Jun 26 - New Jersey

DAY #100
START LOCATION: Gren Anderson Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: Unionville, New York
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 20.1
TRIP MILEAGE: 1,335.9
MILES TO GO: 843.2

The other shelterer woke me up at 5:15AM. He was getting ready to
leave. Thanks to the summer solstice, it's light out at 5:15. I
proceeded to answer the call and went right back to sleep until
6:45AM. It was glorious sleep. I filled my camp water tank with a
gallon out of the spring. I wasn't allowed to leave until it was
empty. I was alone now and not making much ruckus while I sat eating
breakfast. I hoped the quiet and food aromas might attract the bears.
I knew they were nearby. They'd been there yesterday according to the
other shelterer. But, to no avail.

I hiked briskly to Mashipacong Shelter. This is one of the few
shelters that has no water source. As I pulled in, I saw empty gallon
jugs. It was the trail magic water that Panda, Smoke and I had
purchased and they'd left two days before. It was ok. I'd figured the
water would be gone, so I planned my water accordingly from the last
source. I sat and enjoyed my lunch. Well, after 15 minutes I was
almost ready to pack up. Up walks two young girls, a middle aged guy
and an older fellow. They brought a weedwhacker and a lawn mower...
Ah, the shelter maintainers. They also were carrying a couple gallon
jugs of water. I'd get some trail magic water after all. Barry and
Rich Clark and Barry's daughters were going to cut the grass and clean
out loose rocks from the shelter area. They've been doing the
maintenance for 5 years. We talked for awhile about thru hiking and I
thanked them for their volunteer effort. They said they had lots of
respect for the hikers and loved to help out. Awesome people.

I pushed on to High Point State Park. This is where, as you might
guess, is New Jersey's highest elevation... About 1,800 feet. It was a
nice park. The ranger station afforded me a clean restroom and some
water. I didn't stay long, as I was hoping to get to Unionville, NY at
a decent hour. It was 9 miles ahead... That would take 3 hours and put
me there by 6:30PM. Perfect. I passed the high point within a half
hour. It is marked with a tall phallic obelisk structure that
resembles Boston's Bunker Hill Monument... But sorry Jersey, ours is
bigger, by 12 inches. I love wikipedia.

The afternoon hike took me through some lowlands, swamps and farm
land. The bugs were misrable. There were these horsefly types biting
me as I hiked. Usually, at a 3 mph clip, mosquitos and other flying
biters can't keep up. Not these buggers. I had welts all over my arms
and legs as I pulled into Unionville, NY. The trail stays on the
Jersey side of the NJ/NY border for over 25 miles but Unionville, NY
is only .4 miles off the trail. So, while I'm in NY tonight, my hike
is still in Jersey for 19 more miles.

I stopped at te Back Track Inn for a quick beer and ask directions to
the Mayor's House. It's a hostel operated out of the home of a trail
angel Dick Ludwick. He's is an old codger. He's the former mayor of
Unionville and is one of the nicest, yet in-your-face sarcastic chop-
busting New Yorkers I've ever met. As soon as I walked in, I was
greeted with... "take the Boston hat off or get the hell out of here".
"Why the f••• are you hiking... You're nuts aren't you?" I'd
start to reply and he'd say... "shut up, sit down and eat for god's
sake". I loved it. I felt right at home. After hearing the rules of
the hostel and some more ribbing, at last he says.. "you thru hikers
are nuts, but I respect the hell out of you. welcome to my house. Go
take a shower and leave me your dirty clothes. They'll be ready by the
time I have your breakfast ready in the morning". He's a great guy.

Tup, Sideways, Moonshine, Cauliflower, Shorts, a sectioner and a
yellow-blazing happy Southbounder are here. All good folks. I saw
Sideways' and Moonshine's 10 min video of the rat snake killing and
eating a chipmunk. I was transfixed. I told them they need to post it
on YouTube and set it to "The Circle of Life" from the Lion King.

Day 100. It was like most others, but in the back of my head I was
proud and still astonished at what I have accomplished thus far. I'm
truly blessed. Not taking it for granted in the least.

I'll be finishing up most of Jersey tomorrow. Looking forward to
getting into NY and meet up with Smoke again.

-natedog