Date: 2011-06-19
From: Duell Hollow Road (Just Past Wiley Shelter)

To: Mt Algo Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: broken clouds

After night hiking, nobody was up to early. When we did pick up we found we had been invaded by slugs, they were everywhere, and they leave a mess. I also found a medium size tick as well as a deer tick crawling on me. After talking with the others I was the first to leave with Legion. We were heading to a deli for re-supply and a sandwich about 2 miles up the trail then about .6 miles east on CT 55. When we made the road crossing we hated to go over a half mile, but we didn¢t have much choice, so off we went. We walked for a long time and found nothing. Finally we asked a kid fishing if there was a deli on this road and he said yes, just up the road. We walked some more until we met a bicyclist, and we asked him the same question. He replied it was just around the corner. A little more walking and we arrived at the Gaylordsville Country Store, not Tony¢s Deli. We went in and ordered, sat down, charged our phones, and I had a cup of tea. We were very sore now from a long road walk, and shortly after we saw Enzed in Snifur arrive in the back of a truck. They had walked for quite a while and then decided to hitch. We were all able to get a ride back with a contractor in the back of his van. We hiked two miles to the Ten Mile Shelter where we took yet another break and chatted with the ridgerunner. I was able to get father¢s Day wishes from home, and am quite excited about going home for a couple days for my son¢s graduation. We also found out from another hiker that the Tony¢s Deli we were looking for was off NY 22, and that the guide book was wrong. This meant that we walked the 2.5 miles to Gaylordsville, lesson learned. After a lot of lounging around we were not too anxious to get hiking. I finally started the 8 miles to the shelter. Wow was the hiking tough. There were some big uphills, and the trail was rocky and filled with blow downs from a recent storm. I didn¢t arrive until 6:15 and the others came in about 7:00. Even though I¢m tired and it was a tough day, I quickly set up my tent as it is very buggy here. Yesterday it came to me what I want to take away from this hike. I want to keep this level of fitness. It dawned on me the other day while I was hiking that I¢ve become more physically fit than probably any other time in my life, other than high school. I¢m able to hike 3 hours with a 35 pound pack up and down hills, take a 10-15 minute break and hike another 2 hours no problem. It¢s easy to forget that the fitness level has increased because you are hungry, tired, your feet are sore and your muscles ache. The fact is I can hike 3 times as far as when I started. So I think the goal for me will be to take this fitness and try to maintain it while pursuing other goals. Maybe finally running that marathon, taking up trail running, and definitely a Presidential Traverse, and certainly I¢ll keep hiking. The truth is this level of fitness is rewarding, and I find it fun to push it sometimes to see how fast I can hike or how far I can go. Hopefully when I get back on the trail in a couple days after heading home, I¢m going to attempt my first 30 mile day. I also wanted to mention again my thanks to all the people that read and sign my journal. I rarely even get a chance to look at it, but my wife reads me the comments when I call home and it is very encouraging. I find that the longer the hike goes it becomes an emotional roller coaster of missing family and friends yet having the experience of a lifetime. In the middle third of the trail there have been a lot of tough days both physically and mentally, but that is part of what thru-hiking the AT is about, overcoming the hurdles. What you find is that it doesn¢t take a lot to turn a tough day into a good day. Maybe a turn in the weather, a swimming hole, encouragement from home, a good meal, trail magic, or maybe just some kind words from a stranger. So thanks again for everyone¢s support. When I finish I will try to go back and touch on the many people that helped me in a large or small way on this journey.