START LOCATION: Unionville, New York
FINISH LOCATION: Wawayanda Shelter
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 16.9
TRIP MILEAGE: 1,352.8
MILES TO GO: 826.3
"Young Heroes! Who Wants Breakfast?!!" is what the Mayor yelled down
to the bunkroom at 6:30 AM. I responded... "Yo."
"Whoever said 'yo' you're in charge of getting everyone up here." I
didn't do a thing. We all came right up. Sausage links, a cheese
omelet, tater tots and an English muffin was the special of the day.
Tasty.
I packed up and said my thanks and goodbye to The Mayor. He gave me
knuckles without looking up from his sports page and said "yeah, yeah,
get the hell outta here." Seriously... I love that guy.
I stopped at the general store and re-upped for my 3ish day hike to
Bear Mtn Bridge. I was on the trail by 10AM. I packed out some water
and the pack was heavy. I cruised pretty well... Then within a few
miles I hit Walkill Wildlife Refuge. It was a giant manmade wetlands
that had a bunch of unique birds a few other things some camera toting
bird watchers turned me on to. It should have been flat, fast miles,
but I was a little shutterfly in there. I stopped constantly for
photos. The trail made a 270 degree tour around the refuge. It was
gorgeous.
Next was "puncheoun swamp". Puncheons are wooden planks laid on the
wetlands to walk on where the trail should be. They essentially keep
your boots from getting muddy and from straying off the trail and
damaging the flora. This was fun and was about a half mile.
Next was a nice 500' climb to Pochuck Mtn Shelter. A nice little one
where I had lunch and dried out my sweat soaked shirt. Next was a 7
mile up and down cruise to NJ-94, where a farm stand sold... Aw yeah,
say it with me one time... ICE CREAM. I bought grapes, 2 nectarines, a
vitamin water and 2 scoops of mint chocolate chip.
I sat there for 2 hours. The heat was hot and the humidity was humid.
I was simply waiting out the hottest part of the hiker day... 3:30 to
5:30. I made lots of phone calls and caught up with friends and family
while I stared at Wawayanda Mountain baking in the sunshine... An 890'
climb.
The Wawayanda climb soaked me in sweat, but I was well hydrated and a
thru-hiker named Sidecar left 8 gallons of delicious water at the top.
This made the 3 mile cruise into Wawayanda Shelter a breeze.
The only problem... The Mosquitos are relentless. I noticed we are
near a stagnant pond that looks like melted key lime pie. Thank god
the water was from a spigot at the nearby state park office. I
couldn't wait for cooking water. I cooked, killed dozens of mosquitos
and had to eat in my tent. I can hear an incessant buzzing around my
tent as I type this... They are attracted to the light of my phone and
the carbon dioxide my body puts off. It sounds like a world cup soccer
game right outside the screen.
Jersey is almost done... On to the Empire.
-natedog
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