Date: 2009-07-14
From: Telephone Pioneers Shelter, NY

To: Mt Algo Lean-to, CONNECTICUT! 
Miles today: 21.1

Cell noneOG notesWe are already out of New York and in Connecticut, nine states finished with five to go. We've already hiked into New England.We pushed hard and accomplished a lot today. The hiking wasn't particularly tough until the last 8 miles. We were already in Connecticut when we hit Schaghticoke Mountain. This mountain is tough in itself, but hiking 12 before doing it was a killer. Last time C6 dropped me off at the bottom of this mountain and I resumed my hike after a brief stay at home. I remember hiking that mountain and then quitting for the day here at this shelter. Amazingly I remember quitting early but forgot how difficult the mountain was.When we arrived here tonight we were greeted by Mr. Buffalo Man, Goof, and Sunnuke. We haven't seen these guys in a few weeks and didn't think we'd catch up to them. Amazingly they were glad to see us too. We've known these guys since North Carolina so we have a lot of trail experiences in common. They were hiking with Bison until they reached the Palisades Parkway in New York. Bison is taking some time off to go to a music festival, one that he goes to every year. He is not letting a little thing like hiking the AT get in the way of that. Bison is disciplined enough that I am certain he'll be back on as soon as the festival is over. He has a trail journal too, check it out.We're settled in our tent right now and are very comfortable. The ground is fairly level here, unlike last night. Last night we were on a hill and I kept having to pull myself back up after sliding toward the back of the tent. Anyway we're settled in and I'm falling asleep. Goodnight.C6 notesIt was a hard, but satisfying, day today. We don't seem to have the speed lately, so it's taking longer than we'd like to get from point to point. There were times today where the terrain was nice and we thought we were making good time, but when we looked at how far we had gone it wasn't as far as we thought it would be. The last 8 miles today were very hard...up and down a tough mountain. We're glad it's behind us.Lately I've been very aware of flying insects. There are so many! As each one hovers near my face or around my ear, I wonder just how many flying things there are in the world. It's pretty amazing when you think about it. From tiny gnats to large birds, there has to be hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of things that fly. Think about it...no-see-ums, mosquitoes, bees, flies, moths, butterflies, wasps, ducks, geese, gnats, birds, dragon flies, etc...one could go on and on. Another topic I wonder if anyone has taken on...the total number of things that fly. Hmmm.Plenty of things go through my head as I'm hiking. Today I even became aware that there was a short period of time that I was so intent on my thoughts that I didn't recall walking. I know I was being careful because I didn't trip. I've had this happen a couple times now when I'm thinking very intensely about something. It doesn't happen often, so it surprises me when it does. Oh, I forgot to write about a guy we met last night...Tenzing. "Tenzing" was the name of a sherpa during the first Mt Everest climb. The thru-hiker "Tenzing" helped a friend hike when the friend was having some problems and couldn't carry much. Since Tenzing carried the majority of their load, the friend named him Tenzing. He was at the shelter when we arrived last evening. When he heard our trail names he asked about my fall on the PA rocks. He read my shelter log entry about falling (I wrote it before I woke up so dizzy). He was concerned that I'm okay. Turns out his mother died a few days after falling down stairs. She didn't have her head checked and didn't know she was bleeding inside her head. I was moved that he was so interested that I'm okay. Yes, I'm okay now. I haven't had any more dizziness at all. Whew!Old Goat & Check Six