Date: 2016-06-02
From: Graymoor Spiritual Center

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that we saw two copperheads while climbing Bear Mountain. I saw them first and instead of my usual overreaction just calmly said, "Kelly, snake". So Santa asked if I was okay or a little brain dead because I was so calm. I told him I was just getting braver.Last night it was amazing to hear the bells from the monastery play. It was very soothing as we drifted off to sleep.Today's hike wasn't difficult- the elevation gain and loss was reasonable and it wasn't too rocky but we both felt tired. Chatting with other thru hikers tonight it seems most of us are feeling the same way. The heat is taking its toll on all of us. The heat wave will break, hopefully, with the rain that's coming in tonight.We stopped for lunch and to get potable water at a pump building. It's been great having water multiple days that didn't have to be treated. While we were eating lunch we saw a group of 5th graders with their teachers. They are from the Bronx and got a grant for outdoor education. The group camped last night and were hiking today. A first for all the kids. One of the teachers had thru hiked in 2009. She reassures me that my feet will recover- it may just take a long time.The rest of the day was a nice walk through old growth forests and dome flat rock walking above tree line but it wasn't unbearably hot so it was nice. There is an American flag painted on one of the rocks from 9/11.We got to the RPH shelter and found Sorority Steve, Has No Horse, QB and three other thru hikers (I can't remember their names). We ordered 2 spaghetti and meatball dinners with salads from the pizza place that delivers to this shelter. I couldn't finish mine but one of the young thru hikers took care of it for me. I am packing out the salad for lunch tomorrow. QB thinks a reason I could be so tired is that I am not eating enough. But it's hard to eat when it's so hot and you are so tired. But Santa asked me to try harder, so I will.Santa had a tough day and he never does. His feet are really hurting and he's tired. I think our first double zero will be good for both of us. We just have to hike 20 miles in the rain tomorrow to where our girls will pick us up. Hopefully walking in the rain will help with the hiker stench!We had met QB at Delaware Water Gap when she was eating breakfast with Brightside, Quick and Ghost . We next met her briefly in Stroudsburg and saw her again yesterday near the zoo. She's at the shelter tonight waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up for a weekend away from the trail. She had 44 more miles to hike to finish the AT and then she's going out to Washington to finish her PCT hike. She's a very interesting young woman with fascinating stories and encouraging words for other thru hikers.It's been weird not being with Ghost, Brightside, Cabot and Hobbes. I hope we all can get back in sync when we get back to the trail. We also miss Cocoa Ken a lot. He made a good decision to rest and slow down so he could continue hiking. And his girlfriend has joined him and they are having fun hiking together.Off to sleep because we are starting our day super early (for us) so we can see our girls!