Date: 2014-06-18
From: rt 206 branchville, nj

To: murray property
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I slept great on a real bed last night and had a nice eggy sandwich for breakfast courtesy of Jon. I had lunch all ready to go courtesy of Dini, two peices of chicken parm and a half of a loaf of bread! It was a nice ride back to the trail, i like sitting and seeing the countryside, its not so bad. It was nice to see family and not that easy to get back going. Swollen feet seem to be the new thing right now. Its not bad while walking but after they puff up. Im sure its not out of the norm. I got back to the trail at 8:30 and headed off toward maine. It was a nice morning, warm already but a breeze to make it more bareable. Shortly onto the trail i saw another black bear, the third day i have been in nj and the third day i have seen a bear. This one was a pretty big one, he just ambled away to look for breakfast someplace else. Not far after the bear i came across a porkypine, the first on the trail. He didnt look real healthy but he did manage to stick his quills up at me. I took a couple pictures and headed on my way. I hoped the porky would recover from what was the matter with him. Maybe it was too long of a night and he had a hangover. A few miles after that i spotted a momma turkey and her little baby chickens with her. She had four babies chasing her as she walked away from me. This was a good morning for seeing wildlife, all sorts were on display this morning. About five miles in i came to the sunrise mt pavillion and met two guys that were staying at a cabin down the hill. I talked with them a bit, got some scoop and rolled on. I didnt really know where i was going today and hadnt even looked over my guide too well, i would figure it out when the time came. I got to the next shelter where i saw hikermonkey. We seem to bump onto eachother now and again which is good. I signed the logbook so people behind would know where i was and went to check out the big water jug on the bear box. Sometimes people will leave water out for us since it is scarse. Someone had left it but it was empty, sad. I had enough but would have liked a bit more. Next wate was 5.5 miles away but it would be a guaranteed source at the port jervis welcome cntr. When i got there hikermonkey was just sitting down to eat his lunch and said to go inside and tell the people you are a thru hiker, they give you a free soda! I marched right in, the lady asked if i was looking for soda. Yes ma'am! How cool is that? I sat, ate chicken parm and had a mt dew to go along with it. People were a bit jealous of my lunch, real food, and good too. I loaded up with water from the faucet and headed back down the trail. At the high point st park there is a huge monument on the highest point in nj. It was .3 off the trail so i decided to slip over and check it out even though the lady at the welcome center said it was not open, i could still walk up and see the outside. Of course being the highest point meant that it was all uphill to get there. It was worth going to see and the fact that i was the only one there made it that much better. Its a 220' stone tower that looks like the washington monument and is dedicated to veterans. It is quite impressive and looked great against the blue sky. While i talked to hikermonkey at lunch he told me of this murray property but it didnt give a price so we werent sure exactly what it was. We both thought it was worth checking out. The next 6 miles were walking through woods and crossing country roads. Nice walking but it had gotten real warm and the breeze had gone. I was glad to get to the gravel driveway to the murrays. I walked up to see was it was. This murray fella has a cabin, outside shower, privy, running water, and electricity at this place and he lets you stay for nothing. He doesnt even live there. He comes over once in a while to check and talk to the hikers. Again, this is amazing how much peiple do for us. The sky looked great so i set up my tent with no rain fly. It was so warm i wanted to be as cool as possible. We cooked dinner on the porch of the cabin and were eating when the owner came by. Hes obviously a nice fella and asked us all how we were doing and talked about the trail. It was only hikermonkey, chocolate+cheese, and i. Choc and cheese are a couple from switzerland. Once dinner was over it was time for bed. We all retired to our tents for the night. I was sleeping along nicely when i woke to flashing lights. What was that? Lightning. Scrambled out to get my fly on quick and piled back into bed. Never a dull moment on the trail. No worries though, the rain was on the outside. I was again cozy in my little shelter. I had it made.