A
’99 thru-hiker staying at the campground offered to give us a ride back
to the trailhead at 6:30 a.m. We took him up on it. Felt great to be
walking by 6:35. Had the whole entire day to bang out 16 miles.
We stopped and ate breakfast on the trail. Then Dave took another break, and I kept going. Not too hot/not too cool -- and I felt good for the first time in a while. Plus, the only time I’m happy with my pace is when no one is in front of me or behind me. I just don’t like to have that pressure of trying to keep up.
Had done 12 miles before noon, which left only four for the rest of the day. We walked .3 miles off the trail to a deli/small grocery store. Got a tuna sub and ketchup chips. When we tried to buy groceries, found out they didn’t take credit cards. Whoops. Had to borrow $10 from Cameron. We just needed enough to get us to Kent (Connecticut) on Saturday.
New York was much better today, terrain-wise. Pretty enjoyable, actually. Found out that the snake I nearly stepped on on the way to Bear Mountain was probably a copperhead.
(I took a step and was about to put my foot down on a stick, but realized it wasn’t a stick. My body was already in motion, so I had no choice but to keep going. I let out a scream, which probably saved me. Did I somehow know instinctively that this was a dangerous snake? Called Dave over to take a look, after I had calmed down. Guess I was lucky!)
Spent a good four hours at the deli. I even took a brief nap on the lawn. Couldn’t seem to get the right temperature, though. Really nice, easy walk to the shelter.
We stopped and ate breakfast on the trail. Then Dave took another break, and I kept going. Not too hot/not too cool -- and I felt good for the first time in a while. Plus, the only time I’m happy with my pace is when no one is in front of me or behind me. I just don’t like to have that pressure of trying to keep up.
Had done 12 miles before noon, which left only four for the rest of the day. We walked .3 miles off the trail to a deli/small grocery store. Got a tuna sub and ketchup chips. When we tried to buy groceries, found out they didn’t take credit cards. Whoops. Had to borrow $10 from Cameron. We just needed enough to get us to Kent (Connecticut) on Saturday.
New York was much better today, terrain-wise. Pretty enjoyable, actually. Found out that the snake I nearly stepped on on the way to Bear Mountain was probably a copperhead.
(I took a step and was about to put my foot down on a stick, but realized it wasn’t a stick. My body was already in motion, so I had no choice but to keep going. I let out a scream, which probably saved me. Did I somehow know instinctively that this was a dangerous snake? Called Dave over to take a look, after I had calmed down. Guess I was lucky!)
Spent a good four hours at the deli. I even took a brief nap on the lawn. Couldn’t seem to get the right temperature, though. Really nice, easy walk to the shelter.
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| Blur at rest |
Would have been a good day to keep walking. Might do 20 tomorrow instead. We’ll see what the terrain is like, and the weather, and how we’re all feeling.
I love that you're sleeping with your boots on! Hee hee. At least your pack is off :)
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