Date: 2009-10-11
From: Denny Road Campsite

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

Today was a beautiful day. It dawned crisp and clear. Of course I was up before the dawn and on trail by 7:20, a bit late but not bad. BTW the cub scouts didn't bother me at all. I went right to sleep and slept well. It was cold though, at least to begin the day, about 39. I kept my shirts on all day and started out with gloves and warm hat too. It took an hour or more to warm up to 44 and that temp finally warmed my hands. But I moved well. In fact both knee and heel did pretty well all day with just some stretching and preventative pain meds. The trail itself was pretty nice most of the day and especially so in the afternoon as much was on an old carriage road. There was one stretch of climbing at the side of a cliff face to remind me this is the AT but by and large it was nice trail. In the morning there was a pretty falls and some nicely colored trees on the other side of a swamp which called for some picture taking. Later in the morning and while I ate lunch there were views of Canopus Lake, also very pretty. This is a Sunday and there were several day hikers out along with 3 dogs, one of which was a 9 month old Black Lab that was very cute but not so cute when he jumped all over me when I was sitting on a log. But his owners quickly rescued me and were very apologetic. Two of the day hikers were a little ahead of me on the trail when they saw a 5 ft long black snake. They hollered down the trail to me asking how I felt about snakes. I would have liked to have seen it but by the time I got there I only saw a whisp of a tail disappearing down a crack next to a tree. Oh well. Some of the day hikers chatted a bit about hiking or equipment. Later in the afternoon I ran into 3 SOBO section hikers doing New York, Purple Scar, Gator and Baby Feet. They hadn't decided if those were their trail names yet but it was close enough for me to record. Just before arriving at the shelter I met Nick and Mandy, also section hikers. Not too long before arriving at the shelter I also saw two white fluffy tails of deer as they scampered over the hill. Cute. This is a very different shelter. It is an old cement block club house with one wall removed. Inside are bunks for 6, table, chairs. Outside is a covered patio with 2 picnic tables, lawn chairs, benches, clothes line. Nice shelter except it is far too close to the road, within sight of the road. The good point about being in this shelter that is so close to the road is that you can order pizza. But I had no one to share it with and didn't want to spend the $25 minimum. Oh well. I moved in and had my bath. I washed the top half of me and my sox and a sports bra. I am sure they will not dry tonight but they might tomorrow. The water comes from a pump but the water was very discolored even after pumping several pots full. I didn't want to drink it even filtered. So I wentdown to the stream and pumped. It probably had cow stuff in it as there is a nearby farm, but it ran clear and the filter should take care of the cow stuff. Better than the pumped water. A hiker came by for a rest, he said. He really creeped me out. He said he was getting ready to thru hike next year and he lives about 4 miles from here. But something about his manner disturbed me and that impression was deepened when he came back about half an hour later saying that his feet hurt and he had the wrong shoes. What to do? New York doesn't want you to stay anywhere that is not a shelter or designated camp site and there is nothing close going north. I am all set up here and would not like to go anywhere in the dark. So I locked the door that is in one wall and built a barricade across the open wall space of benches, upside down and precariously balanced lawn chairs, brooms, my pot, poles, etc. I don't think anyone could get in here without making noise. I don't like being freaked out. I would rather deal with screaming cub scouts. They did not threaten my safety, only my sanity. So, Now I am ready for sleep. I think I slept better last night than I will tonight. Still, it was a beautiful day and life is still good.