Date: 2006-05-07
From: Wawayanda Shelter

To: Greenwood Lake, NY
Miles today: 7.1

No way it was 7.1 miles, it felt like twice that! Woke this moning to foggy breath. The reason that it is this cold, (the coldest night since I've been on the trail)is becuase at my last mail drop I pulled my sleeping bag liner out of my pack since I havn't used it thus far, (silk sleeping bag liners increases a sleeping bag rating by about 5-8 degrees). Well it probably weighs all of 5 ounces, but ounces add up to pounds! So into the box it went. So a chilly and sleeples night it was, not because of the cold, but more about that later.Todays hike was in my top 5 list of most extreme. While very mellow in elevation change, it was very technical (read HARD), in terms of terrian. A combination of feet numbing rocks, combined with boulder scrambling, (those rock climbing classes are paying off!) absolutly gassed me. I was toying with the idea of going into a town at the bottom of this mountain, at the edge of a lake called Greenwood Lake yesterday, as I was getting low on fuel for my stove. A couple out for a day hike were talkng about the great food at a resturant down there called the Breezy Point Inn, and it had rooms as well! Having long ago in my early trail travels learned that coincidences do occur, but more frequently, messages are given, I listened to this message as a confirmation of my thoughts from yesterday and headed down a side trail into Greenwood.Now, how do I find Breezy Point Inn without walking in circles all evening? The answer appears at first in the form of a question, "Hey, where are you from?" I turn to face my inquisitor, and see a young lady completly decked out in "Goth" attire, long baggy black pants that drag on the ground, black t-shirt so covered in cat or dog hair you could barely make out what was written on it, a spike colar around her neck and a lip piercing, done in the shape of a circular arrow the thickness of a nail, that hurt just looking at it. I told her I was an A.T., hiker and I was trying to find a place called Breezy Point. "C'mon", she says, "I don't live to far from it, I'll walk you there". Coincidence?As we walk along I learn her name is Ashly, she stays to herself pretty much as her appearance disturbs poeple, and for the most part, that's OK for her because there is not much for kids to do in this small town except drinking and fighting, neither of which she wants to be involved in. Talks about the thought of hiking the trail but is terrified by bears. I try to assure her that i have met lot's of young ladies on the trail and if it is truly a dream of hers, to hold onto it, and tell her it took me a long time, but I am finally doing it. She listens with interest, but I don't know if I made the sell...And before I knew it, she had me at the Inn, we shook hands, and back into our worlds we went. I was thinking later on, what a sight we probably made to the oncoming motorists, a geezer with a pack on his back, and her in her attire... Thanks Ashly!!!So I get checked in, all the while trying to maintain a respectful distance so as not to make the receptionsit pass out, shower and have a beer or two, and a great steak dinner.Oh, and the sleeping last night? When I arrived at the shelter, maybe about 7, there was a hiker sitting at the picnic table (section hiking Southbound), that said while he was sitting there eating, a bear was wondering around, not 20 yards from where we were. I put my tent back in my pack, deciding there was strength in numbers if I stayed in the shelter with him. Shouldn't have worried. As soon as he conked out, it began. Shelters are made from pretty heavy timber, so as to last over a long period of time, and thus are very sturdy. The noise eminating from his nasal cavity was such the that wood in the shelter vibrated, 3 tylenol PM's couldn't drown him out, and I was on the verge, at about 2 AM of setting up my tent, assured that any wildlife on 2 or 4 legs had left the 1\4 mile vicinity, but somehow I finally dozed off, at last.....