Date: 2005-07-21
From: Culvers Gap

To: Campsite
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: broken clouds

My uncle dropped me off at the trailhead at 8:30 AM. Not more than 15 minuteslater I felt the stresses of civilization dripping from my system in the formof sweat. It is so good to be back out here. Now that I know everything will beall right back home the tensions and stresses are leaving. Being out here, inthe quiet of the woods makes it that much better. This was the first time thatI had been to "real" civilization since I started the trail (I don't considertrail towns "real" civilization) and I found that I liked it even less than Idid when I got back last year! I figured I would be hiking by myself for awhile. Most of the crew would havepassed beyond where I got off. I was going to try to average 18 to 20 a dayover the next little while. Still want to get out of the Mid-Atlantic states. Iknew that I would catch up soon enough but that happened a lot sooner than I thought! I got about a half mile in when I spotted Scholar, sitting by a roadside, reading her book. I could not believe it! We always seem to bump into each other around trailheads. We laughed and she told me that Free, Serenity, and Poet were a day or so ahead but they were going to go into NYC for a couple of days. Scholar had thought about it but didn't want to push it to catch up with them. We talked as we walked and soon I pushedahead. I am still very impressed with the scenery and the views we are getting in NJ.I arrived at Sunrise Mtn. where they had a nice little pavilion dotted withbenches so people could sit and watch the sunrises and sunsets. Really, apretty cool spot. I took a break and Scholar caught up. I told her whee Iplanned to go for the day and she said she might see me there. Off I went. I arrived at High Point State Park where I ran into Free Radical, Pixie andPinedragon. I had not met Pixie and Pinedragon before but I had seen theirregister entries. It's always good to meet someone you've been reading about.After awhile I moved on and soon came to an observation tower, whichsupposedly, had a view into NYC but it was too hazy too see that far. A lot ofthe haze isn't from pollution but from the humidity and it has been humid. Youcould also see the High Point Monument from there. Actually, the monumentwasn't that far. The monument is huge! It looks like the Washington Monumentand we are not really sure what, or who, it is there for. The walk up to this point had been a mixed bag. Some nice clear walking andthen more rocks. Runor has it that the rocks are supposed to tone down a bunchafter I got through the High Point area. Hope so, because I stepped on one rockand it decided to do a dance with me. My left leg did something I am not sureabout yet. I pulled something behind the knee a bit. Definitely will have towatch what it does, especially tomorrow. From there it was just a matter of time till I got to the "secret" campsite.Bubble Toes and Rawhide were there. Bubble Toes started laughing saying that wehave been bumping into one another a lot lately. I agreed. I had met her on dayone, she was Amanda then, and the group of us had hiked together till we hitHiawassee. After that I didn't see her till Trail Days, and then it wasn't tillthe 501 Shelter. Now it is an every other day or so occurance. As usual, theywere goint to press on for a few more miles. Just before they left Scholarshowed up. Scholar and I cooked dinner, figured out our respective food plans andchatted. I knew I was going into Vernon tomorrow because I had mail there. Ijust didn't know how much food I was going to carry out of there because Iwasn't sure where I wanted to resupply next. Just before I headed to thesleeping bag Pixie and Pinedragon arrived. Things are thinning out on the trailbecause it was just the four of us there for the night. I was tired and a bitsore but it really did feel great to be back out here again.