Date: 2009-08-15
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Mt Algo Lean To
Miles today: 12.4

It was a glorious morning as the Trail led me over Ten Mile Hill and down towards Ten Mile River. I strolled by the river and at 10am I found a nice spot to take a break; reading; snacking; and watching the river roll by. By now the sun was starting to get a real grip on the day; it was going to be hot and as I hadn¢t planned a particularly arduous day (well not on paper) I was in no hurry to leave this shady little grove. I sat there fro almost an hour (and should probably have sat longer) but eventually I continues on my way, still following the river, taking a couple of side trails down to the banks for more brief stops before following some easy 4wd track to Schaghticoke Road and the foot of Schaghticoke Mountain.The 1,000 feet climb proved fair enough; there were more that the occasional mosquito but it was only one every now and again rather than swarms of the little buggers; and it was a little uncomfortably hot at times ¢ then again if I postpone my effort hiding from the sun at 10am, I cannot expect the mid-day sun to be any kinder. You reap what you sow, but here I had scattered the seeds of that particular discomfort by the banks of Ten Mile River. So the climb was fair but also hardish work and I was more than glad to stop at a good viewpoint just below the top. It was good in so many ways: nice flat slabs of rock; decent view; there was some shade at the edge of a clearing; and it¢s what I now consider ¢mosquito free¢ ( a fairly relative term that sill involves the odd bite but removes the need for constant vigilance). Then, the really irritating stuff began¢¦In 2003 this section was the scene of one of the only two bad half-days I had on the Trail. I¢d always assumed it was because I had been in a hurry to get to Kent to visit Mike. This morning had been great though and so I¢d more or less convinced myself that it must have been doe to my own stupid self-imposed deadline. I only had another 5 miles to go, how had could they be? Then as I remembered the path seemed to start to meander aimlessly. It would start downhill, to snake upwards again, sometimes it would turn back on itself and then it would so it all over again. You accept it for a while (maybe the first 3 ups and downs); then you laugh about it (the next 3 ups and downs); and then you get exasperated.   Surely this time down will mean down but no, like a slap in the face or a kick in the teeth it turns up again, farther and steeper than anything that had gone before. Time drags, your enthusiasm wanes, you resign yourself to this hiking equivalent of Chinese water torture.There was one moment of respite though; a chance to enjoy the surroundings and momentarily forget my travails, when a black snake slithered across the Trail in front of me. It¢s easy to err on the side of exaggeration out here but I would honestly guess that this fellow was 6 feet long (maybe a little less rather than a little more). It was stretched to full length and seemed in no hurry as it sedately went on its way to wherever it was going. I just stood and waited for it to clear the Trail, reminded for a moment of waiting before Port Clinton as a long train crept slowly by in much the same manner.The mosquitoes had been getting worse (contributing to the misery by denying me the comfort of a break to restore my energy and my spirits). Along the mindless ups and downs the mosquitoes had been irritating; at Schaghticoke Mountain Campsite they had been terrible and coming own from Mt Algo they were completely intolerable. They buzzed everywhere. They bounced off my face and hands, they buzzed n my ears, they scored direct hit after direct hit, draining me of my blood. I spent the whole decent in a manic state of arm waving, slapping myself repeatedly. It will be a miracle if I don¢t end up with cauliflower ears ¢ can hikers become lunch drunk? I reached the shelter, turned up a side trail and they were gone (95% of them). I had run the gauntlet, survived whatever challenge I had been set, and emerged into apparent peace, calm and tranquillity. I was relieved, amazed and drained. Now to set up my tent, rest and write some journals ¢ or so I thought.I paused to speak to Jeff and Angela who were sitting at the shelter and then headed off to scout out a decent campsite. Short days, early finishes and bugs may not be the ideal combination but for the hiker fast becoming obsessed with a backlog of journal writing they do offer a great opportunity to catch up, an opportunity that I fully intended to grasp before Jeff popped his head round the shelter and asked if I¢d like a beer. At that moment, after the afternoon I had just had and in both my weakened physical and mental states it was music to my (slightly battered) ears.It turned out that Jeff was trying to stop smoking; planning to go cold turkey for two weeks on the Trail; and was a very generous chap. As this was to be his last night before self ¢imposed torture began he had packed in some beer, sambuka and food to make it an enjoyable one. A most enjoyable one as it turned out. I drank half his beer, ate a burger and sipped his spirits, but most importantly, the conversation flowed ¢ sometimes aided by the alcohol and sometimes (later on when both Jeff and I may have been slightly boozy) hindered by it. Ben and his dog ¢Tucker¢ had joined us and we had some comical moments trying to remember Christopher Walken¢s (from ¢Balls of Fire¢ apparently) name and then Jeff Bridges from ¢Thunderbolt and Lightfoot¢. It was like a game of charades where the person doing the mime didn¢t know the answer (and was slightly inebriated). Hats off to Angela who managed to make order from that chaos and, as if by magic, plucked both names from thin air. She wasn¢t so good with accents though. When Jeff said I sounded like a famous, knighted, Scotsman she said ¢Sir Paul McCartney¢. Even for me that¢s a first. She had some Beatles on her ipod and as we wiled away the evening Sir Paul sang along in the background, along with versions of ¢Cherry Pie¢ by both Poison and The Warrant ¢ all of which made me smile.