Date: 2005-06-08
From: Telephone Pioneers Shelter

To: NY Rt. 22
Miles today: 3.1

The eastern exposure of my tent opening gave me a first-hand look at a brilliant sunrise without getting out of my sleeping bag: a bright orange beaming flame. Meg awoke to watch the sunrise then rolled over and went back to sleep. I was out of the tent before 5:20 and down to the shelter for tent and sleeping bag packing so as not to disturb Meg. Shadow joined me. I¢m not in a real hurry to leave but it would be nice to catch the 8:51 train from Pawling. The sun is up fully well before 6. Another hot day coming but it won¢t affect me; thanks to yesterday's decision to hike here, I have only 3 miles today to Rt. 22. Shadow doesn¢t want to start a 20 mile day yet but the first shelter in only 11 miles so he may move on and camp on Ten-mile Hill in CT. Meg¢s hiking south and wants to go more than the 7 miles to Morgan Stewart but she doesn¢t have a tent and her clothes are all cotton. Hope she doesn¢t get caught in a thunderstorm.Bidding Shadow good-bye and good luck, I was off by 6:45. The first .7 miles - a steep and rocky downhill to county Road 20 - was the slowest of the day. After photographing the huge Dover Oak at the road, I crossed the road and traipsed happily uphill through a field of tall grasses resplendent with wildflowers. Heavy morning dew so the boots and lower legs were nice and wet but that¢s OK. This was a very enjoyable walk. The uphill was barely noticeable. In low-lying boggy areas, well-placed planks kept me from sinking into muck.The trail evidently lay on private land. I encountered cows on the other side of a barbed wire fence, some of which glanced up from their grass breakfast to regard me with baleful eyes. It seemed the further along I went, the more flowers were blooming, particularly in the stretch just before Rt. 22 - bluets, wild geraniums, and bouncing bets (I think). There was a wooded area running parallel to Rt. 22 in which - like every day of this trip - I¢m breaking cobwebs. Now I wondered: how is it that the cobwebs are always at, and only at, nose level. I never feel them on my legs or arms, never my mouth, never my eyes or top of head. It¢s remarkably consistent - always at my nose. So if Northern Harrier was hiking in front of me, would he have them at his throat? Back into the open for the final few hundred yards before Rt. 22. Reaching it by 7:58 meant I hiked 3.1 miles this morning in only 72 minutes. The bouncing bets are magnificent all the way to the road where I needed only 5 minutes with extended thumb before a young man in his business van (carpet business) picked me and deposited me at the RR tracks in Pawling. I had half an hour before the train so I headed to the bakery for pastry, OJ, and coffee. Sharing a table with two local guys, we struck up a conversation about various topics - hiking, the Trail, my work at EPA, and politics. They asked if I was a ¢blue-stater.¢ ¢Proudly,¢ I said. Turns out neither of them can stand Bush either. Enjoyed talking but had to break away for the train.I managed to stuff the backpack on the rack and sat alone but the train filled up quickly at the stops along the way. One woman sat across from me but her companion, taking one look (and maybe one smell) at me, started searching for another seat to no avail. She returned, saying something about my being a hiker. The first one was more cordial to me. Next stop, a middle-aged guy in a suit, tie, and white shirt (so stifling, so confining) sat next to me. I drew back as far as I could; after all, 4 days of constant sweating on the Trail does portray the body in an unflattering light!This was the first time I had ever been in Grand Central Station. Impressive! Finding the 42nd Street exit, I walked out, had some passerbys take my picture - nothing like backpacking in New York - ate lunch at a local place, walked to Herald Square to catch the PATH to Hoboken where I only had to wait 35 minutes for a train to Glen Rock where Bobbie picked me up. Bobbie fed me a second lunch after my shower and then I was on the road, arriving home by 7:30. Thinking of Number 11, Shadow, and Meg - hope they didn¢t get too wet from any thunderstorms.So now another AT segment is in the books, the last of my fragmented ¢missing pieces.¢ All that¢s left is Gorham-to-Katahdin which I hope to start August 12. This hike was not my favorite but it had its positive points, especially the blooming mountain laurel and other wildflowers. But I¢d rather hike it in more temperate weather. If I had waited a month to mid-July, the temperatures would not have been that much hotter and I¢d have gotten blueberries which were just flowering on this hike. I guess I¢m just to used to picking-and-choosing my sections over the years. Thruhikers don¢t have that luxury. After my 180 mile hikes in October and early May along with my winter hiking, I¢ve thought I have what it takes to be a thruhiker but this hike gave me pause because of my aversion to hot weather. But if you¢re out there day in and day out, you can get used to anything.