Date: 2018-06-11
From: RPH Shelter

To: NY 52
Miles today: 5.1

The Hoard was noisy, boisterous, full of vim and vigor ¢ everything you would want a group of young men to be ¢ unless you were trying to sleep. But sleep I did, only awakening occasionally to turn over, an action that caused me pain. There was no nocturnal miracle. I debated whether to call Uber to the shelter. If pizza could be delivered there, certainly Uber could find it. I dithered and decided to hike the five miles, to give me time to say goodbye to the Trail I know how corny that sounds. In my dreams last night, I reconciled myself to leaving, but I still want a last quiet time in the woods. The trail today was truly excellent. The volunteer trail maintainer Ralph for whom the Ralph¢s Peak Hiker Cabin is named has hiked over 4,000 miles on the AT and takes his section very seriously. Except for a few stretches that were extensively damaged and chainsawed last week, the trail was immaculate. There were even switchbacks not needed for erosion control but just to make the walk nicer for hikers. Look at the picture! Ralph has even removed rock from the treadway and stacked it neatly at the edges. The five miles to NY 52 should have taken no more than two hours to hike, but it took me four hours. Bending and straightening my left knee hurt with each step. Deer, squirrels, chipmunks and even a turkey came out to say goodbye. And a pink lady slipper made a cameo appearance. I got to NY 52 and walked down to the Mountaintop Market planning to call a taxi to take me to Pawling, the nearest town with a MTA train into ¢The City¢ tomorrow morning. I reserved a room at the Station Inn there. No cab company was interested in coming for me. Before my hike, I downloaded the Uber app, so I tried it. My first time, and it worked great. You probably use Uber and Lyft all the time. It was a revelation to me. The Station Inn is just a few minutes walk from the train station and directly across from ¢downtown¢ Pawling. The Inn has four small rooms with in suite baths but minimal services. I obtained my key from a lockbox on the front porch using a security code they provided when I made my reservation. The Inn opened just last year and the rooms are very modern in furniture and fixtures, a style that makes the small spaces seem larger. After showering with the usual after-hiking multiple shampoos and soapings, I gathered my clothes and walked across the street to the Clothery, a laundromat by any other name. None of the local businesses would change a twenty, so now I have lots of quarters. I felt myself getting faint by the time my clothes were done, so I walked down a few doors to a Chinese takeaway. I ate in, and it was excellent. I asked for the Szechuan chicken to be extra spicey. It wasn¢t, but there was at least a little heat. The veggies were still crisp and the chicken tender. Never trust a hiker, or a former hiker, for a restaurant review. I would have raved about dog food, but it seemed good to me. I stopped at the Station and bought my ticket for tomorrow. Then I returned to my room. I would like to walk around and explore Pawling, but my knees don¢t want to go out and play. It would be no fun without them, so I¢m half-watching Netflix and eating double chocolate Milano¢s from my leftover food. I¢ll walk over to the Tavern later for dinner. I¢ll post a final entry in a few days. Perhaps I can convince myself that having hiked 400 miles on the Appalachian Trail is a good thing, even though I set out to hike 2,191 miles. Perhaps I can convince myself that I was out long enough to learn all the lessons that the Trail had to teach me. No, on that one too. It takes a writer as talented as Bill Bryson to pull that one off. I¢ll try to think of something more profound than failure. I know I didn¢t have any choice than to go off trail, but that isn¢t much comfort right now. I wonder if the Tavern is open yet? A draught from the River Lethe seems in order. Skol!