Date: 2014-07-25
From: High Point Shelter

To: Vernon NJ
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: few clouds

It was so cool when we got up this morning, Gazelle put on a jacket. We have had some wonderful cool mornings lately. There was also a good breeze blowing during the morning hours of my hike. It would have been chilly if not for my exertion. The route for the morning passed through some fields and by ponds with terrain conducive to fast walking.I was having a text conversation with a friend who said she wished she could feel the air. I replied: "Almost chilly with soft breeze in the shade of the forest but kissed by warm sunshine whenever I cross the meadow."I mentally marked this date as the first day I have found ripe blackberries! In Kentucky they ripen by the Fourth of July. Evidently, they were in a southern facing field and also in the valley. They were nice large juicy berries. A couple of handfuls made a good morning snack. I have had some dewberries occasionally as well as wild blueberries. The dewberry vines are not heavy bearing and the blueberries are tiny, so they don't provide a lot of food quickly. I watched the rest of the day and saw no more ripe blackberries.I stopped in Unionville, NY for lunch at Annabele's Pizza. I am not finished with New Jersey yet, but the trail meanders over the New York Border occasionally. The trail roughly parallels this town, so after lunch I yellow blazed out to where the trail enters the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge and continued along the perimeter for almost 2 miles.After lunch, I could feel a couple of hotspots on my left foot. First I changed socks but after a mile it was no better, so I sat down on a bench by the Wallkill River where a man was fishing and applied some moleskin to the blisters.(Since the Wallkill River flows north into the Hudson River, somewhere in the last couple of days I passed over the drainage divide separating the Hudson Valley and the Delaware Valley.)I was expecting easy walking the rest of the day to complete my Twenty Mile journey to St. Thomas Episcopal Church Hikers Hostel, Vernon, NJ. It was a different story for the afternoon. First, the painful blisters developed and I had to focus my mind on other things. The wetlands of the preserve were interesting with all the bird sightings. Most notably, I saw the first Kingfisher I have seen in a long time. Next to come was Pochuck Mountain. It was no secret because the 800 foot climb was indicated in the AWOL Guidebook. I had assumed after the smooth valley walking of the morning this section would be the same and had not looked at the guide. It was a good stiff climb with the last 100 feet a real rock scramble. Also, the morning breezes had died down on this south facing ridge. On the other side, it was cool and shady however.After the ridge the trail crossed a large wetland on a 0.6 mile long board walk. I would love to live near something like this to visit and watch nature. A lot of locals were out for a walk on the boardwalk and every time they passed, I noticed how good they smelled. I wondered if they noticed how bad I smelled after 3 days with no shower.The road crossing for the highway into Vernon was in a blind curve, so I began walking to a better place for someone to be able to stop and give me a ride. After just half of a mile, I found a curve with a pullover beside it and a clear vision of the road ahead. Just as I was getting ready to cross over, a man named Bob stopped and asked if I were headed to St. Thomas. He dropped me off right at the church. I really appreciated the two mile ride because of the pain of walking.I have had such good luck with rides, I am yet to have to stick out my thumb beside the road. I feel it coming in NY where it is prohibited.I had merely to walk a block from the hostel to Paesano Pizza for dinner and then across the street to the mini-mart for a pint of Cherry Garcia. The personal pizza was large enough to take half back for lunch on Saturday.