Date: 2015-08-03
From: Graymoor Spiritual Life Center

To: The RPH Shelter 
Miles today: 18.8

I was up while it was still dusk and got ready to go. It didn't take long to pack up after making breakfast and coffee. I took some trail magic to go in the form of some tea, chips and snacks. There were berries, grapes and apples galore and I tried not to eat to many apples but it was tough as they were so tasty. The trail wasn't to bad to the Dennyton Road where I filled up at a water faucet besides a small building on a field. There were several school busses and groups of kids were out hiking. One of the busses broke down while I was there and listened as they called for help. Off to one side of the field there was an extremely old and ornate remains of a stone building that may have once been a tiny church. The stonework was beautiful but it was almost consumed by the brush on the edge of the field. I found some very tart grapes along the way and ate several handfuls of them as they were very refreshing. Not long after hitting the trail again I ran into one of the female groups of students who, after ascertaining that I was a thru-hiker peppered me furiously with questions about my hike. Several of the tweenies' stated their plans to hike the trail in the future. I encouraged them to follow their dreams and to do their hike either after graduating high school or college as after that it can be very difficult as things can get complicated very quickly after that. At one point in the trail there was a stone wall across a gully that the trail followed and I found that it was an old rail line for small orr cars. There was a great many stone walls along the way and it is amazing to thing that they were all placed without the aid of machinery. Just man and horse power to get the job done. I had enough supplies and didn't want to waste time and money so I skipped the Clarence Fahnestock State Park. It was very confusing right before you enter the park as you have to walk some ways to the left to find the blaze and trailhead. I had walked some distance the other way first and then that way before finding my way. There was an amazing ammount of stonework done on the trails there and they have my respect and admiration for their dilligence. Hiking on Benadryl is pretty tough as it makes you very sleepy but if you counter it with caffene it sort of nullifies it somewhat. I'd been putting Crystal Lite Strawberry with caffene in with my tea along with Propel to keep my energy up. Soon it was up Shenandoah Mountain where there was an American Flag painted on the stone at the top of the mountain. The views were pretty cool in every direction. It was a nice downhill hike to the RPG shelter where there was a handpump, bunks to sleep in and a local pizzeria that delivered to the shelter! I set up my bunk and put my order in of a buffalo chicken roll with garlic knots and a two liter bottle of Sierra Mist with another hikers order to save on delivery fee, and 45 minutes later I was in heaven with the fresh and hot food with a bottle of Sierra Mist. I had to make a call of nature and noted that inside the door was a very appropriate sign warning of toxic waste! IOI! The privy was blue with a clear vinyl siding roof to let the light in. Later a hiker came in with some PBRs and shared them around and I ended up drinking two and in return sponsored a safety meeting to maintain a safe environment on the trail! lOl! I took a bucket bath from the hand pump behind the shelter and cleaned my clothes with the icy well water and hung them up to dry and then fell comfortably asleep.