Date: 2009-08-28
From: Highway 517

To: New York 17A
Miles today: 17.5

My gracious host thought it perfectly alright to serve me a sumptous breakfast at 5:15 AM. First he came out with a basket of assorted fresh baked goods, 2 kinds of scones and little cranberry muffins which I devoured. Then came a bowl artfully arranged with cut fresh peaches, kiwi and raspberries. by the time the main course arrived of omlet and sausage I was actually too full to eat it all. Oh, and of course, juice and tea. Lovely. And while I ate he prepared lunch for me of chicken salad sandwiches with chopped apple on Kaiser Rolls, some apricots and a big, thick slice of that great apple cider pound cake for desert. Thus fortified, he drove me to the trailhead and I started off over the board walk. Besides mountains, New Jersey offers the trail numerous opportunities to go over swampy areas, sometimes for considerable distance. In summer when it is hot there can be a multitude of pesky insects but on this late August day before 6:30 there were none. There were, however, several varieties of flowers from the common Goldenrod and something like Yarrow and a common bright pink flower blooming on stalks, to an interesting blue flower that reminded me of penstemon with sharp teeth and a white stripe. There was another paler pink flower that had a broad head like statice. Throughout the woods there have been a small white aster-like flower with both yellow and reddish brown centers on the same plant. Although the majority of the flower show is gone by now, there are still some to brighten the journey. After I crossed the swamp and started up Wawayonda Mountain, it started to sprinkle. Rats! And this was the day I needed dry weather later on as I crossed the rocks in New York. I was not to get it. I tried out the umbrella I had gotten for free at the PCT Kickoff. I think Nitro's journal was the first time I had read of hikers carrying an umbrella. It sounded strange then but I have since heard of others and since I had one for free it seemed like the ideal time to try it out. I REALLY liked it. It was very light weight and the short handle stuck through my pack strap loop for water hose on the left and then was stabilized by tucking the end of the handle through the chest strap. Actually it had even greater stability when I tucked it under the bottom of the shoulder strap of my sports bra. So, why did I like it? I could hike along, especially up hill, in just my sports bra, using poles in both hands and not be stewing in my own juice with sweat as I would have done in a raincoat. It also covered at least the top of my pack, keeping that pesky area next to your back from getting wet from runoff from the raincoat even though using a pack cover. I occassionally bumped into branches at head level but did not find that to be much of a problem. I really liked the dryness and freedom of movement it provided. It would not be useful in high winds but on rainy days without winds I decided it would be worth the weight. The rain continued all day but, being from Washington, I am kind of used to hiking in rain. I saw a slug on the trail and it seemed just like home. I passed Paul, a young New Jersey section hiker, who chuckled at my umbrella but appreciated the ventilation. Shortly after I stopped at the last shelter before New York for the chance to have a dry lunch. I did not even stop for trail bars the rest of the day, partly because of the rain and partly because of the constraints of daylight. So, OK, I climbed into New York, meeting rocks shortly before and most of the way down. And I was in a raincloud with poor visibilty or active showers all the way. Now, on a dry day, I think this is a beautiful area and the clouds did occassionally lift to give me a view of Greenwood Lake once or twice. And when I was a teenager I loved to clamber over rocks. But an old lady with a bad knee and an acute sense of her limitations found the hike very, very challenging. Puddingstone Rock, the book called it, large slabs and huge boulders of glacier polished rock. And they were not level and they were wet and slippery. Sometimes there were clmbs that required both hands and a few prayers, getting me ready for Katahdin, I guess. They would have been easier on a dry day and easier if I had two good legs. I cannot bear weight on a knee bent very much on the left nor can I do too big a step or a jump onto the left foot. That made it tricky a few times but I found safe ways to maeuver. At the top on one stretch of rock I felt a foot slip and I went down but hurt nothing. A reminder to be careful. I was being very, very careful That meant I was moving slowly and I wondered if I would make it down before dark. One 1 mile stretch took me nearly an hour and a half. And then I slipped and fell again. Tis time I fell harder and caught my neck and my umbrella on a sappling. The umbrella became toast. Rats! And I really liked it! I semed to have no broken parts and so picked myself up and resumed my trek down the mountain. Every now and then there were stretches of actual trail and I rejoiced. Hey, 5 steps on even rocky trail beats 5 steps on slippery rock. Finally I came to the end of most of the Puddingstone Rock and hit fairly decent trail. By now, I had 3 miles to go and about an hour of decreasing daylight left. Even though tired, I zoomed as fast as I could, still reminding myself to be careful. Well, I got within under a mile and thelight was gone. I had my headlamp and slowed way down. It was hard to see even with a headlamp because of the fog. But eventually I actually made it to the road. And then another adventure began. It is very dark and I am on a very busy highway and, by the way, hitch hiking is illegal in both New Jersey and New York. I am supposed to meet my daughter at the Belvalle Creamery. So I walk down the road on very sore and tired feet. Fortunately, the Creamery is not as far as Bellvalle. I was very glad to come in and take off my wet raincoat, find my jacket, and have a hot fudge sundae. But the area is in a cell phone dead zone. I cannot get hold of Sara. Eventually I use the Creamry phone but only get answering machines. I even called Andrew's parents in Arizona to have them try to call. No one gets a real live person, only answering machines. Now I am getting worried. Where is Sara? Why doesn't either she or Andrew answer. And it is getting late. The kids at the Creamery let me stay until 10:00 and then they had to finish closing up. I was lucky to stay that long. So at 10:00 I start walking (sorry, feet) east toward town. I have to keep walking to stay warm. I have no idea where I am actually going to end up or what has happened to my daughter. To be continued