Date: 2007-07-31
From: Unionville, NY

To: The Boardwalk
Miles today: 10.8

July 31, 833 Miles to Go!Happy birthday, John!...This is the story of how two men named Ben and Jerry ruined the lives of formerthru-hikers. The hikers grew accustomed to eating pints of their favoriteflavors on a regular basis - so much so that they were willing to walk extramiles to get their fix. They became addicted and their town stops revolvedaround finding ice cream. Not just any ice cream - New York Super Fudge Chunk(withouth the super fudge chunks), Cinnamon Buns, Phish Food, Chunky Monkey,Turtle Soup - oh, so many options! But then the hikers finally reached Maine. They celebrated with a pint of icecream. They returned to their real lives but their ice cream fantasies neverwent away. Their lives spun out of control as they lost touch with what a normalserving of ice cream once was. They tried to help each other through it via longdistance phone calls. But it was never enough. Nothing was enough to keep thehikers away from their Ben and Jerry's ice cream pints....We did it! We actually left the mayor's house today. It was HARD. Melk, YellowSnow Man and I left together and Butch drove us back to the general store. Melkand I definitely wanted to make time for another pint of ice cream before westarted hiking - it's become a daily ritual. We ate them behind the generalstore at a picnic table that was partially in the shade. After our pints, wedecided we were still hungry so we ordered some subs. After lunch and adigestion break, we decided we really needed to start hiking. At 2:30 p.m., westarted heading north.It was absurdly hot. I can't explain how badly I wanted to jump into a pool. Andmy fantasy of there being a Slip 'N Slide along the trail was stronger thanever. It was perfect terrain for it too - flat and cushiony.Anyway, we made it through the heat. We walked through a wildlife sanctuary in aswampy area and then up Pochuck Mtn. Argh, it was steep.We were hiking with Yellow Snow Man today, who we'd recently reunited with. Wetook a break at Pochuck Mtn. Shelter for about an hour and a half before weforced ourselves to carry on. The trail was a bit hilly until we came to thespot where a large boardwalk has been built over a swampy section.We were intending to camp at Heaven Hill Farm but they would be closed by thetime we got there so we knew we needed a Plan B. Luckily, we stopped for a restalong the boardwalk and we all thought it would be a good idea to camp rightthere. Hooray. We probably shouldn't be camped here because no one can get bybut it's pretty cool nonetheless.I did miss Ronin and Young Eagle today - the A-Team is just not the same withhalf being gone.I can't wait to get to Maine.- Sound of an insect choir, a car on a nearby road, Melk turning the page of herHarry Potter book.Post Trail Thoughts:I remember this stretch of days as the hottest days I saw out there. It was twice as tiring hiking in the heat and, once we stopped for a break, it was so hard to get motivated again.When Butch took us to the general store, it was my first ever ride in a Toyota Prius (sorry, Dad, beggers can't be choosers). That thing was impressive! Also, it seemed so progressive for the mayor of a town of 600 people to be driving a hybrid vehicle. How funny.It seemed very different hiking with Yellow Snow Man. I had gotten so used to the routine the A-Team had and now it was all new again! I'm glad we stayed on the boardwalk that night - it was a neat experience.