stuff. I got two plums, a coffee, a soda, and a large mint chip. This was yet another fancy lunch. I sat under the porch and ate as it started to rain again. I finished and was raring to go back to the rain. I clumb up the yet again rocky waywayanda mt. It was like climbing thru a boulder field up the side of the mt. Slow going, and to make things worse the viewpoint is 0.8 from the AT. I did not make the trip down the side trail. I was feeling pretty pumped up from the coffe so i passed right by the next shelter without stopping. I figured i might as well keep the train rolling. From there the trail was not so bad and i cruised along happily for a while thinking thoughts and singing songs in my head. I knew i was getting close to the border of ny and was also getting pretty excited about that. The trail got real rock climby and slow for a bit and i thought to myself, this must be new jerseys way of saying good bye. I got to the border and was so happy. I was a long way from home but i felt home, it was good. I took some photos and carried on, i still had 8 miles to go. Well, it wasnt new jerseys way of saying good bye but its way of saying, get ready for new york. The trail got tough. U p and down over exposed rock made for slow, high exertion, and heavy breathing. It was beautiful and different from anything i had been over to date but tough after already having gone a long way. The first three miles of ny were tough, real tough. Then it got mostly better. Only twice after that did i have to climb rocks without my poles, using my hands to pull myself up. The last two miles were rough, not because of the trail, just because i was spent, pooped, no more gas in the tank. I had to keep telling myself, not much further, keep going. It felt like i was barely moving and that was as fast as i could go. When i saw the sign for the shelter i was soo happy. I walked down the trail to it and quickly found a great spot for my tent. I got water and started dinner. While it cooked i set up my tent and got everything arranged. I had to hang all my wet clothes from the low tree branches and take the insoles out of my boots so all would be dry by morning. I crawled in to bed and thought, good job, only 22 to go tomorrow. I was glad to be sleeping back in ny, really inside not just over the border. I was proud of myself for getting this far and proud to have this cool bouldery trail in my state. I liked it here even though i was so tired i couldnt even stay awake for my after dinner snack. I slept well on this night.