Date: 2004-06-19
From: Wawayanda Shelter, NJ

To: Day 80: North of Mombasha High Point, NY
Miles today: 16.4

After a restless night, I got up on AT Day 80 around 4:30 a.m. and hit the trail two hours later. In an eerie repeat of the day before, within the first hour or so after beginning my hike I slipped off a boardwalk and fell over into a watery muddy quagmire. Luckily it wasn¢t cold outside and I just laid there for a minute or so laughing over my predicament. I felt like an upturned turtle with mud oozing all over my entire right side. After I managed to get up I was relieved that I did not appear to be hurt, just wet with brown muddy water from head to toe on my right side. Naturally my pack, including my maps, data and guidebooks, squeeze water bottle and other items were also drenched with wet mud. I wish I could have taken a picture since I am sure I was quite a site, but given that I was only part way across a long boardwalk there was little I could do at the time except plod on until I reached a creek twenty minutes or so later. I stopped at the creek, put my pack on the bridge and did the best I could to rinse off the mud, but clearly my clothes, the pack, and other items were never going to be the same again. Oh well, at least now I really looked and smelled like an experienced through hiker.Somewhere during this morning I also crossed the border from NJ to NY. There was supposed to be a trail sign marking the location, but I failed to see it. The trail for most of the rest of the day was quite rocky as I climbed up and down several small mountains and crossed several exposed ridges. Given that this was a Saturday, I was not surprised to encounter lots of day hikers, but when I came to NY 17A I was surprised to see the water cash left by some local trail angels. I stopped and drank pint or so, ate a Power Bar and then topped off all of water containers. Furthermore, now that I had at least six quarts of water there was no reason for me to stop at Wildcat Shelter so I passed it by. An hour or so later I was treated with an up close look at Fitzgerald Falls as the AT climbs the hill creating this lovely 25-foot waterfall.My plan was to go about four miles beyond Wildcat Shelter and then tent camp, but as time went on, I began to worry if I would ever find a relatively level spot sufficiently devoid of large rocks, trees and other obstacles. Luckily around 6:30 p.m., after perhaps a day¢s hike of 16.4 miles, the AT crossed an old, apparently unused forest road that met all of these requirements. Now I say ¢apparently unused,¢ but the truth is that I was a little worried so for protection I drug several large branches from the surrounding area to block it off on both sides of my tent.Just as I started to erect my tent, Swiss Miss came down the trail and told me that she was going to push on for another hour or so before camping. As much as I truly love my REI Quarter Dome tent, I am beginning to envy the ease of finding a suitable camping site Swiss Miss enjoys with her enclosable hammock ¢ now of course she would be in deep trouble if we were above the tree line ¢¦ In contrast to the previous evening¢s hot humid conditions, this evening was blessed with cool temperatures and a constant breeze ¢ I slept great!