Date: 2006-09-29
From: Kent, Ct

To: Rt 55, Ct
Miles today: 10.2

I woke up late this morning after being up late last night. It was almost 8am before I finally came out into the kitchen. I wish I would have come out earlier because Mrs Moosie had made a pot of Starbuck's!!What a great way to start a day. :-)) Moosie had to work today, but he was working from home. We had a delicious breakfast not often had on the Trail. :-))) There was eggs, apple coffee cake (home made), some very good melon and strawberries, sausage, juice and another pot of Starbuck's. It was raining lightly and according to The Weather Channel, there was a heavy band of showers that were going to be moving through this morning. Arrangements were made to leave Moosie's car at the trailhead at Ct 55 and Mrs Moosie would drop us off at NY 55 to walk back to Moosie's car...about 15 trail miles. On the way (and in heavy rain), we changed our minds and shortened the walk by 5 miles. We were dropped off at Rt 20 near Pauling, NY. It was still raining, but just a steady, lite rain. We took a couple pictures at the Dover Oak, one of two of the largest oak trees along the entire AT, then walked on. It was noticeably cooler than it had been lately, so I was happy. I led and Mrs Gorp walked behind me. We had all day to do 10 miles...heck, my buddy the ol' Chief could have probably, almost, maybe kept up with us today....nah, maybe not. I just read parts of his pathetic journal about his walk on The Mountains To Sea Trail and he whined the whole way. We kept walking and soon came to the Appalachian Trail RR Station where you can get a ride into NY City. We took a couple pictures, then walked on. There was a hot dog vendor set up at the road crossing, but I walked right on by without the slightest thought of stopping. I really do have will power. :-))) We climbed up to Hammersly Ridge. It was beautiful in the forest today with the wet wood and changing leaves. When we got to Wiley Shelter, we stopped and ate a sandwich and a blueberry muffin and signed the register. We were walking along and ran into Mark and Twain. They had just crossed over into NY and were moving right along. We talked for a few minutes and found out that Spindle Shanks, Slow Coach, Superstar and Dorito were not far behind them, but we got to Moosie's car before we ran into the others. Since Moosie had to work today and he wanted to walk the section of Trail from Kent, Ct to the NY/Ct stateline, we skipped down the Trail and walked a section just to the south of that today and will walk with Moosie tomorrow to fill in the 11 mile section. You really have to make concessions out here on the Trail when you are dealing....I mean, when you have good friends like Moosie. :-))) We stopped and bought Mrs Moosie some flowers on the way back to The Moosie's Spa And Fine Eatery Hostel. When we got back, Moosie was still hard at work and Mrs Moosie was watching a program she had taped. The weather today cleared and it became mostly clear skies to finish out our walk. We went to a local farm co-op that the Moosie's belong to and picked some vegetables and got a pumpkin from the field. Mrs Moosie even cut some fresh flowers for the table. I was cold when we got to the farm. I didn't even think about bringing a coat, but lugging that heavy pumpkin around while Mrs Moosie and Mrs Gorp looked for the fresh flowers, warmed me up soon enough. :-))) Mrs Gorp arranged the flowers nicely and put them in a vase. I just sat patiently at the dinner table, but everyone ignored me. :-((( We had another fantastic meal tonight...lot's of fresh vegetables fixed with true Italian flair and thick pork chops grilled to perfection by yours truly. :-))) Oh yeah, and a pumpkin pie Mrs Moosie made today for desert!! Moosie even had me trying a couple micro beers that were very good. I was worn out from being up so late last night, so while the others enjoyed a program on TV, I went to bed and fell asleep. There were a few leaves falling today, but not one of them made it into the palm of my hand, so I'm still at 100. Oh yeah, I loaded about 25 more photos on this journal too.