Date: 2018-06-13
From: RPH Shelter

To: NY route 52 mile 1424.1 Stormville
Miles today: 5.1

I slept very well last night even though we were close to the road and could hear it. I got up at 4 to use the privy and crawled back into my tent for a little more sleep. Just before 6am I did my morning yoga and stretched my feet. I could hear other hikers in their tents packing up just as I was around 6:30 and then I heard the rain start and the cuss words too. Just 10 more minutes and we would have packed up dry tents. Damn! I took down my tent from inside and under the rainfly so at least it stayed dry. I stowed it in my pack in it's stuff sack and I put the wet rainfly in the outside mesh pocket on my pack where I keep my sandals and my tent poles. It was a passing shower and gone already but the damage was done. I joined many of the other hikers at the picnic tables and had a cold breakfast. Achilles came out and scored some peanut butter from a hiker who was tired of carrying a heavy jar of it and was eager to share. I set out at 7:45 with River very shortly behind me. Today I need to stop at the post office (PO) in Stormville NY to get my resupply. The PO is 1.7 miles west of the trail on route 52. There's a deli east of the trail .4 and we'll meet there, charge our phones and get a ride to the PO. River caught up with me before the road to the deli. Her right knee has been a little "bitchy" as she calls it. Yesterday she called her physical therapist and got some advice. Today it's causing her some sharp pains in the knee cap. Not consistently but it's bothersome. We walked to the deli together and put our packs down near the picnic table out back for hikers. I filled my water bottles from the spicket there and we plugged our nearly dead electronics into the outlet. The deli is hiker friendly and provide these amenities as do several other businesses close to the AT. We are often made aware thru Guthooks or AWOL guide. River went inside first and grabbed some hot food from today's selection and a cold drink. While she was gone Webster arrived upset that neither the deli or the pizza place had a bathroom. He was quite upset. It made me wonder how he hiked from GA to NY and if he was carrying a virgin trowel. When River returned to the table with her loot I went inside and grabbed mashed potatoes and sausage with peppers and onions as well as a Snapple raspberry iced tea. Almost as soon as I arrived at the picnic table it began to rain again. We adorned ourselves in raingear and River rigged up her trekking umbrella over the area of the outlet so we could continue charging. We ate in our raingear at the picnic table and thought nothing of it. Life on the trail. Eventually the rain stopped and we took care of our trash I went inside to see about a taxi to the post office. The younger of the cashiers was helping me with phone books when Lilly, the other cashier, asked me where I needed to go and I told her the post office. She said if I could wait until 2pm she'd drop us off. While we waited the 45 minutes for Lilly we decided we should call this day a nero and get a room. We could do laundry, shower and rest River's knee. River made the calls and got us a room in nearby New Hope. From the PO after I collected my resupply box and the clerk helped me rescue a stranded box I bounced back in NJ we Ubered over to our motel and checked in. The room was 2nd floor, huge and newly renovated. It had a dinette table, microwave and fridge. I sorted out my resupply almost crying at how much food there was and the weight. Gosh I dreaded carrying all this! It's 5 days of food and I only wanted 3. I let River do a little shopping in my extras. She was appreciative as always. We showered and I dried my rainfly in the back parking lot.Once all that was done and River iced her knee we walked almost next door to Plated and had a great dinner while trying to get a shuttle driver to slack pack us tomorrow. We could hike and it would be easier on River's knee plus I've been struggling with low energy since last Friday. I feel like I'm hauling a team of oxen up these mountains! I'm dreading the weight of my food bag! We have no shame when trying to get a shuttle and I asked our server Travis if he's working tomorrow. He is, at 4pm but he knows another server who is off and might do it. Unfortunately Matt never responded to the texts. We finished dinner by sharing a tortupa and went across the street to the convenience store. We've decided we'll share the 7 oz package of chicken that was in my resupply box at lunch but we'll need mayo. I scored 4 mayo packets and River bought a coffee. Back in our room and still desperate for a slack pack I called a number for Julio's taxi that I got from some notes in Guthooks under Pawling NY. It's 10:30 and English is Julio's 2nd language but I get it worked out for 8:30am. Whew! It's late so I brushed my teeth and crawled into bed. River is still up but that won't bother me.