Date: 2018-07-11
From: Pinwheels Vista Wawayanda Mountain

To: Fitzgerald Falls
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: broken clouds

Cole tossed and turned all night last night. The tenting space we were in was very small and our neighbors were literally inches from us. I am afraid that we both kept our camp mates up.What I like about camping with other people is that you can swap ideas and plans for the day. I had not noticed in the AWOL guide that we would be passing a creamery and a hot dotg stand today. Our camp mates had not noticed that we would also be passing by a state park with washroom and outdoor tap. I look forward to small luxuries such as this.I headed out for the day and Cole caught up to me about half a mile before Wawayanda state park. My T-shirt was smelling so bad that I could hardly bear to put it on in the morning. So, after I had used the facilities, I whipped off my shirt and gave it quick wash in the bathroom sink using hand soap. I then put it back on. Almost daily I put on a wet shirt in morning, but it is a sweaty shirt that has not dried over night. It was easy and refreshing to put on a wet shirt that had be hand washed. It was a hot day and it helped to cool my body temperature down. We both also took the opportunity to use the sink to brush our teeth. What luxury.Once we had our water bottles filled we headed back out on the trail. The next destination was the New Jersey New York state line. The AWOL Guide cautioned of a long stretch that although it appeared unassuming on the elevation chart it was actually a series of short but difficult rocky hills. It was very slow going and involved a lot of climbing up and butt scooting down. It was also quite hot because a lot of it was out in the direct rays of the sun. The rocks were big and smooth and round and my feet did not mind them at all.We had our site on hot dogs and ice cream for lunch around 1 PM however because I was so slow on the rocks, the time kept getting pushed back. At 2 o¢clock I realized that the hotdog stand would be closing in one hour. We still had 3.2 miles to go.  ¢Cole, can you go 3.2 miles in under an hour?¢¢Yes!¢I handed him money.¢Go!¢Like a flash he took off.¢Don¢t run on the rocks!¢ I hollard after him. He yelled something back, but I didn¢t hear it.I kept trudging on, not knowing if I would be getting hot dogs or food from my backpack for my next meal. I really hoped for hot dogs. When I reached the hotdog stand, there was Cole waiting with my dogs and coke. He had arrived five minutes before closing time. The gentleman who owns the stand was still there and he put my wieners back in the hot water to warm them up. He also chatted up a storm. He is in his 80s and has been running a hotdog stand for almost 20 years.Five minutes down the road there was a creamery. Once I was done my dogs we headed that way for dessert. It was delicious. The creamery was very hiker friendly and even had a charging station for hikers.It was hard to get moving again but we eventually did. There were more rocks to climb. At one point when I  came up on Cole he was frantically waving his arms and trying to pantomime something. All I could discern was that there was something sleeping that he did not want me to awaken. I creeped up as quietly as I could, but as I peered into the crevice Cole was pointing out to me, a copperhead snake lifted its head and stared me down. Oops! I snapped a photo and we moved on.Our destination was Fitzgerald Falls. I had read on Guthooks  that there were many camping sites. It was correct. Only one was occupied. A father and son had set up a tent and they had a huge fire blazing. It was so hot outside I couldn¢t understand the rationale of the fire and I was a bit worried about all of the dry trees around us. We set up our tent a good distance away. When Cole went out to hang our food in a tree, the father came over to inquire what he was doing. Cole explained it to him. The dad then decided that they would not stay for the night. He said that they would come camping again when they knew more about what they were doing. Eventually they put out the fire and left.As it got dark and we were trying to sleep Cole was disturbed by the many different sounds he heard outside. To him every sound sounded like a bear. All I heard were squirrels in trees and falling nuts and branches. We went out a couple of times to shine our light in the trees, but we never saw anything. It took Cole a very long time to fall asleep.