Date: 2009-08-05
From: Pochuck Mountain Shelter

To: NY 17A
Miles today: 21.5

I woke up at 6 am and was on the trail just before 6:45 am. Today, I would be meeting up with Eric Brown, one of my college mates from Iona. It was smooth sailing most of the morning, in large part due to a one-mile boardwalk that stretches over the stagnant swamps of New Jersey. Despite getting a bad rap from most of the other country, it was clearly obvious that northern New Jersey is absolutely beautiful. For most of the morning, I listened to ¢The Geography of Bliss¢ on my iPod, in which the author focuses on traveling the world to select locations, attempting to determine their GDH, or Gross Domestic Happiness, as to the world¢s happiest people. I had listened to most of it before and some of the ideas that he came across truly speak wonders as to what really makes a person happy. I don¢t have time to write about this philosophy now, so I better just move on. At one point before Wayawanda Mountain, I saw Big Camera, Buttchinz, and Dreamcatcher, and another guy, Chris, making their way south towards Unionville. They explained that they were on a slackpack ¢ a short 10-mile day. We all agreed that the Mayor¢s House has been the best hostel stay on the trip, thus far, and that we were all astonished by their genuine compassion. Dreamcatcher said that she had just been talking about me and that I had ¢saved¢ her that day climbing out of Palmerton. She said that I not only saved her, but I also saved her hike. I felt that I only did what was right and I¢m happy that she is back on the trail ¢ and in good spirits. Wawayanda Mountain was a very steep ascent, and I slowly climbed up the rocky switchbacks. I was absolutely dripping with sweat and was downing water every mile or so. It wasn¢t that hot outside, but the humidity was near 100%. As I crossed the Warwick Turnpike, a thunderstorm had built up and began lashing its lightening directly around me. I considered ditching my poles again and jumping on top of my back to ensure that I wouldn¢t receive a ground current. Instead, I found a low-lying area and stayed underneath a tree, hoping that nothing would happen. The thunder was absolutely deafening and you could literally feel the rumble of the initial strike and then the electric currents in the air above. In a freakish way, it was a pretty wild experience. I forgot to say that I had found some of Jungli¢s belongings in the Wawayanda Shelter. I texted with Dah Wah He and Willow that I had her belongings, but that I would be getting off the trail today at NY 17A, where Eric would be picking me up. I don¢t think that the message that I was visiting a friend managed to get through to Jungli, as when I received a message from her, she said that she would be heading on to the next shelter and that she would just meet me there. At mile marker 1,354, I crossed from New Jersey into New York. 8 states down and only 6 more to go! Wow, I¢m officially into New York and within a few days, I¢ll be in Connecticut. I still have a long ways to go and there are many people who are still dropping out. After the NJ/NY crossing, for the next three miles, there was just sheer boulder scrambling. Because of the thunderstorm hours earlier, the rocks were slick as can be and I nearly took a bad tumble on multiple occasions. It was really tough terrain and was entirely unexpected. Some of the climbs were ¢rock climbs¢ and I had to take my pack off and throw it up top, just in order to get up there. My knees suffered, as a result, and I¢m feeling them as I type this now. The good news about this section was that it provided wonderful views of the valley down below. I thought that it was an extension of the Hudson River, but I figured that I wouldn¢t be hitting it too early. It turned out to be Greenwood Lake, carved by the receding glaciers after the last ice age. It was a beautiful scene from up above, with rolling green hills and a lovely ghost-like mist that was sprinkled between the mountains. Absolutely beautiful. I was a little bit late in arriving to the Bellvale Creamery, where Eric would be picking me up, but the trouble with the AT is that you can never predict the terrain. I was held up on these huge boulders, limiting my pace to one mile per hour instead of my usual three miles per hour. It was a wonderful embrace, when I saw ¢Brownie¢, and as I jumped in the car and we sped away, we immediately began chatting about present-day life and our experiences at Iona. Eric is still in the process of looking to play professional soccer ¢ either here in the States or over in Europe. He¢s made it into the last 24 of some of the USL squads, but has never made a call up into the team. He is currently in talks with an agent from London, but this formal approach has not yielded any team trials. My advice was for him just to get over there and begin to play ¢ regardless if it is on a low-level division team or a town team. He just needs to be in the environment and to play. When we arrived back at his house in Ringwood, NJ, I gave his mom, Sue, a big hug and I also met his sister, Carly and his father, Doug. Great people. We shared in our experiences about Iona, Eric¢s commitment to playing professional soccer, and they asked questions about my AT trek. We sat down at the table, as a family, and had a spectacular meal ¢ Portobello mushrooms, fresh sweet corn, steamed Asian rice, grilled chicken¢¦it was all just too lovely. The background was some light jazz, thereby adding to the ambiance. It was truly a wonderful time and I thank the Brown family for allowing me to be a part of it. At night, Eric and I continued chatting and I checked out his highlight tape, that he hopes will yield some trial opportunities. By midnight ¢ very late for my standards ¢ I was exhausted and headed off to bed. A great and very busy day.