Date: 2005-07-17
From: Gateway Motel

To: PIKERS HOUSE CHESTER NJ
Miles today: 16.0

Once again we find ourselves in the middle of a disasterous situation, but I will get to that later.       My parents showed up right on time and even brought us some pizza which is one of my favorite breakfast foods. We were delighted to see Casey (our dog) come trotting over to give us kisses. She looked really excited to get hiking. Our last real hike with her was a thirty mile day hike in Oregon that took us around eleven hours. She has years of trail experience and is always a joy to hike with. The crew geared up for the sixteen mile slack pack, we carried our packs empty except for food and water. The hike started with a very, very steep climb that took us up onto a ridgeline. From there it was very rocky but nice and level. I noticed Casey was panting much harder than normal so we took a break and she seemed to be fine. After a few more miles the rain started and we came to a boulder field. I was the first one to wipe out on the rocks and got a nice laceration on my arm. When wet these boulders are as slippery as ice and people go down. This turned into one of the hardest bouldering sections we have encountered and we had to pass Casey down them so we could go on. She was becoming more lethargic so I dedided to slow things up a little. I gave the car keys to Warlock and Squid so they could go at there own pace and wait at the car. Mileage and I walked slower with Case and the trail got much easier. It became more of a fire road and we only had about 3 easy miles left when Casey collapsed. Her breathing seemed rough and she refused to walk. We sat down on the trail with her so she could rest when a major rain storm hit. Sheets of rain were coming down and the road was becoming a river. I tried to carry casey but she is seventy pounds and it was to awkward to hold her and try to hike thru the mud and rocks. We sat again and things were starting to feel pretty desperate when I had an idea, maybe I could load her carefully into the empty gregory pack. I lifted the dog like a baby under her armpits and Mileage worked the large pack up her body until she was in up to her neck. It didn't constrict her breathing so as a team we lifted the pack carefully onto my shoulders and I sinched the hip belt on very tightly. The rain was coming down so hard that it was hard to see, there was literally inches of rain water flowing down the trail. Our happy little slackpack day turned into a rescue mission. The pack rode ok but cut into my shoulders due to the seventy plus pounds I was now carrying. Mileage was very supportive and walked right by my side warning me of dangerous rocks and sink holes. I could feel the skin on my feet sliding off with each step but all I cared about was getting casey out of the woods. Mileage informed me that Casey seemed to be enjoying the ride, good for her. We finially made it to the car and Squid and Warlock rushed over to help me get the pack off safely. Casey was ok, just completely wiped out. We loaded up the car and Mileage drove us to my house. When we got there we had the most wonderfull dinner waiting for us. A whole beef tenderloin, a great salad, creamed spinach, and a bunch of other stuff. It was great after the hell we had just been thru. We all ate as a family and talked about our day. It was our last night with warlock because he had just finished his 500 plus mile section hike and his parents would be picking him up a noon the next day. We decided that we had to go into NYC. It was about 9 oclock but we were ready to roll. We jumped into the pathfinder and cruised in. First we went into the village and parked. They wanted to check out washington square park so we strolled around there for a little while. As we sat and talked on a park bench a couple of drug dealers started having a territorial dispute and it looked like they were about to start shooting each other, we got up and left. Next we got some drinks at one of my favorite bars I used to go to on Cristopher street, we told the bartender that we had just come from the woods and she thought that was really cool. The night was still young so we drove over to Groud Zero so the boys could see it. It was their first time and it is still always wierd for me to see that big hole in the ground. Times square brewery was next on the agenda. How strange it is to live in the woods for 4 months and then find yourself in a watering hole in a city with about 10 million other people. We decided to call it a night and didn't get home till about sunrise. What a day and night. The AT experience continues!                              PIKER