Date: 2008-06-07
From: NY 17A, Greenwood Lake, NY

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 2.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Awww yeah! Waking up in a town, clean, comfie, and best of all left over spaghetti and meatballs in the fridge for breakfast! I devoured that stuff like it was the last supper or something.I actually woke @ 8:00 a.m., but that was ok. I layed around and caught up on journaling, then decided on my plan of action today. I needed to get fuel @ the hardware store and thought I'd see if there's a library for a computer, and the cell signal isn't stable enough to send my pocketmail to Persistent, so I need to find a payphone, which is becoming a thing of the past you know.I got up, took another shower, and gathered my stuff to mail home. I walked to the PO and took care of all that, then walked down mainstreet in search of the hardware store. I have fallen in love with this town, it has fantastic energy, fantastic people, and it's just a cool place.I noticed all the stores had little sidewalk booths set up so I asked about it. They try to showcase the town each summer, last week was music with the band, this weekend all the store owners are showcased, so it was really cool and felt exciting to me. Everyone was out, saying hello.I found the hardware store, got my denatured alcohol (I'm starting a hiker box @ The Linden Motel for all you hikers south of me). I also bought some aquarium silicone sealant in hopes of fixing my canteen..we'll see.Then I found a library that allows free computer usage, so I took care of some emails and then this guy (who I SWEAR was Henry Winkler..you know The Fonz) was showing these 2 women pics of a black bear that was caught and treated @ the local vet for a badly cut nose. Now get this, "most" adult black bear weigh 300-400 lbs right? This one weighed an INCREDIBLE 725 LBS! It was GINORMOUS!! I saw the pics myself, so it's no lie. This bear lives in NJ by the way.I left and walked back in sultry heat (heatwave in the northeast...heat index in triple digits for the next 4 days). I just feel good in this town, makes me think I'm a northerner at heart.I got back to my awesome room, applied the silicone and have it in the sun curing. I started packing stuff up while watching some PBS thing on trains. Then Karen called and we had a fantastic conversation. There's actually this hallway with glass sliding doors and screen doors you can open with a table and 2 chairs in front of each room (it's one long hall though). I sat out there and watched people cruising into the marina in their boats, watched the ducks, and really thought life was incredible in the town.Then around 4:00 I packed the rest of my stuff and decided to go back to Napoli's for a big grilled chicken salad before I headed out. This place is great by the way. OH MY GOSH..I JUST REALIZED I FORGOT TO PAY! I was talking to the manager, this great guy, about how much I loved this town, another guy handed me my food and they said goodbye! Rest assured folks, I WILL be calling them when I get to my next town @ the end of the week, and I WILL pay them for the salad! I'm such a dork sometimes!Ok..well anyways, I went back to my air conditioned room and ate this salad while watching Friends. It was so hard to leave this wonderful place, but a nero is better than a zero sometimes (saves $ too).I took out my trash and scooped up some dead leaves that had fallen out of my pack, then went to tell Vera goodbye. She's so sweet, she goes, "Oh, your hair looks nice!" I laughed and said, "Yes, it does look better washed and when I'm able to get a comb through it."I gave her a bag of stuff to start a hiker box, I had to explain to her what to do, and she said she would. I thanked her again (and left a little thank you note for her in my room) and left The Linden Motel @ 5:38 p.m.I decided to try hitching, since people were used to it in town. 1 car, 2 cars, 3rd car is the charm! It took like 15 seconds. I got in and it was this awesome woman named Kate, who lives at a ski resort in Vernon, NJ, just over the mountain.So have you ever met someone and within seconds could tell this would be a fantastic person to just know in life? Well, she was this person. She loves skiing, and she absolutely loves living life. She said she feels so fortunate, despite the fact she lost her husbad 14 yrs ago @ age 38. She doesn't waste time, she embraces it, and I could have talked to her for 10 hrs I bet. I told her I snowboard, and she gave me her email and home address and said that Karen and I could come up, stay with her, and she could get us in to ski for free! She was serious too! She also runs a women's softball team in the summer called The Dream Girls! LOL She's got 3 grown kids too. I loved this woman. So this all happened in a 2 mile ride by the way. We got out, I took our pic, and gave her my home address\journal site and told her if she was ever passing thru VA, she'd have a place to stay as well. It was a great experience.She left and @ exactly 6:00 p.m., I was hiking to the shelter. It was still 85 degrees and I was soaked within minutes. I stopped to take a pic and was covered by mosquitoes instantly, so put some of my great bug spray on..Maxi Deet, made by Sawyer. This stuff works people, its 98.9% Deet.The trail was nice and I could feel a big difference with brand new shoes, both good and bad. Better support, but no give, so I was getting shooting pain in my toes. Man, it's going to be a long week if that keeps up.I climbed over the Eastern Pinnacle, which was beautiful (more verticle climbing) and then Cat Rocks too. I kept seeing triple blue blazes, and realized those are alternate routes for bad weather..in other words, the EASY route around the rocks! I don't plan on taking them unless I have to.On Cat Rocks, I started hearing thunder. The weatherlady did say there might be pop up storms due to the high heat and humidity. I was on the top though, but knew it was only .3 to the shelter, which was a bit lower.I got to the blue blaze to the shelter @ 6:58 p.m. and the wind was picking up..oh crap right?I got there, and the shelter is up on a hill (not the highest point but I wanted as low as possible). It was thundering a little closer now, so I quickly put up my hammock, tarp, hung my food and was in good shape by 7:18 p.m. This has to be a record.I also built up duff on the storm side for blowing rain just in case. I changed into my camp shorts and tank top, my hiking shirt was totally saturated with sweat. It's also very humid. I got in my hammock and waited, but guess what...the storm skirted south of me, no rain, nothing! YIPPY!!It is 82 degrees in my hamock @ 8:06 p.m. I'm pretty proud of myself forleaving town tonight..makes me feel hardcore. LOL Oh, the silicone didn't work on my canteen. It probably could have had I taken more time with it, so I bought a 1 liter water bottle @ the Citgo until Karen brings me a new canteen next week. I have to be able to carry 2 liters in this heat.Oh, I was watching the news here and was appauled. NY is adding a $2.50 tax on packs of cigarettes, bringing the price per pack to $7.00-$10.00 PER PACK! Hey, I don't smoke, I hate the stuff, but I do think people's addictions are being exploited. Where's that tax $ going I wonder...certainly not universal healthcare. Also, gas is $4.21 a gallon for the cheap stuff, and lastly, a news story of great importance.A local high school has a tradition where the senior class gets permission from the principal to do a Senior Prank (this is new to me). Well, the class of 2008 moved all the desks out to the football field late Friday nite and spelled 2008. Well apparently, later that nite, someone else (they think the juniors) went out and rearranged the desks into the shape of a GIANT...well um...penis!! They showed this on the freakin news people! How hilarious is that? And on that note, I'll close this entry. Good nite.~Certain