Date: 2014-06-25
From: Unnamed campsite, approximately mile 1316

To: unnamed campsite mile 1324
Miles today: 8.0

Mosquitoes definitely much less than last night, it was a very pleasant night with no rain (good, because I left the rain fly off of my new big Agnes tent). Al and I had a cup of coffee and proceeded to Branchville, New Jersey. Upon arrival an hour or two later, we agreed that we could go for another cup of coffee, maybe a breakfast sandwich. The first place we encountered, "cup of Joe to go", looked promising. Three dollar breakfast sandwich and a free cup of coffee. Even a nice bench around the corner for hikers to put their stuff. We walked in, and were greeted with a loud radio program airing the rush Limbaugh show. As Al was preparing to place his order, I noticed an electrical outlet next to the door. Since my telephone was running a little low, I thought I would take advantage of the little bit of time we would be there and charge it up some. Interestingly, we would probably have been in there a VERY little time, since there were no tables or chairs in the establishment.   (In the owner's defense, the name of the establishment IS "cup of Joe TO GO"). When the gentleman behind the counter saw me attempting to plug my charger into the wall, he began yelling at me that he does not allow patrons to charge devices in his establishment. In short, yelled at us and kicked us out for trying to charge a telephone. While initially put off by this rude treatment, we began walking to the next place down, gyp's Tavern. While gyp's does not sell coffee, they do sell sandwiches and beer. We decided to have a couple of Guinness beers and cheeseburgers. Nancy, our bartender/waitress, encouraged us to charge our devices with their outlets. After our "breakfast" we parted, I hitchhiking to Port Jervis and Al continuing on the trail. I hitchhiked back to the trailhead in Branchville, and began walking. After an hour or two, I felt something wet coming from the pocket of my waist belt. The waist belt, which is black in color, attracted the sun, and it was indeed a very hot day and I had been walking in the sun for a fair amount. Unfortunately, I had placed a couple of hiker bars, a gift from Karla and Kevin, individually-wrapped in foil with inspirational messages. The chocolate in the hiker bars had melted all over the inside of my waist belt pocket. I took them out and got my hands dirty, unwrapping and eating them right there on the spot. Although messy, it was indeed delicious! Fortunately, although my iPhone was also in that pocket, I had taken the precaution of placing it in a Ziploc plastic sandwich baggie, since there were points in the afternoon where it was raining. Made it to the pavilion on sunrise Mountain around 7:30. Considered pushing on, but noticed some ominous thunder clouds overhead. It even smelled like it was going to rain. I thought I would stealth camp at the pavilion taking my chances¢¦ Was just planning on leaving early the next morning. However, around eight-something, it became obvious that this was a hangout for young people to come¢¦ Drinking, making out, etc. Although unwise, I elected to press on for a campsite a few miles away. This was around 8:30 PM. It was getting dark quickly, so I was already looking for clearings to set up in. Found one, got the bear bag tossed and tent pitched, and got stuff in there (including myself) Just as the storm began in earnest.