Date: 2011-06-15
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: William Brien Memorial Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

Another kind of up and down day, emotionally. I didn¢t leave until 8:00 and hiked quite slow hoping my hiking partners would catch up. Soon after I left the shelter, up on the ridge, I spotted a smaller bear off to my right. As I got out my camera I noticed he hadn¢t seen me and was walking right at me, about 50 feet away. As I started videotaping I was getting a little worried that he¢d walk right into me, so I started talking to him ¢hey bear¢. He kind of veered away, and then as he got to the trail he sniffed at it, then bolted across the trail and stopped. I quickly made my way past, checking to see where he was. Once I was past the bear he came back to the trail, sniffed it again, then started following me. I didn¢t run, but I quickened my pace. I continually checked on him, and for quite some time he followed me and the trail. It was a little unnerving because even though he wasn¢t as big as the last bear I saw, I¢m sure he still had sharp claws and large teeth. Eventually I couldn¢t see him anymore and felt a little better. Shortly after I ran into a southbounder section hiker that I warned about the bear. He seemed quite excited because he hadn¢t seen a bear yet. Seeing the bear brightened my spirits, but soon the NY trail sunk them again. Near the falls I ran into 4 teenage boys screaming and carrying on loudly, also I could constantly hear dirt bikes racing beside and across the trail. To make matters worse the trail didn¢t seem to be marked too well, and I got off trail 5 or 6 times today. Maybe I wasn¢t paying attention enough. A lot of ledgey, rocky climbs today that remind me more of NH than what I thought NY would be. There were some tough scrambles and it was starting to get hot in the sun. I took a long lunch hoping the others would catch up, but there was no sign of them. Finally, as the day wore on I was getting low on water, but thought I could make it to the shelter where I could fill up and wait for them, before either deciding to stay, or making my way to the next shelter. When I arrived two northbound long section hikers ¢Chicken Feathers¢ and ¢Walking Cowboy¢ informed me that the spring was dry and you had to get water at the lake which was .6 miles downhill. After checking the guide book I realized I could hike 1.2 miles then another .3 down to a beach where I could get tap water as well as a soda from the vending machine. This would only leave 4 miles to the next shelter. As I needed water, because I was completely out, I opted to make the mile count and a soda would boost morale. When I arrived I found ¢Billygoat¢ doing the same thing. As we chatted a guy came up and said he was doing trail magic over at his truck. We finished our sodas and filled our water bottles and met him at his truck. He pulled out a gas grill and fired it up and cooked a package of hot dogs, plus heated up a bunch of bacon. Billygoat and I each had 4 hot dogs with bacon, rolls and spicy mustard. He also had quart bottles of cold Gatorade. We each downed a Gatorade, he had donuts for dessert but I was full and still had 4 miles to go. His trail name is ¢Paddy-O¢ I¢m not sure if it is spelled with D¢s or T¢s, he said he didn¢t care. He hiked the trail in 2003, and has done trail magic for 11 years. It sounded like he goes to a bunch of different places, so perhaps I will see him again. This was a big lift to an otherwise blah day. I hiked the last 4 miles with a full stomach hoping the others would be at the shelter, but they weren¢t. I¢m tenting tonight as the shelter is a little rough, and I don¢t want to deal with the mosquitos. I¢ll probably hang out here in the morning to see if they will catch up. Less than 700 miles to go.