Date: 2007-07-14
From: Brink Road Shelter

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: few clouds

Day 104    After hiking fifteen miles from the Mohican Outdoor Center to Brink Road Shelter, I was up and on the trail early to make some miles. I'm in New Jersey and moving quickly towards New York. Many have said that the states will go by fast from here until Maine and I would have to agree. Around noon I stopped for a break at "Joes to go". I was a little hesistant to stop at first because I read a note pinned to a tree saying that the owner was a real jerk. I thought about moving on but the pull of coffee won. I left my pack outside and went in to check it out. I bought some gatorade, water, a danish and a cup of coffee without any hassel. Joe (I'm assuming) asked if I wanted a breakfast sandwich, but I told him I was all set. I went back outside kicked back and drank my coffee and ate. When I was done I went back in to throw out my trash and thanked Joe. He said "no problem" and he told me to have good hike. I was happy that I gave this place a chance and figured Joe's attitude towards hikers was determined on how you approached him. This is New Jersey after all, if you give someone an attitude then you'll probably get one right back. I think some thru hikers feel that they should be given special attention because they are hiking from Georgia to Maine. Well, the reality is some people don't care what you're doing. Ce la vie! As I was crossing the road from Joe's I noticed that a large group of women bike riders were gathering in the park next to the trail. I stopped to see what was going on. I learned that the regional womens time trials were happening. They asked if I was thru hiking and how my hike was going so far. We talked for awhile and they gave me a bunch of oatmeal cookies to snack on. I thanked them for the treat and continued on. About ten miles into the day I caught up to another thru hiker named Snow Plow. He had stopped in front of me and was telling me to slow down as he quietly pointed into the woods. Fifty feet in was a black bear walking away from us. I grabbed my camera but he was already out of sight before I could get a decent picture of him. This would make eleven bears sightings so far. Once the bear was out of sight, I introduced myself to Snow Plow and we hike together for a few hours. As we reached High Point Park- Snow Plow's wife showed up on a side trail and also hiked with us. They were spending sometime together before she had to head back home to Tennesse. I told them that I had just seen my wife and would be seeing her more often now that I was closer to CT. They, unfortunately, were seeing each other for the last time until Snow Plow summited Katahdin because they lived so far South. They stopped for lunch but I kept going intending to stop a little further up the trail. I did see them again at the High Point Information Center, but I didn't get a chance to talk to Snow Plow. I was hoping that I would get a chance to hike with him for awhile but I had a lot of miles to cover. I did talk to his wife who was waiting for him at the center and she was kind enough to pick me up a soda, which I was very appreciative of. I made a few phone calls at the center, calling Carissa and my buddy Jeff, who was planning on hiking with me in a few weeks. After enjoying my soda I hiked on to High Point Shelter for the night. When I arrived at the shelter I was greated by two section hikers. One guy was from Norwich, CT and was heading South and the other, MINO was heading North. Mino was from Holland and was hiking for a few weeks. We sat around and talked for awhile about our travels thus far and finally retired to the buzz of mosquitos.