Date: 2005-06-10
From: Vernon, NJ MP 1328

To: Salisbury, CT MP 1485
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Man! so much to say! First of all, there's New PHOTOS up through Maryland. Thanks Dad! This first week in June is really heating up. I've had a week of 90+ degrees and brain-melting humidity. I had forgotten how difficult the hiking in NY was. The trail goes out of its way to take you over every vertical wall and viewless climb there is! I'd love to walk the original AT that Earl Schaffer (the first thru-hiker) walked back in the '40s. I'd be in Maine in a week! I forgot to mention that after Duncannon, PA there's an Airforce Base. A-10 Warthog planes were doing hit-and-run drills on targets on the mountainside not far from the ridge I was walking! A plane would roar by, fire a squirt from its high-speed vulcan cannon "brrrrrp!" and follow up by a shot of cluster bombs. How neat! and noisy! It sounded dangerously close, but oh well. That's the beauty of this trail; you never know what's around the next bend. I've been hiking with Paladin pretty steadily since central Pennsylvania. He's lost a grand amount of weight and is hiking strong considering his age. The mosquitos have come out full-force in the recent weeks, which is irritating. They actually hang onto the rear portion of my pack and then swoop around for the kill whenever I stop walking. I bought a nice hat to alleviate some of the irritation. Thank God for the Hennessey Hammock (.com). It's my impenetrable, hanging fortress of sleep. Right before I ended NY and began Connecticut, there was a terrible thunderstorm. There I was, minding my own business in the wilderness when I noticed it was darker than usual. I heard a wooshing sound in the distance, like a powerful wind gust. I looked behind me and up to see the sky BLACK. Moments later the trees turned their leaves upwards in surrender... 60mph gusts broke limbs and whipped dust and pollen off of the trees! Fat, cold raindrops began thier aerial assault as I RAN to the shelter area ahead (which was three miles still) but I needed to get over a mountain first, which had nice rock balds on top, thus making me a lightning rod. The lightening broke all around me as I hoofed it over the mountain. NEAT!. The next morning, at NY22, the hotdog lady was there with her food cart near the road. I remembered her from 2003. She didn't remember me. HA! I crossed over Bear Mt, NY and the Hudson River last saturday. Sorry Chris Rivera, I would have given you a call but there were no payphones, no ATM, and I didn't have your number anyway. I made my way to the Graymoor Friary where I met Borden Powers that evening. Roaming Gnome was also there. The trail parallels the Housatonic River in CT for a few miles, where I met Jane and her two kids. She was thrilled to meet a thru hiker and warned me about Stuart Hollow shelter near the river... creepy insects comes out of the river every night and leave distruction and sadness in their wake, so she says. I DID sleep there, but in my hammock. I saw a few of the bugs. Her warning made me want to stay there all-the-more! Connecticut is a strange place. The people love the rural landscapes and the pristine farms and mountains. Honestly, the only difference between CT and redneck West Virginia are that people have millions of dollars, don't give rides for fear of spoiling the interiors of their exotic SUVs, and think a ham sandwich and a soda should cost $15.99. The trail is smoother here and behaving better. I only have about 700 miles to Maine (Yah, ONLY). Mom and Dad want to meet me June 11th in Salisbury, CT. I'll give them a call soon. Soon comes Massachussetts, and then the rolling green feilds of VERMONT! I'm really cruising along. I haven't taken a day off since Duncannon, and am really REALLY enjoying myself. I have a cool hat now too. Next stop Dalton, MASS in a few days. Awry, i'll be in touch. BYE ALL!