Date: 2017-04-21
From: Rutherford Shelter

To: Unionville New York
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: broken clouds

It rained all night last night which was a good test for my tarp. It hasn't been tested as thoroughly before as it was last night. It performed well and I stayed dry and snug as a bug. I slept well, but at some point around 1:00 am a wild animal jumped on me! Fortunately, it weighed only a fraction of an ounce so I was able to overpower it. I'm still not sure if it was a tiny frog or a cricket, but it was cold and wet and when I tried to brush it away it clung to my finger. My reaction was not manly! In the morning I woke up at around 5:40 as light was dawning. I packed up my things under the tarp, and then took down and stowed the tarp itself. A pack of tuna salad and two peanut butter and jelly tortillas were breakfast. After saying farewell, good day and be safe to the students from Brown (a group from a hiking club were at the Rutherford shelter for the night), I left camp. Once I had filtered and treated another liter of water at the stream on the side trail on the way out, I hit the actual AT northbound at about 7:30 am. At about 9 a.m. I came to the High Point State Park headquarters and stopped in to charge my phone and fill another liter of water. I also took a bit of a break and had a snack of hard salami. Knowing that I was going to resupply in Unionville, I figure if I have to carry food, it's just as well that I carry it inside me as in my backpack! At about 9:45, just as I was about to leave a guy came in wearing a Cabela's hat and asked how my hike was going and how I was fixed for food. He explained that he had driven up from his home about 45 minutes away to set up some trail Magic for hikers. He offered to take me to a grocery store that would be better stocked than the options I would be looking forward to in Unionville, so I took him up on the offer and he drove me to a ShopRite somewhere between Sussex, NJ and Point Jervis, NY. He explained that he had been following a hiker on Facebook and YouTube who was about to arrive at Delaware Water Gap today or tomorrow and he was hoping to put some trail magic out in front of him. He asked about my trail name and I told him and explained the story. He told me that his was Snorz, a name bestowed on him because he could clear out an entire shelter in a heartbeat! After I got some grub and stopped at the ATM, he drove me back to the High Point State Park headquarters and gave me some Jolly Ranchers to take with me on the Trail. I thanked him and set out to hike on.After leaving the state park headquarters, about a mile and a half later I crossed the feature for which the park is named. This is the highest point in New Jersey at 1804 feet. However, there was nothing to see due to the complete cloud cover. The trail then meandered downhill through forests in which I observed a number of stone walls. I wonder who made them and what for? I imagine that the woods that are not part of the forest may have one day been someone's farmland and that it took every able hand in a family to pile up all these stones. Eventually the trail emerged into some actual modern farm land and crossed several grassy fields. Off to my right I saw some sheep grazing.After walking through a bog of mud water and sometimes elevated boards, I finally came to Lott Road which leads to Unionville, NY. I went into town (about 3/10th of a mile) stopped at Horlers grocery store, signed in to get a permit to stay in the public park overnight and bought a Diet Coke. I sat on the porch of the grocery store deciding whether I should have set up in the park and leave my stuff there and then go run some errands or carry my pack with me and set up camp after dinner. I chose the latter. I walked about a half-mile down the street to a different grocery store where I purchased a new USB charger for the brick I brought from home to provide extra power for my phone. At Wit's End Tavern I had hot wings and a burger for dinner. I met guys named Al and Stacy (Stan) and Al's helper whose name I can't remember. Al owns a Service Master franchise and his helper lives near Sunrise Mountain where I was 2 days ago. He invited me to stay at his house but I was going the other way.After dinner at the Wit's End Tavern, I went back down the street past the Horlers grocery store and stopped for "dessert" at Angelina's Italian pizzeria. After having a personal pepperoni pizza and some gknots (garlic pizza knots), I was finally feeling actually really full (I estimate I'm burning 4-6,000 calories a day). So now I'm back across the street and have set up my tarp and campsite in the public park and I got ready for bed. Good night!