Date: 2003-06-20
From: Gren Anderson Shelter

To: High Point State Park(High Point Country Inn) 
Miles today: 11.3

Day 99 Avg Mls/Day 13.2Weather: In a word, miserable. Rain started last night continued all day.Today's Nature: Deer and mosquitos.Number of Falls: 3Well, you just knew it was going to rain. The air was full of moisture and the Weather Channel at the bar yesterday said so. It started in the middle of the night as anticipated. I woke up at 6 and no one else in the shelter was moving. I may have mentioned this before, the younger hikers seem to get up later and hike longer into the evening. My plan was to hike about 18 miles to a "secret shelter" called the Murray Property. It is a former thru-hiker's barn that he opens up to thru-hikers only. Although it is in one of the guide books, it is not in the Companion and is not advertised. Word of mouth says it is a favorite of hikers.The hike today was no fun. It was raining when I left the shelter at 6:45 and didn't stop much, if at all, the entire day.   As many of you know I just got new Gortex boots...they are supposed to be waterproof. I'm not sure what that means. When you submerge them briefly they do not leak. However, when you hike in the rain for a couple of hours the feet get soaked. Other than this, I like these boots alot.In a little over an hour I reached the Sunrise Mtn pavilion. There was no sun today...nothing but overcast foggy skies and rain. I stopped and ate breakfast...some pastry and snacks. A couple of hours later I reached the Mashipacong Shelter. It had this modern privy with a solar system to promote the composting...one of the cleaner privies on the Trail. In the shelter was a 2 and a half gallon container of water left by Bob, Bob & Mike. One thing odd about some of the New Jersey shelters...no springs or water nearby...so some trail angels leave water.The only bright spot in the day came at the Deckertown Turnpike parking area. There, Butch Cassidy strikes again! On the picnic table were bottles of spring water and cans of Dinty Moore beef stew. Hanging from the tree was a bag of goodies...Baby Ruths, cookies, wafers and snacks. What a welcome sight on such a dreary day. Thanks Butch, you da man!As I hiked on my feet got soaking wet. I fell today...going forward, dropping my poles and landing on my hands. No damages. Since this is my 3rd fall, I have added a new feature above to keep track. Let's hope there aren't any more. I heard from Liteshoe that Just Do It fell and broke a wrist. Real bad news on a real nice hiker. I decided that when I reached the High Point State Park building, I was going to look into stopping for the day or at least go into nearby Port Jervis NY for lunch. I got there almost right at noon. BTW, I saw no other thru-hikers on the Trail today. A couple, Jack and Linda, who were inside buying a summer pass, were just leaving as I was walking out. I asked them if they were going to Port Jarvis and they gave me a ride...real nice folks...thanks Jack and Linda. They dropped me off near a couple of older "less expensive" motels. When I looked at the rooms for $50 there was no way I was staying there...it was a dump. I'd just assume hike on; even in the soaking rain.So, I walked back around the corner and had lunch at McDonald's. Then, I began walking/hitching back to High Point. Got picked up by John, a military enlisted guy in town temporarily on a repair project. He took me here to The High Point Country Inn. They started out asking $85...then $75...we settled on $60. I was ready to "stick it out" and hike on to the next shelter. I knew it was supposed to rain all weekend but it would be nice to dry out tonight. The manager was very nice and does give hikers special deals. It is a nice clean faclity. I am going back out tomorrow, rain or shine. BTW, Monday, when the the rain ends, the temperature is supposed to reach 90.I'm looking at doing 20 miles tomorrow so I'll probably miss the Murray property. On 2nd thought, if it keeps raining like it's supposed to, I may just stop early again.Thought for the Day: Rain drops...so many rain drops.