We woke up finally, though reluctantly, ready to leave NYC. We said goodbye to Luke and took the metro downtown with all our gear. On the metro-car a disgruntled old woman grumbled to Nepsis that her pack could kill someone. We caught our commuter train back to Garrison where we found a cafe to have lunch. We started the long three-mile road out of he town. As we got to the edge of the town Nepsis turned to me and asked if we should hitchhike since this was the last place a car could pull over. Just after she asked a car pulled over and the female driver asked if we wanted a ride back to the Trail. We accepted, happy to not walk that three-mile stretch of road again. We bought a few more resupply items at the gas station next to the Trail and our feet finally took that great path again, our feet happy with the break and in new shoes. We passed by the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center for the fourth and final time and on to new Trail, pretty easy, but feeling a bit difficult with such a long break. Near the end of our hike we saw a paper sign on the Trail near a road indicating there was trail magic at campsite 11 at the nearby state park. We hiked until early evening when it suddenly turned dark and a quick storm broke out above us. We took a side trail in the wetness to a beach on a lake in Clarence Fahnestock State Park. It took us awhile to find the campsites across a road where they had a few spots reserved for thruhikers to stay for free. After setting up our tent we went over to campsite 11 where Joe struggled out of his hammock to give us some soda and sandwiches for dinner and to invite us for breakfast. He was a very kind older Puerto Rican who joked that we had forgot to do our dishes when we left. Back at the tent we fell asleep as a big storm broke out during the night.
Miles hiked today: 13.8 Total AT miles completed: 1419.9 Total AT miles left to hike: 765.4
Day 112
We woke up and walked over to campsite 11 where Joe grilled us delicious eggs and hotdog sandwiches and brewed us camp coffee. After thanking him and packing up our wet tent we headed back to the beach and waited until the little store there opened at 9:30 am to buy icecream sandwiches before getting back on the Trail. The terrain was easy and we reached the RPH Shelter for lunch and to dry out our clothes and shoes. The shelter was a really nice and clean little cabin with a porch, picnic table, and plenty of lawn chairs. We decided there to get a room for the night and called Pine Grove Motel in Poughquag to book a room. We hiked on through easy terrain with just a few little ups and downs. My shoes felt a tiny bit small which didn't bother me too much until going downhill. They were the same size as my last shoes, but I guess my feet grew even bigger with all the hiking. We were getting pretty tired by the end of our hiking day and felt it'd be pretty late by the time we walked the three miles down the road to the motel. We hoped for a miracle and got one for when we got to the road we met two older ladies sitting on the guardrail. They explained that they had slackpacked the day and were staying the night at a trail angel's house and thought he'd be nice enough to give us a ride to the motel. They texted him and he agreed and in a few minutes we were in the back of his car. He had us plug in our phone number I'm his phone so he could text us in the morning and give us a ride back to the Trail as he was giving the ladies a ride back. He dropped us off and we checked into our cheap room before walking down the road to find something to eat. After a bit we found the Rambler's Rest, a very nice Irish restaurant where we ate too much after drinking soda after soda before our food arrived. Back at the motel we rested a bit before going to sleep. The trail angel texted to say he'd be by to pick us up around eight.
Miles hiked today: 17.3 Total AT miles completed: 1437.2 Total AT miles left to hike: 748.1
Day 113
We woke up with just enough time to pack up and try to walk down the road toward the Trail to a gas station to see if they had any denatured alcohol for our stove since we were out. We were just about there when our ride showed up so we dashed inside and when we couldn't find any, got in the car for the ride back to the Trail. Again, the terrain was very easy with just a few small ups and downs. My feet were getting a little more used to the shoes, but still a little uncomfortable. I didn't think my feet would take as graciously to the shoes on the bigger mountains to come in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. At the end of the first down of the day we found the largest oak tree on the Trail, estimated to be over 300 years old. There was a sign indicating trail magic at a pink house just a bit east of the Trail. They offered water and there was a tub left by a local girl scouts troop with some snacks. Back on the Trail, we continued on to NY 22 where we bought cold drinks from a garden center and ate lunch at a table out back they had for thruhikers. We usually keep our Tracfone off for days at a time, but turned it on so Nepsis could work out some details with her dad about her brother's coming out to hike with us for a bit in a few days. We received a text from the trail angel who had just given us the rides, offering to pick us up at six and bring us back to his house for dinner, laundry, showers, and a bed. Recalling the time we declined such an offer in Pearisburg, VA and immediately regretted it, we eagerly agreed and asked if he could pick us up another ten miles down the Trail from where we were. He texted back to say he could and we started hiking again, a skip in our step. We hiked quickly back up a short ways in the mountains and on pretty even ground. At some point the trail angel texted again saying he could pick us up whenever and since we were going so fast we wrote back to say we could be there at 4:30. In a few miles we passed the state line into Connecticut and hiked even faster up the small Ten Mile Hill. We came back down and walked along a river for a bit before crossing over on a bridge and coming out of the woods to our destination, Bulls Bridge Road, a minute or two before 4:30. Our trail angel, Mark, was there to greet us with cold sodas. We started driving the forty-five minutes back to his house, stopping at a few gas stations along the way to try to find the denatured alcohol that we couldn't find that morning. Our last try was at an auto parts store near his house, but they didn't have the right kind. We left defeated, but then casually mentioned most hardware stores carried it and he spun his car around and drove us to the local hardware store that did, indeed, have it. Back at his very nice house we met his wife and he showed us to one of his two guest rooms. He said he'd of offered us a room yesterday, but they were already full. The guest rooms each had a computer, one had a small TV, and one had a bathroom attached. He handed us a laundry basket and we picked out clothes from a shelf in our guest room that he had for thruhikers. He took our laundry while we showered. We emerged for dinner and delicious homemade beer, sitting at the kitchen bar with Mark. He had thruhiked a couple years prior, but was injured before completing it. Since then he has been kindly finding thruhikers and giving them a nice place to stay for a night or two. A bit later this year he plans to finish his hike to Katahdin. After having our fill and talking a bit we went to the guest room to watch some mindless television for a bit while I found and purchased some shoes a half size bigger than the ones I had just gotten, sending them to Nepsis' family so they could bring them to us when they came in a couple of days. Soon, we retreated to the comfy bed for sleep.
Miles hiked today: 18.6 Total AT miles completed: 1455.8 Total AT miles left to hike: 729.5
Day 114
We woke up and emerged from our room to find coffee, tea, and blueberry pancakes made by Mark. After eating and packing up our clean clothes, Mark drove us back to the road he had picked us up at. He gave us a couple sodas to go and we were off. In just over a mile we passed the two-thirds mark of being done with the entire Trail. There were a lot of little ups and downs the first several miles and we the Trail ventured back into New York at one point for a couple of miles before coming back out into Connecticut again. At last we followed a gravel road for a bit on flat ground which led to hiking along a river for several miles before going up Silver Hill. We stopped for dinner at a campsite along the way up that had some picnic tables under a large pavilion. While eating, we noticed in the corner of the rafters a nest with three baby birds sticking their heads out and chirping wildly. Another bird was perched in a nearby tree with something in its beak. We moved our dinner to the picnic table furthest away and soon the bird swooped down to the nest and fed the baby birds who went absolutely nuts. They were very cute to watch. After dinner we climbed over the hill and back down to Guinea Brook where a sign told us we could either ford the brook or take a bypass route totaling a mile. We took off our shoes, put on our crocs, put our shoes in our packs and went for it! It was fun and not too scary. The brook wasn't too high or fast. We finished off the evening with a couple more miles of hiking to Caesar Brook Campsite where we pitched our tent and spent the night.
Miles hiked today: 21.1 Total AT miles completed: 1476.9 Total AT miles left to hike: 708.4
Day 115
We woke up, broke down our tent, and began our hike of small ups and downs for a few miles, including a small section where we had to squeeze through a crack in a large boulder, before heading down to level ground and across a bridge over the Housatonic River. The Trail took us to the small town of Falls Village where we ventured off the Trail a little bit to go to the Toymaker's Cafe. It was a small business that is only open four days a week for breakfast and lunch. They didn't accept credit cards so I had to run a few, long country blocks to the nearest bank to use their ATM. Back at the cafe we got a wonderful lunch and sodas and decided to buy some pastries and cookies instead of going into the next town for a small resupply to cover the next day. Back on the Trail and just out of the town we stopped by the Great Falls for a few minutes before making the gradual climb up Mt. Prospect and found a large rock on top dubbed the Giant's Thumb. After a rest we hiked across the ridge several miles quite quickly until we arrived at the road crossing to Salisbury. Even though we no longer needed to resupply, we decided to go get dinner since we made it there so quickly. It was a half of a mile into the center of town and we found it to be incredibly touristy. People gawked at us as we bought some fancy cheese and bread at one bakery and a lemon cheesecake at the next and sat at some outdoor tables to enjoy our feast. After we stuffed ourselves, we walked back to the Trail and up to Brassie Brook Shelter just past the 1500 mile mark to spend the night. Nepsis experimented with mosquito control by detaching our inner tent from the outer and placing our sleeping system inside the tent in the shelter without the poles. The mesh door was at our heads and she used our packs to try to prop the mesh up a bit, but it still sagged onto our faces during the night. The mosquitoes could not access us, so it may be considered a success, with minor faults of discomfort. Our wearied bodies fell asleep easily anyway.
Miles hiked today: 23.4 Total AT miles completed: 1500.3 Total AT miles left to hike: 685
Day 116
We woke up early, ate our pastries, and hiked quickly the few miles up Bear Mountain. On the way back down we exited Connecticut and entered Massachusetts. We then went across a ridge with excellent views up Mt. Race. We descended that peak to make a steep ascent to Mt. Everett. On our way back down we met several day-hikers and stopped at a parking lot and picnic area to have lunch. There were several gallons of water left as trail magic. We descended the rest of the way to the bottom and hiked quickly through several miles of marshy land, across many small footbridges. In the middle we passed a road with a granite marker indicating where a skirmish during Shay's Rebellion took place. A bit after passing this we crossed through a wet, wooded area particularly infested with swarms of mosquitoes. There were so many, in fact, that Nepsis went a little crazy and sprinted forward in an effort to ditch them when her foot caught a root and she flew through the air, landing hard on her face and cutting her knee pretty bad. After she brushed herself off, we made it to US 7 where we started to hitchhike toward Great Barrington. Almost immediately, a car pulled over. The driver was a woman we had just met hiking down Mt. Everett. She drove us into the touristy city center, to 20 Railroad St, a bar. We arrived just in time to watch the third place match for the World Cup and enjoy a beer. After the match we got some ice cream and sat at a coffee shop for awhile before going to Subway for dinner and finally Dunkin Donuts to wait for Nepsis' dad and brother who were going to pick us up. It took them a few hours more than they had previously stated, but they finally arrived and we packed into their car to be whisked away to a hotel near Albany, about an hour away. The hotel was so far away because her dad had reward points to spend on this particular hotel. We showered and went to sleep in a comfy bed, safe from all mosquitoes.
Miles hiked today: 16.8 Total AT miles completed: 1517.1 Total AT miles left to hike: 668.2
No comments:
Post a Comment