“Secret Shelter” 1346.8 to Warwick Turnpike 1365.9 (19.1 miles, 340.5 total miles)
Last night was a bit of a rough sleep, same as the last time I slept in an enclosed cabin. Because we had shut one of the windows due to the rain, things got stuffy and very hot with my 10 degree quilt and long base layers. Everyone was tossing and turning, and as QT said it was a “symphony of air mattresses”.
It wasn’t as bad as 501 had been, and I think I still got a solid enough night of sleep. In the morning, we were hiking 2 miles to a deli for breakfast, so I did the first two miles without any caffeine in my system, and I could feel I needed it.
Jedi and I hiked the two miles together, and we saw some dark storm clouds overhead, even though the forecast had said it would be sunny all day. The terrain was nice and easy though, and we got to the deli at 7:45am, after a little road walk off trail to Horler’s General Store & Deli in Unionville, NY.
QT, Neon, and Piñata were there waiting for us, and we got right to work ordering breakfast sandwiches, coffee, and pastries. The food was much cheaper than the bakery in Delaware Water Gap, and everyone else ordered multiple sandwiches.
I just got a bacon egg and cheese and a coffee. It was my first New York bagel (we hiked along the state lines all day and criss crossed a few times but are still in NJ for trail purposes), and it was delicious.
I headed out after an hour or so, while the rest stayed to get a few resupply items and more food. We were planning on 19 miles that day, and wanted to make sure I didn’t have to hike fast to keep up all day, so was giving myself some extra time to hike at my own pace, since I knew they would catch up.
The hiking was extremely easy for the next 4.5 miles, and I was hiking faster than expected as I moved along the flat, packed earthen trail, to a road walking portion, then through the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge. The storm clouds had disappeared over the horizon, and all was sunny and in the mid 70s. Perfect hiking weather again. I had applied liberal amounts of sunscreen and bug spray, though.
As I got into the refuge, I saw a man setting up to hang out at one of the benches overlooking the marshland. His name was Bob, and we got to talking about some very interesting topics. We discussed the nature of time, if time is the 4th dimension and everything happens simultaneously and the future informs the past, and about quantum physics.
The funny thing is that I was just talking to Jedi about these concepts as we hiked the day before. Synchronicity occurs constantly on the trail it feels like. I had a great conversation with Bob, and enjoyed the experience of switching it up and doing my own thing for a bit to have these types of interactions with someone that are more common when hiking solo.
I walked around the refuge, admiring the vast marshlands and thinking of “Where the Crawdads Sing”, a truly wonderful novel that I had read right before coming out to the trail, which centers around the Outer Banks marshes.
I saw a great blue heron, a couple geese, and several other birds and all diversity of plant life. The path was flat and grassy, moving from one side being completely exposed to the sun, to the other being all shade with the most wonderful breeze to cool me off.
There were some two-plank boardwalks back in the woods after that, and then a spigot at an abandoned house that I collected water at. On the steep .5 to the shelter, I called Jedi, surprised they hadn’t caught up with me yet.
They were at the water spigot, so not far behind. I told them I’d wait at the shelter, and that I’d gotten bored of hiking alone for the moment. Pochuck Mtn Shelter was a nice spot with a good privy, and plenty of sun to dry off my sweaty shoes, socks, and shirt almost completely in about 15 minutes flat.
Quarter Tank, Jedi, and I hung out there for a few minutes and had a couple snacks, then continued on toward lunch. It was another 6.5 miles to Vernon, NJ, to a place where we could get more town food for lunch. The deli blazing was becoming real.
There was small, steep, and very rocky ascent from the shelter. We caught Neon early on, and Piñata had hiked ahead to the food. I lost the others on the steep uphill, still dealing with my shoes being just a little too big. I put my music back on and my head down and just hiked.
A little over 2 miles and a couple PUDs (pointless ups and downs) later, I saw QT, Neon, and Jedi stopped at a creek. Jedi slowed to my pace and we hiked on together to the town.
We found some mock strawberries, and ate a few. They were first berries I’d seen so far. Jedi and I then reached a well known area of New Jersey on the AT called the Pochuck Boardwalk, which is about a mile of walking through the wetlands on a wooden walkway. We had been looking forward to this.
We hiked along admiring the beautiful views, diverse ecosystem, and wildlife of the area. Everything was vibrant and alive, and yet we discussed zombies for most of the time we hiked on the walkway.
Zombie books and movies, video games, and what we’d do in a zombie apocalypse. Closely related to a discussion about covid. We also talked about how we got our trail names.
Jedi got his because of his positive attitude and seeming use of the Force to make good things happen in his life and for those around him. I was given mine for bearing a resemblance to Amelia Earhart when I did my thru attempt in 2015. I like to think I embody her spirit as well.
Just before town, there was a really cool suspension bridge tied into live power lines. By then I was starving, and it was definitely past my lunchtime. My feet were hurting, but 14 miles into the day and around 2pm, we got to Heaven Hill Farm & Garden Center just off trail, where we found the others.
Piñata was eating a whole cantaloupe by herself with a big grin, and QT was making peanut butter and jelly on tortillas. Neon had a pint of ice cream he was digging into.
I got a chili cheese dog and chips from Mitch’s Roadside Cafe across the street, which I remembered being there last time, and a pint of Blue Spoon ice cream from the market. I wasn’t sure if I could eat the whole pint, but I sure did, minus two bites I gave to Jedi.
By 3:30 when we hiked out, we were all feeling extremely full and lethargic. There was only 5 miles to go, but 2 of them were a steep 1,000 foot ascent up to the mountains across from where we’d been before town.
QT left first, and texted that he had seen a momma bear and two cubs up ahead. Jedi and Neon took the charge, both dead set on seeing bears on trail for their first time ever, after many missed opportunities for over 1300 miles.
I fell behind right away, the ice cream I’d eaten making me feel mildly like I wanted to puke. I had stitches in both sides as I got into the forest. Three day hikers with a dog were right ahead of me, but soon I saw Piñata, Jedi, and Neon stopped on the trail past them, Piñata signaling to be quiet.
The mom and two cubs had been close to the trail before she had caught the scent of the dog nearby, and taken the cubs deeper into the woods. I could see them from a distance, but the other three had gotten a much better view, and I was super happy for Neon and Jedi for their first bear sightings.
We saw one of the cubs climb a tree from where we stood, and it was tiny and adorable to watch. We looked for a bit, then eventually trekked on, and I fell behind again as I shifted into a very low gear for the climb, and put some workout music on.
It was a tough one, and I was dripping buckets of sweat on my way up. There were boulders all over the place, and many, many rock steps to climb as well. With my double thick sock configuration, my heels didn’t slip as much, but my full stomach and the steep grade of the incline had me pushing hard to make it to the top.
There were no views up on the ridge that didn’t involve side trails, so I contented myself with pictures of the view on Far Out and kept hiking on. Past the summit, there were no more day hikers, and I had the trail to myself till I ran into Neon, who had a very interesting story involving a cat hole and a ranger on an ATV.
Neon and I leapfrogged each other a couple times the last few miles, and once the terrain became smaller ups and downs, I was able to pick up some speed.
I stopped at Wawayanda Shelter, where everyone was staying, to let Piñata know Shrek had her spork and would be at the shelter that evening. I also wanted to give Neon my mattress pad micro pump to use for the night, since I’d be sleeping in a real bed.
I said bye to everyone, after chatting with a LASH-er (Long Ass Section Hiker) named Slow Cook for a few minutes. I hiked the .3 to the trailhead to Wawayanda State Park, but then decided to do a further .3 down trail to a road, instead of a .2 blue blaze to the park.
At the road, I called Baked Potato, who’s number I had gotten from Sandals earlier that day. He is a former thru hiker from last year that is out on trail this year doing trail magic and hiker support. It was a little bit of a wait, but I didn’t mind at all, I just hung out on a rock near the trailhead and got some writing done.
Baked Potato is a young guy from CA, who clearly loves the Appalachian Trail, and is planning to thru hike it again next year, which I think is awesome. Our conversation flowed fast as we talked about the trail that we both have such passion for.
He isn’t charging hikers for rides or anything, but I was able to donate a few bucks to him for gas. He will be on trail all season, following the hikers as needed, so I am sure I will see him again soon.
At Paul’s apartment, his friend Sarah let me in to his side of the duplex, where my fourth pair of shoes was waiting for me. But first, I took the shower I was in desperate need for, relishing the hot water and the grime being washed off me.
I made ramen and tuna from my food bag for dinner, but on an actual stovetop this time. I didn’t want to buy yet more town food for dinner, because this deli hopping business isn’t cheap.
The new shoes seem to fit better, but only hiking on the trail will actually show one way or the other. I did some stretching, and noticed how truly wonderful it felt to lay down in a real bed again.
I hadn’t had that opportunity since Ray and Michele’s, a little over a week ago, though it felt much longer. Time has weird ways of stretching out on the trail.
Tomorrow is 17 miles of easy looking terrain, which is good because it is going to rain till late morning. I’m hoping to sleep in and see when I can get a ride back to the trail.
We also have a super exciting event planned for Friday, the day after tomorrow, that I could not be happier about. I’ve been hoping it would work out since Maryland, and it seems it will! It’s always the anticipation of the next awesome thing around the corner that makes the trail so much fun.