Date: 2014-07-02
From: Stormville, NY

To: Wingdale, NY
Miles today: 14.8

July 2Last night on the lawn was great. It was the warmest night so far, but I still slept well., probably because the ground was so soft. At some during the night the local cops came by and shined a spot light on our 6 tents. I guess they were just checking things out. In the morning we all hit up the deli for more food. Between the 6 of us we spent quite a bit, so a good deal for all. There are a few hikers that ruin it for the majority as we still here horror stories and I am surprised businesses don't appreciate the hiking community more. To skip ahead I am meeting Elizabeth at a motel tonight. Big storms rolled through this afternoon and four guys came to the same hotel. The owner did not want to give them a room because last night 4 hikers trashed one of his rooms. Two were female as well. I talked to the owner as kind of the father figure of the group and vouched for them and talked to them and sais the room better be in good shape in the morning. It is Skittles, Go Far, Spruce and Bacon Dog, all great guys, so better not be a problem. Back to the hike.... we only had to do 14.8 miles today, so we took our time. It was 90 and humid, tough day to do a bunch of miles. Three miles in was a shelter and we ended up staying there for a while. The four of us (not Bacon Dog) hiked together all day. About 3 miles later we hit a stream and all did a shirt bath to cool off. Skittles layed down in the stream, which was pretty funny since it really was a small stream. A few miles later we go near a small lake and so take the detour to check it out. Jackpot, awesome swimming spot. We all jump in fully clothed to clean up. It was a deep lake so the water was nice and cool with a wonderful breeze. There were big no camping signs, otherwise I think the others would have stayed there for the night.Water is tough to come by inspots and some of the locals let you get water from their property. Amazing the support. We came to a road crossing at just such a spot. This family put an outside hose bib on their driveway for AT hikers. The local girl scouts then put out a big bin of goodies for us, sodas and snacks. This spot was also the home of the largest oak tree on the trail. The trunk is over 20 feet in circumference. Go Far and I were sitting by the side of the road (Skittles and Spruce were getting water) when this young lady drove by and waved to Go Far. She ended up coming back 15 minutes later to talk to us. We stayed for an additional hour. She seemed like a great young lady that loves going on adventures. She is in her mid to late 20s just like the 3 guys I am with. Always fun how the trail community works. We had 2.4 miles to go to todays finish line which went by very quickly. There is a garden center which is very hiker friendly. The storms came in just aftrr we arrived. I called for a taxi, which took well over an hour to arrive. There were 5 kids also at the garden center who had just finished a short section hike. With the thunder, lightning and heavy rain the other guys decided to share a room instead of tenting tonight. They are thinking of heading into New York city in the morning since a commuter train goes right through here. The forecast is for rain the next couple days, so who knows. I would like to do 11 miles just to keep getting a few miles further north, then taking a zero day on the fourth. We shall see what tomorrow brings. It is almost 7 now and Elizabeth should arrive in about a half hour. Haven't seen her since I left Phoenix on April 12.