Date: 2003-06-29
From: US206/Milford/Port Jervis 

To: NJ23 
Miles today: 14.3

Well, I did it. For the first time, I did it. And I liked it. ... I slackpacked today. It's the fault of my dad and brothers though. THEY wanted to dayhike. THEY wanted to hike on the AT. Okay, I could've carried my full pack anyway. But I didn't. I wanted a break. My pack came along, but my tent and sleeping pad did not.We took a taxi from our ending point, High Point State Park, to US206 at Culvers Gap. It was a longer ride than it should've been, but the price was right: $20 for four of us. When we got to Worthington Bakery, at 9:15, Hotdog was just getting up to leave, and we joined him, headed north. About 2 miles into the hike, we came to the Culver Fire Tower. We took a break there, and enjoyed the views.Dan, Bryan and Pa were enthusiastic about hiking with me, and asked a lot of questions while we were hiking. Bryan was carrying a small pack with water and some snacks, and Pa and Dan each carried my pack, containing lunch and some of my gear. They wanted to carry my pack, so I let them.They got a look at an AT shelter, Gren Anderson Shelter, and all three walked down to the spring with me as well. The next stop was the pavilion at Sunrise Mountain. The view was good, both to the east and the west. They all enjoyed the views a lot, and it reminded me of my first few weeks on the trail. All day, I enjoyed the slower pace, and taking time to look around. I haven't been doing that lately, partially due to lack of views (in PA), and partially because I had to concentrate on my foot placement so much. I need to look around more, and enjoy the scenery. It's what I enjoy, and one reason I'm out here hiking.We had lunch at Mashipacong Shelter, despite all the ticks crawling around. I haven't stayed in a shelter in a while, and I'm not too thrilled about the idea of ticks crawling all over me while I sleep. I've had a lot of ticks on me lately, but just on my legs, and usually not 'dug in', but I don't know about laying in the shelters since we saw about 6 ticks while there for lunch. This shelter had a 5-star privy! It was clean, and had TP. As a bonus, it had a hand sanitizer dispenser, although empty. What a great surprise!We headed north, looking for bears the whole way. We'd heard from several hikers that between US206 and NJ23, they saw bears, so I thought our chances were pretty good. We saw none. But we did see bear tracks just south of the High Point State Park Visitor Center at US23, and two section hikers in front of us saw that bear. Just my luck! We got to the Visitor Center thirsty, and with sore feet, but in good spirits. We offered Hotdog a ride to town for some food, and he accepted, and ended up at the same hotel as us.I really enjoyed hiking with Pa, Dan and Bryan today. It helped remind me of the beauty in nature, in the little things. And it made me realize, once again, just how fortunate I am to be doing this. Lately, I have been putting in the miles, but not necessarily enjoying the adventure as much as I should be. I need to change that. I have plenty of time to get to Katahdin, and need to do what I need to, to enjoy this as much as I can. It won't be long and I'll be wondering where the time, and the miles, have gone. I have a lot of miles left, and they will offer me things I've never seen. I'm looking forward to that.