Date: 2021-06-19
From: Stealth site past Pochuck Shelter

To: Warwick Drive-in
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: overcast clouds

We slept in a little today since we hiked later yesterday. I didn¢t even set the alarm and we still woke up at 5:45am. After a hot breakfast of Mountain House granola and blueberries (that a hiker couple gave us because they insisted they had too much food) and Poptarts we started out about 8am. We had barely been walking 10 minutes, and the trail was pretty level, when David turned back to tell me something and hit his foot on a rock right in the middle of the trail. He went down hard! And had a nasty gash under his knee. I cleaned it with alcohol swabs and put a bandaid on it. He pulled his knee brace back on. After a couple minutes it began to throb, so he took some ibuprofen. The hiking after that was a lot of boardwalks. We walked through the Pochuck Boardwalk, a kind of wildlife sanctuary, on nice groomed paths and boardwalks and over pretty bridges. As we came out of the sanctuary, there was a garden center and ice cream place called Heaven Hill Garden Center. We stopped and got some apple cider donuts, an orange, and a drink. The ¢Field Trip¢ gang was there. We chatted with the mom about watching one of her boys running down the trail to catch up with them. She said ¢ Yeah. You¢d think in 2200 miles I¢d be able to lose a couple but they always find me.¢ We had a good laugh at that.After relaxing a bit it was time to hit the trail and climb ¢The Stairway to Heaven¢. Holy moly! We put our poles on the sides of our packs so our hands were free. There were a lot of stone steps, which makes you think it made it easier to climb but it didn¢t. It was just so steep and busy! It was a weekend and the day hikers were out in droves! And the climb went up to the top of the mountain! There really weren¢t any switchbacks. It just went up and up. We stopped once to rest. We were both drenched in perspiration and guzzling water. I think all the boardwalks earlier were just to lull you into thinking ¢Hey, this is going to be an easy day.¢After we finally hit the top and started our descent, we ran into Stretch, the Trail Runner, again. I told her that I had wanted to see the Pinwheels Vista but didn¢t know where the trail was and wish they would mark them with signs. She was so disappointed that I didn¢t get to see it and made a note that signs should be put up.  The rest of the day we really struggled to hike. We both felt so sluggish. We finally made it to the Wawayanda Shelter. I had read on Guthook that there was a ¢sock box¢. I found the box behind the shelter and you had to know the combination to open it, which the trail angel had posted in Guthook. I had been wanting to get a lightweight pair of socks to wear at night. (The ones I have now are heavy and make me sweat in my sleeping bag.) I found the perfect pair. The Trail Angel had also put in information on places to eat, churches, and her contact info if you needed to get into town. I immediately texted her and asked if she was available to bring us to the drive-in to camp. She responded right away and asked us to meet her at the Ranger Station just .1 off the trail. We hurried down the trail and saw the sign to the Ranger Station. Susan ¢Someday¢ pulled up a few minutes later. She drove us into town and showed us where the Shop Rite grocery store was and then took us to the Warwick Drive-in. It was about 4pm on a Saturday and I asked about the Catholic Mass schedule she had posted in the sock box. She said if we wanted to go to the 5pm Mass to text her and she was only a few minutes away. So we set up camp on the hill by the other half a dozen tents, cleaned up and put on camp clothes. I texted Someday and she picked us up and drove us to the Queen of Peace Catholic Church in New Milford, NJ (right next to Warwick). We arranged to text her when Mass was over but at 6pm she texted that she was right outside because it was raining. By the time we got back to the drive-in, the rain had stopped. A group of hikers we knew were there: Whipperpoorwill, Defcon, Maverick, Problem, Edison, Just Scott, and a couple new friends: Hagrid and ISpy. I went down to the concession stand and they filled my water bottles and then I bought a Coke and popcorn for the movie. Anyone who knows me knows I can¢t watch a movie without popcorn! This drive-in is really accommodating to hikers. There is a slight hill on the right side as you drive in and hikers can camp all along it. You then go down to the security building and they will give you a radio for free to listen to the movie. There are 3 screens so you can pick whichever movie you want to see and they are all new movies too! At the concession stand you cam fill up your water bottles. They also have a log book that they ask all the hikers to sign. Last year they had about 500 hikers the whole year. Already this year they have had 240 and it¢s only mid June and the bubble hasn¢t even come through yet. Someday had called her daughter, who is a physical therapist, and asked her about David¢s knee. Someday texted us to tell us that her daughter said for David to take ibuprofen and get a bag of ice from the concession stand to help with the swelling. She also said to let her know when we were ready to leave in the morning and she would bring us back to the trail. Talk about going above and beyond!!We only watched about half of the movie ¢Hitman¢s Wife¢s Bodyguard¢. We were tired and David¢s knee hurt. I have been rolling my right heel with the tennis ball in the morning and night but that is only giving me about 2 hours of relief on the trail once we start hiking. That is getting concerning too. We went to bed. It was way past hiker midnight for us. Hiked only 8.5 miles today.