Date: 2015-07-22
From: stealth site on a mountain past beaver pond

To: stealth site/Bl;ack Mountain
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: broken clouds

It rained last night, after I was snug in my tent. I really loved this campsite. I tried to take pictures of my clothes, hanging in the tree, next to my tent-with a beautiful sunset in the background. I was thinking-be it ever so humble.....But, apparently my life proof case failed today. The pictures are blurry, and I discovered later that water got into the case. Hope my phone is OK! I have all of my eggs in the Iphone basket; camera, books, music, work, everything. I posted the blurry pictures here anyway-maybe you can get a feel for the cool campsite.So- it rained last night. It stopped early enough and it was breezy enough that my shorts-but not my socks- dried. We were soaking wet when we made it to the campsite last night. There are some nights where diving into the tent is like heaven on earth. Last night was one of those nights.When I started today, I felt normal-ish, UTI-wise, but my feet were really sore. I took some Motrin and we hiked out. I have have come to realize that if I don't reduce my pack weight, I am going to continue to struggle, feet-wise. It can really suck the joy out of the hike. This became crystal to me on my slack packing days recently.My fairy God-Sister, Katwalk, realized this before I did and offered to loan me her much lighter sleeping bag, pack and other stuff a while ago. At first I said no, because that is way too generous and I didnt want to stink up her gear. But I have had second thoughts, so she is mailing her sleeping bag, air mattress, and down jacket to the HI Express in Fort Montgomery. I am going to accept this generosity- I will find a way to repay her kindness. She is a trail angel from afar and really cares about my hike. I feel very lucky to know her and just awe struck that she has my back. LOVE YOU Katwalk!!!!!!We ran into some more water trail magic- left by a former thru-hiker whose name was on the bottles- but I can't read what it says in my picture because of the blurriness! And I cant remember because I'm old.We took what we needed and hiked only a couple of miles to a large asphalt parking lot. We spread our gear all over the ground, took the insoles out of our shoes and dried everything for about 45 minutes. We stuffed our faces with snacks while we waited. What a difference dry(er) shoes make! We were all sluggish and blah, still demoralized from our wet start and the never ending steep rock climbs, but we perked up when we realized a lake with vending machines was just off the trail and right in time for lunch. Before that, we had to go throught he infamous Lemon Squeezer. We were expecting a big climb, but it wasnt bad-just a tight squeeze between massive rocks. My partners were able to keep their packs on, but I had to take mine off. Just after the squeeze, we saw a big rock climb and a sign that said Easy way, giving us an option. No brainer! after all of our rock climbing exertion, we chose the easy way. Took a wrong turn and ended up climbing a precarious jumble of boulders. That'll teach us! My phone was about dead. (gasp!) D.No let me use his little charging stick. When that buzz happened, the one that lets you know you are charging, I was visibly overjoyed. D.No pointed out that I am addicted to my phone,and I have to admit that I am. I am not nearly as connected as I was before, but I still look at it when I have a signal and when we take a break. I'll work on that!We went to Lake Tiorati Beach, took showers with our clothes on, ate ice cream, drank cokes,charged our devices, and chatted with other hikers. Our low mileage days and lack of enthusiasm are shared by others on the trail in this section and the empathy made us feel better. We are not weak-we are doing ok!That break was just what we needed. We hiked out with a little more gusto! It helped that the trail smoothed out a bit. We did start out with a big climb, but it was not as difficult as the rock climbs. We covered almost as many miles in 3 hours as we had the entire first half of the day, stopping to cook dinner. Tonight was a Knorrs- my Katwalk resupply coming to the hotel tomorrow!We passed through a beautiful shelter area- The William Brien Memorial Shelter. It was being rebuilt, so the shelter itself was under construction. The grounds were absolutely stunning and many people were tenting. The shelter looks like it will be wonderful when it is completed.Our last climb was up Black Mountain. From the tippy top- the New York City skyline is visble. Just before you get there though, there is a great site with views of the sunset. ( see pics!) We chose that and set up. We enjoyed a cup of sleepy time tea while we watched the sunset. Then D.No hiked up to the top to see the skyline. there was a tent city up there! Only about 9 miles to town tomorrow, so our zero isn't even nero, but a lower mileage day.