Date: 2003-08-22
From: St. Thomas Episcopal Church Hostel, Vernon, NJ

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: few clouds

Toby and I walked to the bagel shop to have breakfast. I picked up my package at the PO and we went back to the hostel to get ready for the day. Which seemed to take us forever. Phone calls, shower, food organizing, another load of laundry, etc. ¢ we didn¢t leave town until noon. Smart ¢ the hottest part of the day! And today was HOT.There were three of us ¢ Toby, myself, and a SOBO ¢ when we left the hostel, hoping to find a hitch back to the Trail. Before we even got to the corner a girl in a Volvo or some sporty outdoor kind of car leaned out her open window and offered us a ride. Toby said, ¢It is easier to get a ride with a girl!¢ Turns out this girl thru-hiked a couple of years ago with her husband. I think she said they moved back here to this area post-hike kind of to be close to the Trail. One example of how the Trail gets a hold on us!We parted with the SOBO, offering our sympathy for the mosquitoes we knew he¢d have to face¢¦ We climbed up the ridge, and once I caught up to Toby at the top I entertained him with funny stories. The mosquitoes were still out, but not quite as bad as yesterday. As we headed down the ridge thunder began rumbling overhead. It sprinkled some. Near the bottom on the other side I was hiking ahead, Toby behind me. All of a sudden he exclaimed and I turned around to see over what. An enormous black rattlesnake, stretched out right alongside the Trail. I hadn¢t even seen it. Kind of scary. We watched it slither across the Trail and another SOBO approached. By this time the thunder had intensified, louder and louder, and lightning struck just up on the ridge. We looked again, and the snake was now curled up on a rock, looked like ready to strike. A few more minutes of chatting and it was gone. The SOBO passed us by and we continued North.Toby gained distance ahead of me and I was hiking alone for a while. Several more SOBOs passed on their way into Vernon. I¢ve noticed more young people hiking South; NOBOs are typically a wide age range, but I guess having to wait until school gets out makes Southbounding more practical. Looking back maybe I should have considered it more.At the shelter we met up with the Hiker Trash Theatre Group ¢ Bearbait, Slideshow Bob, and Curly Dan. Another SOBO was there, too, and when it began pouring down rain we crowded inside under the roof to eat our lunch. The rain dampened the Theatre Group¢s spirits and when we took off again they were considerably slower paced. I was disappointed ¢ I¢d looked forward to hiking with some new people! Toby and I stayed together most of the rest of the afternoon. We stopped for photos at the New Jersey-New York border. When it started getting dark we still had several miles to go. Thankfully the two or so past ___ road up to the shelter were mostly flat, because it was completely dark by the time we got to the road. My headlamp¢s not very bright; I guess it needs new batteries. That¢s the only problem I have with this Aurora ¢ it begins to dim as the batteries wear out. I¢d rather it stayed full power until it died completely! At this stage it¢s not much good for night-hiking.Just before the shelter we had to climb up another of these famous New York hand-over-hand bouldering stretches. Looks like it could have offered a view in the daylight; as it was we could see some nearby city lights and lots of stars. Pretty even in the dark! This was actually my first night-hike on the AT, if you can believe that. I think every weekend I went out over the last year we¢d end up night-hiking in at least the first night. It¢s not my favorite thing to do; especially here on the AT when I¢m hiking through some area I¢ll likely never see again. Feels like I¢m missing something somehow. Besides the fact that it¢s late and I¢m just ready to be in bed by the time it¢s dark! And of course we got into camp after most everyone else was already in for the night, one in the shelter with his tent set up! Felt bad to disturb him so he could make room for us, but I don¢t think he was asleep yet and didn¢t seem bothered. It was all worth it when, as we climbed up those rocks in the dark, Toby said I was hardcore.He called me hardcore.