START LOCATION: RPH Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: Corbin Hill
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 18.4
TRIP MILEAGE: 1,436.9
MILES TO GO: 742.2
The moon was brilliant on this morning of my 4 month anniversary on
the AT. My rainfly was off and I could see some great stars. Smoke and
I awoke early to find Shorts gone, but Mimi and Fredo in the shelter.
We had breakfast and packed up and saw them off. We left 2nd to last
behind some nice sectioners from San Diego.
We cranked to a road crossing 3.5 miles in and took a quick break. As
we did, the trail maintainer for the section hiked by... His trail
name is Elvis Trailsley. He's thru hiked twice and was great to chat
with. We also complimented him on the remarkable maintenance he's
done. Today's start was the smoothest section of New York yet.
We went another 1.5 miles to NY-52 and rolled down to a pizza place
and a deli/mini mart next door. We grabbed a slice and a sub each. We
regretted it. When we went into the deli, we saw they had Boars Head
provisions, and the regret set in fast. But, we were full... All we
needed.
We stopped at Nuclear Lake at our 14th mile. It was named that because
an old uranium plant was next to it until 1972 when it was removed.
The Natl Park Service obtained the land and deemed it uncontaminated.
Gorgeous little pond. After our break, we saw a new piece of wildlife
on the AT. A big beaver was right next to the trail gathering sticks
and when he saw us, slowly headed back into the pond. I caught a
couple half-decent pics.
We got to Telephone Pioneers Shelter at 7:30 and it's water source was
dry. It hasn't rained at all since I left Pennsylvania about 10 days
ago. It was getting crowded fast with July 4th weekenders so we pushed
on. We were able to get water at a house's spigot at a road crossing
at our 17th mile. The nice folks piped it to their property fence and
a sign invites hikers to use it... Trail angels.
We pushed on another mile through some nice farmland and found some
decent camping on a wooded hill. We just beat the sunset. The bugs
were miserable while I was making dinner, but my tent's screen was a
nice barrier while I ate.
Today was our last full day in New York. We enter New England by way
of Connecticut tomorrow... It's blowing my mind a bit... In a good
way. Another thing that blew my mind... We saw a sign that read "Mt.
Washington - North 380 miles". Three hundred eighty miles is nothing.
I have a feeling time is really going to fly by now for the remainder.
-natedog
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