Date: 2004-04-29
From: Pochuck Shelter

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 23.8
Weather: few clouds

Log entry: 89Start time: 0845End time: 1850Morning weather: Sunny and mildAfternoon weather: Sunny and warm, upper 70s maybeEvening weather: Clear and still warmBreakfast: Chocolate CIB, Nutty bar, 2 OCPsLunch: Cookies and cream ice cream cone, cookies, and chocolate milk from Heaven Hill Farm, later candy barsD-Lipton Noodles Sour Cream and Chives with a pouch of chicken mixed in.Delicious. Also hot chocolate and peach tea.Trail description: I kissed New Jersey goodbye and all the fun starts in New York. New Jersey was okay. Smiley was telling me last week that he read on some internet poll of "Your favorite AT state" and the results were as expected, Maine, then Virginia, then New Hampshire, then he thought came New Jersey. If that is the case I think the ballot must have been too confusing. Anyways once you cross into NY you walk a ridge which open, exposed, slick rock. There are trees most of the way around but some very impressive views. The trail does a lot of short steep technical climbs and then drops down again. Slow going but dare I say my favorite stretch so far? The whole 8 mile strech to the shelter was cool. I hope the portion I walk with my parents is that cool.People: Skip (owner of "Callie"), Dominick (sp?) the trail runner, misc otherdayhikers, Louboy who is out doing a weeklong hikeAnimals: Lots of squirrels, 2 garter snakes. Snakes are so cool. I pulled a dog tick off my right calf. If someone out there would send me an email in 3 weeks reminding me to "check for a bullseye" around the bite site, much appreciated.Money spent: $3.83 for snacksComplaints: More bouts of depression, I'll tell you all about them...Thoughts: Just a quick note to say that I am thinking I might ramble a bit tonight but that I am doing it for my own personal sake, since it is my journal and I want to have as detailed a memory of my hike as possible. The good with the bad.Here's a quick outline of my days events:*I didn't get much solid sleep as Callie the stray dog spent the night with mein the shelter and found it necessary to lick my face every 2 hours. Seriously.If I was less of a man or not a dog person... I was hopeing she would wanderhome during the night but she made her presence known and followed me north inthe morning. As I was preparing my breakfast I finally was able to get the phone number off her tags and leave a message with the owner's answering machine.About 10 minutes into my walk the morning silence was shattered with "Callie!".So I followed the shouts and met with Skip, peach of a guy, and all is now well.*I talked a bit with Dominick who was out doing some trail running. He was acool dude.*Heaven Hill Farm has great ice cream and cold water.*There was a 4 mile stretch today between Wawayanda shelter and the NJ-NY borderthat I felt strong as I did before Harpers Ferry. I just have not had the samespring in my legs since coming back from Easter. The only thing I can blame iton is the heavy leather boots. Anyways for that 4 mile stretch I whipped up anddown the hills. But...*After crossing into NY I was still flying high but going slow due to thetechnical nature of the trail. The thru-hikers handbook which I have been usingand love doesn't give much detail of the 6 miles between the border and themajor road crossing NY17A. So when I stopped at 1715 and could not figure outwhere exactly I was or how far I had to go I got frustrated. The math just cameout wrong. It is usually very easy to find out where I am by using my camera,guidebook, and maps. If I can't remember the exact time I passed a certainwaypoint I simply look at the last pictures I took on my digital camera's LCDscreen. They are time and date stamped. For instance today I know I passed over the state line at 14:43 when I took a picture of it. So I 17:15 when I stopped to check my progress I figured the 2.5 hours since the line I should be at least 6 miles past which would put NY17A within about a tenth of a mile. When another 45 minutes until I passed the road I was just flabbergasted that I was making such poor time. By 1900 I was sitting in the shelter, just thinking...It is hard to descibe the mood I was/am in. This is the best I can convey, I amnot sure if you weren't an athlete in high school that this will make any senseat all. But I am sure you have had a similar experience somepoint in your life.I was thinking back to my days as a varsity basketball player. Specifically thetime in the locker room immediately after a long, tough practice. Theunderclassmen would all hurry to shower and get home to homework and girlfriendsbut the seniors would always hang around longer anyways. And after a toughpractice we would just sit. I can still picture exactly where Jeremy Lubberswould sit, then David O and Perdok close by. And Cody and I over on our leg ofthe bench. None of us saying a word. All with thousand yard stares. Sometimeswords just get in the way. After about 20 minutes, a curse word would break thesilence as someone slid off a sweaty sneaker. About this time Coach would leavehis office and do one of 3 things. Not say a word and leave. Say somethingsimple like, "Pack it up boys", which would get us to stir. Or he might find aseat on the bench with us and just sit.Thats what I did when I got into the shelter tonight. There is a wooden benchwhere I sat for almost 45 minutes. I took my heavy boots and damp socks off and just sat. The euphoria of "thru-hiking" got lost somewhere in the PA rocks. My mind then drifted to thinking about how in a little over 7weeks this is all going to be over. Snap, poof, done. Hiking won't be the same.I won't be the same. I just want to soak as much in these last 7 weeksbecause I won't ever experience anything like this again. One more flashbackbefore I go tonight.The other time in my life when I just didn't feel like talking and just wantedto "soak it all in" came after my last football game my senior year. We lost bad to Godwin Heights and afterwards in the locker room I remember going into the "team room" part which had more lockers, chalkboards, and benches. I sat down on the bench in front of my locker from my Freshman year. There were other seniors in there too. I wish I remembered everyone but I specifically remember Ryan Vanwieren sitting diectly across from me. We all sat in silence, once in a while Ryan and my eyes would catch and we would burst into tears. We were tough kids and everyone in that locker room late that Friday evening was in shambles too.Coach Stehle walked through and sat down for a while but didn't say anything.What do you say to a balling 18 year old? Like most of the seniors there I was still in full pads, pants, and cleats. Ididn't want to take off my shoulder pads because I knew that when I did, it wasofficially all done. Never again would I slip shoulder pads on. Or methodically slid the pads in my game pants. I would wear my cleats again but never would I get my ankles taped by Coach Spotts or Arnold. That same "never" again feeling crept through me on the bench in the shelter tonight. There is going to come a day this June where "Officer Taco" will drop his pack and become "Benjamin, class of '04, now weekender". As long, arduous, and painful the next 7 weeks are, I am going to do my best to soak in those emotions because no doubt they will never be repeated again.