Date: 2014-06-06
From: High Point Shelter

To: Pochuck Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

Day two of the Deli Challenge and I'm ready for action! Woke up to my shelter mates banging around. No offense to anyone but it's odd how clueless some folks are. Either that or just aren't very considerate. Always making noise. I go out of my way to be quiet about everything. Maybe somebody had a long day and needs to sleep in you know? They also always apologize too about it but for what? If you really were aware you wouldn't have made so much noise in the first place. Regardless, I pulled the sleeping bag over my head and there I stayed until they left. Today WILL be a short day. There is no weather to make me move and I want to eat at the Wits End Tavern in Unionville, NY for day two if the challenge. They don't open until noon. I delay as long as I can but sitting around is boring so off I go. The terrain here has gotten so light. No bad up or downhills, no rocks. Just sort over the river and through the woods stuff. In fact it's so flat in spots it's a swamp and they have many feet of makeshift boardwalk to hike. There was a small section through farms, my favorite, and one farmer was out there cutting down the tall grass as I strolled through. Very bucolic. All this easy stuff means again I'm too fast and I'm in Unionville by ten thirty. For today you hike along the NJ/NY border but stay in New Jersey. Twenty feet left when you hit a road is New York. Fun to be in my original home state. Things are moving so fast!I hiked to the Main Street - really really all-America type town. Went to Horler's Grocery for a quick resupply. There are so many places here you don't need much, so I got three days worth even though I really only needed two. And this at a slow pace. If I was moving fast I could probably just go to the next town for dinner! The grocery was awesome. Small little place in an old house. And the owner was a very sweet older lady who had no problem that I was dirty or a hiker. Some places you really feel like you're imposing but not here. She even invited me to sit on the porch and plug in my phone whole I repackaged all my goods. It is true though -the north is expensive!   Finished it all up and it was 11:30. I'm so impatient and didn't want to wait. Even though my plan was to go to the tavern, eat, recharge my phone, and have a few beers while I played pool. It was listed in the guide. If I could, or was a better player, I'd make my living playing pool. And having not played since Damascus with Tender and Gee. Oh well, Annabel's, a pizza place was open a block away so I went there. Worth it! The variety of by-the-slice was intense. And they had this whole plate of garlic knots glistening with butter and herbs. I ordered a slice of chicken and bacon, three knots, and a tossed salad with a Coke. Got a spot next to an outlet so plugged in and planned my attack for the next few days. They brought out the salad which was a meal in itself. A big bed of lettuce with olives, artichokes, roasted red peppers and the like. Everything was so good! I swear I even shocked myself at how much I can eat. I never leave a bite. Not the crust, not a carrot, not even the garlic knot Parmesan which I pick off the plate by pressing my finger into it. Eating is unreal these days. NYC is going to cost me a fortune! Three guys came in and one had I think his grandson. They immediately chatted me up about the hike and tried to explain to the grandson what I was doing. Really nice guys and wished me well. I'm not done eating though. Back to the grocery for ice cream. I also sat out front again and made some calls. Two days ahead at my pace is what seems a resort town called Greenwood Lake. Several lodge type hotels with kayaking and swimming. Lots of little restaurants and a place to resupply. I had always thought at some point I'm going to take a few days off to soak in the trail. No staying with friends. Just hang somewhere. I decided this is it. I need to slow down and burn some hours. This is my home state and I'm going to be in NYC in a week. Might as well make this the executive tour. Plus Sunday will be my third month on the trail. So I booked two nights at a place called Anton's on the Lake and will take a nero and then a zero. Get all cleaned up before the push through New York. Incidentally the train into the city is on the Connecticut border so I'll finish the whole state before I head to see friends. Now that that's taken care of, I hiked back down the road and off into the trail. It's been a little lonesome out here lately. Not many of my friends. I'm only a couple hundred feet in when I need to pee so I stop to check behind me (I've learned my lesson on that one!) and there's two hikers. Hey it's Snowplowman and Skidder! I thought they were days ahead. Turns out they've been just hanging out around here. They're in no rush. So we hike together for a little until we come to a road where three more hikers are getting dropped off. It's Mowgli, Happy, and Trillium - three names I've read in the logs but just now caught up to. Remember the sweet lady at the grocer? Turns out she let them camp in her yard last night and fed them breakfast and let them take showers. People are great. We all hiked together for a while until I had to pull off to get water and then stay at Pochunk shelter. They're going another shelter ahead. Going to the water source I had to do a dance over a copperhead in the middle of the trail. I almost stepped on it! Number two. They slither off quick though so I never get a picture. Here I am at the shelter with a charged phone and only one more night after tonite until the lodge. It's nice, quiet, breezy, clean and a fitting end to New Jersey. Another deli tomorrow! I seem to be failing at the challenge. Maybe I'll get an actual sandwich this time. Post script: Ranger just showed up! I hiked with him in a group at the beginning. He's the one with the frostbitten thumb. He got off trail in Tennessee to holiday with his family and had been catching up ever since. The visit will be brief though as he's pulling big miles while I'm on a stroll.