Date: 2009-06-26
From: Pochuck Mtn Shelter - Trail Mile: 838.0

To: Vernon, NY - Trail Mile: 831.5
Miles today: 6.5

Day 6[Watson & Holmes arrived and sent:"Safe at Vernon Fire Dept.The guys took us in and are feeding us and letting us set up our sleeping bag in the meeting room upstairs. Will check in tomorrow on the way to Waywayanda Shelter."Today's photo: "Look for the high point monument and lookout tower on the horizon. That's where we spent the night two days ago. Below is the swamp we walked around. I'll try to describe it better in a later email."Jess stopped at a vet's and got "he's fine to continue". With a storm coming, she decided to stay in or close to town.Today's journal entry:]Vernon, NJ Fire Department (left trail at NJ-94)Bad night sleeping [at Pochuck Mtn Shelter]. Mosquitoes all night long but too hot to hide in the sleeping bag. Also had to keep track of H. Woke up many times, but really woke up at 7:00 am. Realized I forgot to put neosporin on H's feet the night before (usually done right before bed so I can curl up with him and keep him from licking). Did so, and caught another hour's sleep (finally cooler and less buggy). 8:30 I start getting up, making breakfast, packing gear, and H is awake and looking at me but not moving. Left hind paw is very sore. Inspection shows a sore spot on the side of the main pad / frog of the foot. I bandage and wrap to keep the toes from splaying out and exposing / irritating the cut while he walks. H is not happy walking with a bandages foot, and I'm wondering what to do. Roots and Pittsburgh are long gone, but then Western stops in for a mid-morning break. He's doing the International AT, past Springer and on into Canada. Wow! While we're talking / signing / writing (W is deaf) H finally gets up to go to the bathroom (err... nearest tree) and we realize the bandage is helping a lot, just feels awkward. Kinda like the first time we strapped on booties to keep the salt from NYC streets in the winter out of his paws. He's walking fine by the time he gets back to the shelter. Sigh of relief!! Still, I'm not entirely happy do decide to do short mileage. Luckily, the town around 7 miles into our day had a veterinarian just a two miles off trail. Bingo! We finally get going around 10:30 and H is dragging me along again. Amazing for a dog that didn't want to get out of bed that morning. A couple hills later (no more sunny meadows, lots of tall trees and leaf litter with rocky soil - made muddy by all the recent rain) and we enter another swamp. This time with a really nice boardwalk and groundskeeper weedwhacking the nearest cattails. Crazy! Actually, it was a pleasant walk, if hot.We found a shady spot and H called a halt right in the middle of the walkway (about 4 ft wide at this point). H laid down to nap while I hung my feet off the edge and ate a clif bar and some chips for lunch. Many passers-by admired and asked about his duct-tape bandaged foot. (gauze pad and roller gauze underneath - no, I did not put duct tape on a raw wound or on his fur!) a nice couple recommended the vet, Dr. Potter. At this point I am unsure if it's necessary because he's been walking so well and not favoring it at all.Finally, naptime is over and H yells 'Let's go, Mom!' in the way only coonhounds can. We saddle up and are on out way out of the swamp. Finally get to a road crossing, and while I try to figure out which road it is (no signs at trail-road intersections, only at road-road intersections), H lays down for a nap. Turns out it was the road I wanted: ice cream 0.1 miles left, Vernon, NJ and the vet 2 miles right. It's 3:00 pm - 7 miles in 3 1/2 hours (not counting the hour nap on the boardwalk) all with a sore foot. We're making good time, and H is still enthusiastic about tracking the trail.Plan is to get ice cream, check out H's foot and determine whether to re-bandage and press on 5 miles to shelter, or walk 2 miles into town and the vet. Just then a nice couple drives in to the parking area for a day hike. They confirm it is NJ-94, and warn me the next mile is a steep climb. Also warn me about thunderstorms that afternoon. My mind is made up: if it were just me I'd press on, but to put H through 5 more miles including a steep climb in a potential downpour is just not something I would do. I start to look up the vet's phone number and places in town to stay when the couple walks back out of the woods and offers us a ride the two miles down the road. Very kind!! They help load H and our gear in the back of the SUV and off we go. (The guy was wearing an RU T-shirt, btw. His daughter went there. Small world.)The vet is awesome. I hand over H's medical records and sign in. (Side note, H has lost 3 lbs. and I've lost 10 over the past week. I'm assured by the vet this is fine and will level off.) They give H water and treats and show me the restroom so I can wash off some of the trail grime. The doctor is ready for us almost before I'm done cleaning up. He cuts the bandage off H's foot and can't even see the sore - it's healed really well! Another big sigh of relief. He says duct tape over gauze was perfect for hiking, better than anything he would have done, and even suggests leaving the bandage off a bit so the feet can dry out (the muddy trails were not nice to H's or my feet!!). I also ask about some red bite marks that look suspiciously like bullseyes. H is up to date on Lyme disease vaccine and is wearing both Frontline and a tick collar, as recommended by the pre-hike vet appointment we had. Dr. Potter confirms it is not Lyme but that chiggers (annoying but harmless insects living in the tall grass) leave a similar bite mark. PHEW!!! Another huge sigh of relief!!! So all my worry was for nothing. Dr. Potter gives H a shot of cortisone to promote healing in the paws (all a little sore) and says enjoy the hike! I ask the receptionist to forward a copy of the doctor's notes to H's home vet, and then try to figure out where we're spending the night. The hostel at the church in town doesn't accept dogs, but the Vernon Fire Department allows camping on the lawn. Apparently there used to be a pavilion hikers could shelter under, but it had been removed. We're still welcome to camp on the lawn, though. A short walk later we're introducing ourselves to the firemen, and see storm clouds on the horizon. (For those of you not from hilly areas like NY or NJ -- cough, cough, DD -- clouds on the horizon arrive in 30 minutes or less, not 3 hours like in some places in the country.) I start setting up the tent, but one of the guys, Patrick, walks up. They've decided it won't do to have this pretty little dog and his owner camp out through the storm. We're invited into the firehouse and can use the meeting room upstairs to lay out our sleeping bag. For H's sake, knowing how he hates thunder, I accept. The AWESOME firemen of Vernon, NJ keep us company, cook us dinner, let me use the shower, and even run to Dairy Queen for ice cream (cookie dough with caramel, of course!), all while responding to a tree down on a truck and some power lines! Thankfully no fires that night. We bed down upstairs around 10 pm. A short mileage day, but a very good day despite, or maybe as a result.41° 11' 54.77" N 74° 28' 58.54" W, 561 ftFor HarveysMom by Harvey's GrandPop