Date: 2007-06-04
From: Secret Shelter

To: NJ 94-Vernon, NJ St. Thomas Episcopal Church Hoste
Miles today: 13.6

OK, so, today has probably got to be the most enjoyable day I've had hiking so far on the entire AT! It rained most of the night, I was so glad to be really indoors at the Secret Shelter. My socks were dry this morning and my shoes well, they were still pretty wet. It was misty and rainy when I got up but as usual, I was up, fed and packed and on the trail by 6:30 AM. I really do like hiking in the early morning, and a cool drippy morning was very nice. I wore my packa and kept the jacket part all zipped up. The rain never came down in buckets so it worked well. There were lots of road crossings today and other landmarks to keep track of. We (Iceberg and I) came to the Walkill National Wildlife Preserve early on. It's a marshland that we had to walk 3/4 of the way around a big square area. There was a pair of swans twining their necks together. I pulled out my camera to get a picture but they moved apart. There were swampy odors which really are not pleasant but do belong to places like that. Lots of grasses of every color-pale yellow, greens to dark grey greens and deep rich blue-greens. A fine mist was blowing and you could see low clouds off in the distance hanging in front of the mountains.This is the AT that I love. I walked through several fields of tall grass (hay?). My feet and boots were so totally drenched and covered in grass seeds up to my knees-what a sight! There were birds chirping everywhere, bullfrogs croaking!I met a 70 y.o. very petite lady doing a section hike, she said she was completing her last section and had done everything from the NY-CT border south to Springer Mtn.After the wildlife refuge, there was a climb up Pochuck Mtn. We stopped at the Pochuck Mt. Shelter for a short lunch break-it was too cold to sit around for very long. At the top of Pochuck Mtn. there were huge boulders-I wouldn't call these rock monsters, they were more like huge whales peacefully guarding the mountain top.This forest had the largest Maple tree I've ever seen. There was also an area that had lots of ram-rod straight pine trees and huge old oak trees that were bent and twisted as if dancing among the pines.At one of the road crossings this afternoon, there was a large dump truck groaning its way up the road. So I waited for it to pass before crossing the street. The driver stopped and waved me across the street. I did, and then waited for him to get up to where I was so I could thank him. He had all sorts of questions-"Was this the AT?", "How long had I been hiking?" etc. We talked for a few minutes and then he drove off.After that we came to Pochuck Creek and wetlands. There is a fantastic boardwalk that meanders for over a mile through all the cattails and grasses. There were hundreds of red wing blackbirds perched on top of the stalks. Iceberg and I sat down on one of the benches for a break and just really enjoyed the peacefulness of it all.Other than the 70 y.o. lady we saw, we didn't see anyone else out hiking today.After the boardwalk, it was back into the woods for a short hike but the area was covered with wild roses. The scent is so sweet and heavy, mixed with all the other woodsy smells!We finally got to the road and thought we'd have to hitch into Vernon, but trail magic does happen. There was a guy, Jamie, in a Parks Dept. truck at the trail head checking on something on the AT. He gave us a ride into town to the Episcopal Church Hostel.This place is fantastic-hot shower, washer and dryer, towels, refrigerator, TV, computer, etc. Can't ask for more! Also Jamie said if we were on the road at 6:30 Am tomorrow, he would pick us up and give us a ride back to the trail head.For dinner we walked up to the Vernon Inn and I had a really nice glass of wine! All in all, a very good day today. Tomorrow takes us out of NJ and into NY.