Date: 2020-08-21
From: Gren Anderson Shelter

To: Pochuck Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 25.4
Weather: clear sky

Sometime before dawn a hiker walked by the shelter to get water, but I barely stirred. But at 6:30 Ducky's husband Chatterbox walked in to surprise her. He drove through the night from York, Pennsylvania to support her last two days on trail. Their two little terriers Lulu (Muddy Butt from jumping in the streams) and Cody (Muddy Paws) explored the shelter and got me up. Ducky needs to get back on Monday to drive a school bus, as most kids in her district are going back to school.Chatterbox brought McDonald's and gave me a breakfast biscuit as well as a liter of Gatorade to, as Ducky said, make up for waking me up last night with all his calls. Good trade, I think. Thanks, Chatterbox!I hiked into the cool morning air - though not as cool as yesterday - about twelve miles to High Point State Park. Followed a very rocky trail through dense brush to the beach on Marcia Lake and had a refreshing swim. Dozens of families were set up on the lawn, swimming, fishing, and picknicking. Plus the snack bar was open! The lady there was very friendly. When I asked where to dispose of the trash from my hot dog, soft pretzel, soda, and ice cream pop she pointed to yellow bags and explained the park requires visitors to pack it out. "That's alright," I said. "I'm hiking so I'm used to that." "Oh! You're a hiker?" she perked up. "Then I'll take your trash! And you can fill up on water here and you can use the showers. We get a lot of hikers through here." So it was well worth the side trip.Later I passed a woman with two large dogs coming down to Greenville Road, and found a cooler marked "Trail Magic". That's three times in one day! This is the first cooler I've run across that actually had anything in it. Gatorade, V8, peanut butter crackers, Oreos, Cheetos, and two flavors of applesauce. I downed a Gatorade and slurped up an applesauce before moving on, being sure to text a thank you to the trail angels who left it.Skirted a series of pastures, where I heard only the sound of crickets. Orange and black butterflies danced and flitted around me. This section wound past bucolic fields, marshes with bog bridges and wildflowers, old barns, and undisturbed backroads.I found the "secret shelter" and made a friend in year-round resident Jake the donkey. He seemed to really like me, or maybe it was just my Chex mix. But he also eats grass, so he's not that picky. The property owner Jim, a thruhiker from '89, is very generous in opening the shelter and water spigot to passing hikers.Hiked another mile and a half to Unionville. There I shipped my defective Big Agnes AXL sleeping pad back to REI at the post office, then stopped for dinner at Annabel's pizza joint. Very busy on a Friday evening.Walked the road out of town to meet the trail a mile down. It was very narrow and had occasional high speed traffic. I don't recommend it. Jump on the trail in town - it follows an old rail bed for much of the way out.As I was climbing up from Oil City Rd I scared up a small adult bear. He scampered a ways then looked back. I took out my camera and he scampered further. I don't know how anyone gets a good shot of one of these guys without a telephoto lens or a death wish.The sun was low in the sky as I walked around Wallkill Preserve, giving everything a golden glow. Swans and egrets floated on the shimmering water. A man walking his dog chatted me up and told me not to miss camping at the Warwick Drive-In. Hmm. Wasn't in my plan, but it sounds interesting. If I don't do that kind of thing on a thruhike when would I ever do it?Got water from the spigot of an abandoned house owned by the park service on the way up Pochuck Mountain. It's the official water source for the shelter. A 2015 thruhiker named Troutman was already in the shelter, and two tents were nearby. Troutman is a near grandmaster chess player and makes a living off tournaments and teaching. Looks to be in his mid-twenties. Turns out he was the guy who passed my shelter early this morning. The shelter was lousy with mosquitos so I cut the evening short and buried myself in my sleeping bag liner. Even got up an hour later to spray on Picaridin to ward off the bloodsuckers. Warm night.