Date: 2007-08-02
From: Campsite past NY state line

To: Arden Valley Road/NY 17
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: few clouds

August 2, A Visit to High FallsMelk, Yellow Snow Man and I all woke up thirsty. We were very low on water andhad been rationing since last night. We were planning on hiking to GreenwoodLake for resupply and that's where we'd find more water. So, that's what wedid...We hopped on a steep blue blazed downhill trail to the village and were there inminutes. We started walking toward the village and were quickly offered a ride -it was very nice. We hopped in the back of the man's pickup with our gear andenjoyed the ride. He had lived in Maine and seemed pretty excited about what wewere doing. Nice man.He dropped us off at a diner for breakfast and that's when our plans evolved.Melk talked to her aunt, Tomaso, who offered to come out and slackpack us! So,we made a plan to meet her in a hour and a half.We resupplied and I had a chance to make some phone calls which was nice. Ifound out that I will be able to visit with Erin and Phil tomorrow which I amvery excited about. Tomaso picked us up around 11:30 a.m. and brought us to thetrail. The terrain was nice for a few miles until we reached the first shelter. We tooka ridiculously long break there as Melk tried to finish her Harry Potter book. Igot antsy and left around 2:15 p.m. That's when the trail turned on me.The rest of my hiking for the day was punctuated by picking blueberries. I wastrying to fill a Ziplock bag to give to Phil and Erin when I see them tomorrowand the blueberry patches were endless. I was really enjoying it - it seemedlike a fun scavenger hunt. The trail was bumpy and rocky. At one point there were waterfalls but because ofhow dry the year has been, they looked like weak springs coming out of rocks.The streambeds were there but there was no water lining them. It was a sad sightbut a beautiful area.There were some tough climbs - rock scrambles where my poles were stowed awayand I had to use my Go-Go-Gadget legs to overcome gigantic rocks. This trail wasnot built for my fourteen inch legs.In addition to the difficult terrain, it was unbearably hot. Each time I had togo into the sunlight, I had to prepare mentally. I had started with three litersof water and two 24 ounce Gatorades and I definitely needed each sip of it.We regrouped at West Mombasha Road where we had just under five miles left. Theprofile didn't look pretty. In fact, it upset each of us. In 4.8 miles, we wouldhave nine climbs - earning it the name of Agony Grind. Argh.It turned out to be hard but luckily we came out okay. It was pretty much allrock scrambles and we were pretty tired.We finished around 8 p.m. and Tomaso met us at the road. She drove us back toher house in High Falls, NY where we showered and had a fabulous dinner - steak,amazing potato salad, carrots, cucumbers, cranberry sauce and then cantalope andcookies for dessert. Mmm.We didn't get to bed until quarter to midnight - way too late - but it seemed tobe all worth it. We are sleeping on a magnificent surface I'd forgotten about in the last fourmonths - carpet! I truly didn't remember how good this stuff feels. Little pieceof heaven, I tell you. Yellow Snow Man and I reflected for a moment about hownice it would be if the trail were lined in carpet. Ah, beautiful fantasies.- Sound of Melk and Yellow Snow Man breathing heavily as they fall asleep.Post Trail Thoughts:Ah, this day marks the beginning of the end! This was the day that the slackpacking took over and sucked the very life out of each of us. Don't get me wrong, the rides and help was all so appreciated but having 20/20 hindsight now, I see that the late nights and long drives really took more out of me than shorter, consecutive hiking days would have.We resupplied at the local CVS as we waited for Tomaso and I caught up with Paula and Phil. It was completely ridiculous what we were about to do but when had that stopped us in the past?I, again, got antsy during our stupidly long break. Yellow Snow Man and I tried to entertain ourselves as Melk read but finally we gave up and started hiking again. This extra time allowed me to search for blueberries - something that gave me absolute joy. I loved picking blueberries. And I never let myself forget how amazing it was that I was out in the middle of the day picking blueberries for free and eating my fill. Sorry, bears, you'll have to find some GORP, the berries are mine!The last thing about this day that strikes me is how wonderful it was to eat a fresh, homemade dinner. Ever since Georgia, I was thoroughly happy when I had fresh food to eat. And fresh food Tomaso had. She made a killer meal and I reveled in the glory.