I Want to Be a Part of It...

For our first night returning to the trail in Wawayanda State Park, we were greeted with trail magic that turned into a nice evening of music and fun. "Merlot" lives near enough to the Wawayanda Shelter to barbecue steak and hike it in while it's still hot and beverages while they are still cold--what a treat! "Soggy Bottom Boy", who we have been seeing off and on on the trail since the beginning of our adventure and has been teaching himself guitar, serenaded us with some Johnny Cash and, of course, Man of Constant Sorrow. Then "Whoop Whoop" borrowed his guitar and we all sang along to some John Denver tunes. (Others in attendance that evening: "Taco Money", "Whole Pie" and "Big Toe") We were all having so much fun, that we stayed up well past "hiker midnight"(that's 7PM), however, by 8PM everyone was snuggly tucked into their sleeping bags!

The 12.5 mile hike to Wildcat was a tough one for me. Rocks (in all their wondrous forms), have become my nemesis. This days struggle was in the form of many long rock climbs. My arms are not strong enough and my knees hurt too much to lift the weight of my pack and my body weight up and over the large boulders and cliffs. Several times I had to take my pack off to climb while Jim came back and carried my pack up. This slows us down considerably, making for long days. The day was not without its excitement, however, as we crossed the border into New York and had our second bear sighting. This time it was a bit more unnerving. As Jim and I were walking along the trail chatting, Lily kept looking back like she does when another hiker is coming up behind us. This put us on alert to watch for him/her so we could let them pass. Though it was not a hiker that had been following, it was a bear--a very large bear. We saw it when it was about 20 yards behind us, when it fortunately decided to meander off in a perpendicular path. Yes, I said meander! The bear was in no hurry to get away or avoid human presence--perhaps this was the naughty bear from the upcoming Fingerboard Shelter??

What's that? A naughty bear you say? Yes this has been a struggle for us in deciding what to do. You see, the next shelter (ie sanctioned place hikers are allowed to camp), is a little over 14 miles away (a stretch for me, especially if the terrain is difficult), and it has been highly recommended as a place to avoid due to an aggressive bear in the area that has been coming into camp regularly stealing food. Bears are particularly smart, and this one has even learned how to get bear bags down that have been properly hung in trees. Most startling, it is not afraid of hikers who have tried to run it off by yelling and throwing rocks. The next shelter is an additional 5.5 miles away--no way I can hike that distance. So as we hiked on, we hoped that we would find a place to stealth camp for the night to be able to bypass Fingerboard the next day. We did fortune upon a nice spot near a stream after about 10.5 miles. We shared the spot with another flip-flopper, "Spark" and her Lab "Ember". She and I both agreed that that was the longest, hardest 10 miles we had ever hiked. There was lots of rock climbing, it was hot and humid, and it was steep, steep, steep up and down the whole way. We both felt that if a Ridge Runner were to show up to kick us out of this spot, she/he would have to carry us out! On the bright side, while breaking camp the next morning we met a couple that was involved in the NYNJ Trail Conference. They confirmed that we were not allowed to be camping there, which opened up the conversation about avoiding the bear at Fingerboard (which they were unaware of, but knew there had been issues there in years past). I questioned why a bear-box had not been put there and suggested that it would be a great project for their trail organization. They were going to look into it and see what they could do. I am grateful to them and hope they are able to accomplish this for future hikers.

The next day's hike was much easier with the exception of "the Lemon Squeezer". It was very cool, but required holding your pack over your head in order to squeeze through (nope, can't do that--I'm lucky to be able to lift it on my back!), so Jim came to the rescue again by getting my pack through. There was another difficult section that required you to lift yourself over a rock ledge (yeah right!), but fortunately, there was a bypass, and you can bet I took the "easy way" (an unfair moniker simply because the other way was the impossible way!).

Lily is the trail superstar. If we had a dollar for everyone who asks to takes a picture of her in her backpack, we could probable fund the entire trip. She is always so excited to see other hikers and loves to be fawned over. It is a form of trail magic to see the joy she brings to other hikers along the way. Even people who are clearly not "dog people" can't seem to resist her charm as I watch the corners of their mouths reluctantly turn upward as pass by. She is often "dog" tired at the end of the day (me too), but she has always been good at knowing to rest at a break or at the end of the day. Unfortunately, the squirrels and chipmunks have come out of hibernation (do they hibernate?), in full force, and she is an ultimate hunter. I worry about her wearing herself out as she is now always on alert for their chirping and scurrying about.

We have become experts at finding off-trail food--usually in the form of hot dogs, deli sandwiches or ice-cream. As any through-hiker will attest to, the most important part of a side trip is it's distance from the trail and the closer the better. Even a good vista is hard to justify going very far off trail since there are so many great views on the trail.

Ice cream at Bellvale Creamery in NY

We have a few more days left to hike in New York, and so far it has been a pretty tough state with lots of rock climbing and a constant stream of steep ups and downs--just as I thought I was done with sore muscles. As difficult as this adventure has been for me, I am enjoying it. And while I really do want to be a part of it, we are having to make some difficult decisions for the future. I have hiked nearly 400 miles (only about 375 "official" AT miles), and it has taken a physical toll on me--particularly my feet and knees. I have come to understand that successful through-hiking is a mathematical combination of time, speed and miles...and a mix of stubborn grit and pain management. I am not a fast enough hiker to complete this journey given our parameters. Mainly, we want to finish before snow. I am excruciatingly slow, especially when the terrain is difficult, it is hot and humid, and/or I am in pain. For example, that really tough 10.5 mile hike I mentioned before took me 9 hours. That's a long time to be carrying 25+ pounds (and 35+ for Jim) and only make that kind of distance. Most of the through-hikers out here can do 15 to 20 miles in that time. Also, I hear the climbing only gets harder and more technical as we get further North. So, in the not too distant future, I am going to have to drop out so that Jim can hike 15-20 mile days to be able to finish the 1800 miles left before snow. I'll let you know what all that will look like as it happens. In the meantime, here are some more pictures from the Appalachian Trail.

Dung Beetles!