Date: 2008-06-05
From: Stealth site 2 miles past High Point Shelter, NJ

To: Stealth site .5 miles past NJ-94, NJ
Miles today: 17.4

After a hard day yesterday, I slept pretty good, but woke once due to my feet killing me, so I gave myself a foot massage and took more Advil, then did my breathing exercises I do when I have a bad headache, and that finally lulled me back to sleep. It did rain more in the nite too, YIPPY...NOT.I woke @ 5:30 a.m. to a warm 62 degrees (by the way, even in these awesome warm temps, I'm still wearing my thermals, fleece pants, long sleeved shirt, knit cap, and using my 20 degree bag as a quilt!..can you say extrememly cold sleeper?).When I woke in the nite, I was craving Oatmeal Creme Pies, but alas, I HAVE a few of them thanks to Persistent's surprise box, so I had one with my protein bar this morning. mmmm. I was off by 6:45 a.m., and the topos showed several miles of very flat terrain, along with some good climbs as well.For the first time in NJ I hiked through rolling farm fields which were beautiful. There were a ton of roads too, and neither the guidebook or topos showed them all, so I wasn't quite sure where I was all the time.I came to a stream and stopped for water, and had cell service so I called Karen. I whined about my day yesterday, and she's so good about talking through things and helping me feel better. After 35 minutes, I was in a much better frame of mind.I headed on and the trail was wet and muddy, making things slick. I crossed Clarks Rd. and there was a wooden bridge on a downward slope and sliiiiiip...down I went! My shoes were muddy and the bridge was very slippery from rain. It was graceful though, and nothing hurt.I got up and while looking @ my topos, the 2 guys that passed me multiple times yesterday showed up. They stopped and talked and they are Footloose from NH and Dirty Harry from Chicago. They both started on Springer in March, Dirty Harry on March 20! I told them they were awesome and I didn't know how they could move so quickly. I asked what their mileage per day was, and they said 25 miles a day! Geez....I would be crawling on all fours if I tried that distance! More power to them, I have NO desire to hike that far in 1 day.There were Lots of marshes and slick board walks today. Most of the flat topos were these boardwalks, but sometimes the boards were rotting so you have to be careful hopping from section to section (they weren't all connected).I came to a gravel drive, and a woman was walking up it. Her name was Irene and the drive was to her house. She had a sign posted telling hikers a road name had been added for 911 purposes and that the road to the cabin\shelter was the next one, apparently our info is still unchanged, and people get confused a lot. We talked for at least 30 minutes. She was putting her trash out with moth balls in it, she said they keep the bears away! Cool trick huh? What was funny was that her house was 14 feet across the NY border, but her drive and mailbox were in NJ. She said people are always getting her address wrong and she has to pay taxes to both states because her property is in both. What a pain huh? We talked about the gas prices (well over $4.00\gallon in NY now) and then the state of our country and the hatred some feel towards Americans because of our administration's choices. It was cool connecting with a fellow citizen who also sees the need for change.I finally moved on, and just FYI, my feet, socks, shoes are still soaked, and it's pretty painful at this point due to the skin being irritated. I'm so hoping it dries out soon.Next was a roadwalk for like 1.5 miles. It was sort of dangerous with not much room to walk off the road. It led though to a Protected Wildlife Wetland that you hike around 3 sides of for about 2 miles, in tall grass.There wasn't much to see, but I took a short break on a bench and watched a swan swim around.I knew I was close to Walkill Road, where there was supposed to be water. It was more boggy marshes and the the road, but I didn't see water. I decided to read my guidebook info again, ad under the Pochuck Shelter section, it explains the vacant white house (owned by NJ) has a spigot for water, and walla..there was a vacant white house here! This was a little confusing, but I walked up to it, dropped my pack on the long steep drive and walked the rest of the way to the back of the house and got water.It was 12:45 p.m., so I cooked my lunch. I have to say, this is really working for me, but it means one of 2 things. Either I hike like 63 yr old man (Sailor) or he hikes like an (almost..on July 7) 35 yr old woman. Either way it's not to my advantage huh? LOLI finished around 2:00 p.m. and headed up Pochuck Mt. for a grueling steep climb. I finally got to the top and had a moment of sheer panic. I was sitting on a rock catching my breath and went to pull out my topos\guidebook and they weren't in my pocket! Now, the last time I'd pulled them out was @ THE BOTTOM of Pochuck Mt., and I REALLY didn't want to have to go back down and up again. And then, I discovered something that just cracked me up. Now, my hiking pants, I've been wearing the SAME exact style pants since March 12 last year (now I'm down 2 sizes from then, but it's the same model). I actually discovered for the first time, there are pockets behind the cargo side pockets on these pants, and without looking, I'd slipped my topos\guidebook info into this pocket! I never knew there were pockets here! LOL Man was I relieved too.So this climb was so tough, I sucked through almost all of my water (remember, I'm only able to carry 1 liter right now). I was concerned because it doesn't show the next water for like 7 miles. Well, I'm heading down this little dip and there's a sign on a tree saying "Water 300 ft". I knew I'd best go.I get there and it's not only water, it's this amazing huge steel chest of trail magic! I opened it and there was water, snacks, Capri-Sun, hygiene items (even tampons..obviously a woman was involved in this, you never see women's items like this in trail magic) and a register. This chest was chained to a tree and had a heavy hook to secure it, and all I could wonder was who the heck drug this thing out here? There was also a gnome propped in the tree above it, which made me laugh. Wow, this was awesome, so I thanked them and explained I was down to 1 canteen and they really made a difference today. THANK YOU to Clear Cut, Twinkle, and LBJ! I so enjoyed the capri-sun.Then I realized some of my (self-induced) stress was caused by constantly monitoring my pace by checking my watch. Well, I decided to stop doing it. I'll hike as fast as my body will let me and stressing about keeping a 2 mph pace is ridiculous, so I was much happier the rest of the day. I feel accomplishment when I pass landmarks, and that's what I am focusing on now. I'd forgotten about that last year, and this year, I had higher expectations of myself because I'm in so much better shape, but expectations have no place out here either.Finally all the water I cameled up with hit my bladder, and I was about to water the leaves when I heard some dirt bikes in the distance. I wasn't too concerned because you can't ride ON the AT. Well, I did my biz and man, THE second I got my shorts pulled up, 2 dirtbikes came zooming up from a trail behind me! I didn't see it and they almost got quite a show! LOL I waved to them when they came by. It looked like fun.I also met 4 cool weekenders hiking to Pochuck Shelter. They were young, 2 guys, 2 girls, and had huge packs loaded with fishing gear, big stainless steele pots, and everything. They asked if I knew how far it was to the shelter, so I told them, 4.2 miles...UP. They were like, "Oh, that's not so bad," but I hiked away chuckling because I wonder if they still thought that after reaching the shelter with all that gear.With about 2 miles to go, I hit a road and the beginning of an incredible 1 mile long boardwalk over the Pochuck Creek and Floodplains. This is amazing, it took 24 years (1978-2002) to complete and 9000 people! There's even a 110 ft long suspension bridge. Oh, I'd recommend peeing before you get on this thing, it's literally wide open going thru wetlands with lots of people walking on it.So I'm hiking along and see 2 women sitting on a bench. I said hello and we all talked. Sarah (Spikey) from NYC, and Kim (Monkey) from my old home in Kaneohe, Hawaii were out for their first section of the AT. VERY cool women who said they stayed with the Mayor of Unionville, NY last nite. Apparently he welcomes hikers into his home, feeds them, and even built some bunks! (Wonder if HE asks\cares if you're hiking the whole trail in 1 calendar year..apparently not!) They said they had a fantastic time. They asked some questions about hiking alone, and I was telling them about good\bad days and gave the example of having to cut my bearbag rope. Next thing I know, Kim reaches into her pack and GIVES me an unopened pack of 50 ft nylon rope! WOW!! THANKS SARAH AND KIM! How cool is that, I don't have to stress it tonight now!At 5:30 I headed on for my last mile or so. I ended up in a cow pasteur and of course the cows are right on the trail, so I used my cowboy voice and yelled, "C'mon git outta here..C'mon now, move." Now I'm not sure why, but when I herd cows, it always seems to help when I use my best Oklahoma farmer accent. It makes me laugh, as if the cows somehow understand it better.I made it to NJ-94 where there was supposed to be water, and I was looking for a stealth site too. I kept hiking and going up towards the base of Wawayanda Mt., no water no water. I got to a great place to camp, but no water. I asked some day hikers if there was water ahead, and they sad, yes, but about half way up the mountain. Oh man...I was down to about 1\2 liter too and had that for this evening, climbing the 1.5 miles up this mountain....shoot! Then amazingly again, the hikers said, "Here, you can have the rest of ours, we're headed to the car." Can you believe how wonderful people have been today? So they were Chipper and Peaches from FL., and they're section hiking the AT. Very nice people that really saved my butt. THANKS YOU 2!I hung a most impressive bearbag rope this evening, but it did take me a few tries. It's really beautiful here tonight, and I think I mooned a day hiker coming down off the mountain before dark. I was "bathing" with my wet wipes and wasn't wearing any pants.....whoops. Didn't think anyone would still be out!Wow, what a difference the kindness from strangers can make huh? Totally different day today. Tomorrow it's 8.8 miles into NY then another 2.5 to the Village Vista .9 mile blue blaze into Greenwood Lake, NY for new shoes, shower, and FOOD!It's 0 degrees @ 8:50 p.m. My feet are throbbing with pain. It was a long but really great day.~Certain