May 29 Wildcat Shelter, NY to South Fields, NY 12 miles

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We were waken by a commotion about 3:30AM. Seemed one of the guys woke up and saw Violet getting up to answer the call of nature. Her headlamp inside her tent appeared to be in the wrong place he thought. He woke up the other guy to see what he believed the out of place lights moving through the woods was. He laughed and told him who it was and to go back to sleep.

Rain continued all night long stopping sometime after 3:30. We were all up by 6:30 working on breakfast. One of the more humorous events of the day is the first 20 or so steps one takes. No matter the hiker’s age, condition, number of miles walked the day before or in the past month. It's not like walking on nails or hot coals more like there is no meat on your feet, just bones and dry joints! Everyone laughs at each other because you know you are not alone in your discomfort. We were second out of the shelter by our normal 8:30.
The past few days we have been walking through an area that our European forefathers started dividing up over 250 years ago. People travel the world wide looking at the stone work of ancients, Machu Pechu, Easter Island, the Roman Way and aqueducts, the Central American jungle. I say why leave America? Just walk from High Point, NJ to Bear Mountain, NY. You pass through old settlements long abandoned to nature. Stone fence work run for miles and miles, old hand laid stone cellars, country lanes bordered by stone fences on both sides is now the trail. You see where one property ends and the other started. Fence work sometimes over six feet tall with some rocks over 1,500lbs and done by man and horse, rope, chain, block and pry bar. If you listen closely you might hear them working in spirit or out of the corner of your eye you might catch a glimpse of their shadow moving to see an old neighbor. Birds call, or is it ghosts of the Mohican braves who walked here before the whites came? Here you truly are walking through history.

The climbs we have been doing here in New York are some of the most demanding on the trail. They are steep, long and requiring lots of rock climbing. CC used to say she didn't sweat, that is no longer true! We both are soaked when we hit the top of these climbs. The descents are just treacherous as the stone is wet from rain and the humidity of the shaded forest. Our knees and ankles are getting lots of work, but are holding up so far.

Today we had a trail angel treat us to some trail magic. After nine miles of up and downs, huffing, puffing and perspiring we had almost run out of water. "Johnny Trail" had hiked in two gallons of cold water and left them by a trail register. They were right on time for us! The walk - climb down to the road was much better with that cool water to drink.

We hit the road into town by 2PM. The day had warmed up to the mid 70s. Walking down the mountain to town were two long warm miles. The traffic didn't even slow to give us a second look, let alone a ride. First stop was the Post Office to get the resupply box. The Postmaster said the motel might be full as it is Friday. What she didn’t say is it was at the top of a steep hill! Crossing the street we headed for the motel. A guy stopped asking if we were AT hikers and if we needed a ride somewhere. Better late than never, if we knew the motel was at the top of the hill we would have asked for a ride up. As it was we thanked him and passed. Moments later we saw the motels location and shook our heads, then started the climb. Why is the shelter always at the top of the hill?

The price was right; the owner said the maid could do laundry for us for a tip. Showers done, laundry dropped off we headed to the deli for supper. Down the hill, up the hill to buy some subs, ice cream and chips. Down the hill, up the hill to kick back and relax. Tomorrow back to the trail with seven days of supplies and off for CT.

Patrick, Deborah Mooney aka OD & CC
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

OD and CC have been marking their path with a GPS using SPOT Satellite Messenger and can be tracked at the following link. It keeps track of their last 7 days: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0GzkzKZdmy7ngYeKQAlt24bTBTBUIKFmd

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