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Published: September 4th 2008
Me
Trying out he new cameraWELL.... I haven't been able to update this in a very long time so maybe some of you are wondering if I'm still on the trail.
Good news, I am still on the trail and things are going great!
Bad news, I don't have most of my pictures with me to share with you. (I'll explain where they went as I unfold the story of the last 3 states)
So I left the Green Mountain House hostel in VT and that was the last time I saw Gash & Dank. I reunited with Yearbook and we began hiking together. I stopped at a lookout point and was enjoying the view and a snack with a few day hikers and one north bounder. As we were all stopped, there was a group of moths that kept fluttering around my legs and up into my shorts. They left everyone else alone. Even after I would catch one and throw it away from myself, it would come right back and flutter around me again. Everyone was laughing at the odd moth behavior and so the north bounder said that they should start calling me Mothballs. I figured
Panny & I
in the Bear Mountain zoo since I had passed Gash & Dank and Slow-Mo wasn't very fitting of my pace, I would accept it. I like to have the funny story to tell when people ask me how I got my name.
Me and Yearbook stopped at Adam Bojacks uncle's house... Scott + Sarah took us in for the night to get showered up and do some laundry. That was a wonderful stop. They live right on the Mass border and as soon as we hit Massachusetts it was like walking out from under the cloud. The rain finally stopped and the sun came out to dry up the trail. The rain has been minimal since then. Massachusetts was over in a few days and Connecticut was a blur. There are only 52 trail miles in Connecticut. While I was there, I did get some visits from non-hikers. Amy and I had a picnic at a beach in Lakeville. My sister and my mom stopped out in Fallsville. Ann hiked with me for and evening, a full day, and the following morning. She did great and it was really nice to see my family for a moment. I had planned on really pushing to
Stretch & SlotMachine
a couple more animals in the zoo catch up with Yearbook, who took off when I slowed down for visits. But I wound up doing the exact opposite. I had wanted to meet up with Panny at Bear Mountain in NY and he wasn't going to be available in time at my pace so I slowed down again.
I took a train to NYC and figured I would catch some of the museums and the art galleries. I got into the city in the late afternoon and started walking with no real agenda. I spotted the empire state building and figured I should go check out the observation deck. I was looking for the entrance when I spotted an Irish pub across the street. Just the kind of place I needed to regroup from the insanity outside. I ordered a Guinness and set $5 on the bar. The tender walked back over with my pint and asked for another $2. I figured that would be my last pint because I certainly wasn't about to hang out at $7 a glass, but the man at the corner of the bar whom I started a conversation with bought me another 3 over the course of his life story.
That kinda killed most of my afternoon, but it was an interesting time. I got a hold of Rob who just so happened to be in NYC working late nights on the sports museum.... and it was his birthday (he builds museum displays). So I walked the 2+ miles with my full pack down to the south end of Manhattan to join him for a birthday drink. I wound up with a free tour of the sports museum and a great time down at the bar with Rob and one of his coworkers. I left there at around midnight but didn't make it to Brooklyn until 1:30 due to my inexperience with subway travel and lack of a map. I stayed with Panny's cousin who was really cool and let me clean up and crash at her apartment. I walked back into the city in the morning with the intent of hitting the Museum of Natural History and The MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). The first mistake came early on. I mistook the Native American History Museum for that of Natural History. When I tried to walk in the main door I was stopped by security who asked me if
Black Bears
the only bears I've seen on the trail so far have been in the zoo my hiking poles (that were collapsed and attached to the side of my pack) were ski poles. I said that essentially they were the same thing. The guard told me that he heard that morning that they can't allow ski poles in the building. He was obviously just trying to be a jerk. I asked if there was any place I could check my bag. He told me no and another guard told me not to worry and that I could come back the next day, the jerk wouldn't be working. I explained that I was only there for one day and all I wanted to do was see the museum. They promptly gave me the boot. I was so angry I couldn't even decide what to do. I wasn't far from Battery Park where you can see the stature of liberty so I went for a walk over there and took some pictures. I decided on my way back I would try the other entrance and see if I got the same reaction from security. They were very friendly at this door but told me that my knife was to large for me to bring in. I asked if
stretch
a very tall young man useing a step to drink from a very short fountain I ditched it in the park and came back would I be allowed to come in. He said it wouldn't be a problem. So after hiding my knife in the park and going back through security I was finally inside. I wasn't in there for more than 5 minutes when the guard from the other entrance came over and said that I wasn't allowed in there. I wanted to cause a scene and start screaming about consistency with security policy but I left quietly. I decided I'd wasted enough time here and headed for the MoMA. It took a while to find it but I made it eventually. I ran into similar trouble there with my pack becuse they had a coat check, but there was a policy of not taking luggage. My pack is large enough to be considered luggage but I was able to talk the supervisor into making an exception for me. My day was a lot better from after that. The MoMA was great! they had a Salvador Dali exhibit that took up the entire 5th floor. I spent the rest of the day walking around the MoMA and finally left so that I might get
pool party
the zoo pool was mobed with people on Labor Day weekend back to the trail with enough daylight to walk to a shelter. I took the train back to Pawling NY and from there the trail is only about 5 miles away. Unfortunately I got turned around when I was leaving town and walked about 5 miles in the wrong direction! The first time I'd been lost. I did make it to the trail that night but not until 10pm and I was so exhausted I slept at the garden center next to the road.
I had gotten a call from No.Car. whom was behind me for a long time. He was a flip-flopper who had walked from Springer in Georgia to Bear Mountain in NY. I had hiked almost all of Maine with him and I wanted to be there when he completed his hike. He managed to pass me by about 3 miles while I was in NYC so I caught up with him for the last few days of his journey. It was a great experiance to be with him for his last miles of the trail.
I met up with Panny at Bear Mountain and the timing was perfect. I broke my camera that
Me & Panny
I hate saying goodbye to such good friends, but it was good to see him morning and needed to replace it. Me and Panny spent the day exploring an abandoned military base and the evening getting a new camera and watching the new Batman movie.
I started September with Stretch and Slot Machine. They had this "great idea" of starting at midnight and walking for 24 hours just to see how far we could go. We started from the top of bear mountain with headlamps and high hopes, but by 3am disaster had struck. We made a wrong turn in the dark and wound up heading back the way we came from. We backtracked 2 miles before we realized what had happened. Everything looks different when you see it from the opposite direction with a flash light. I think that our little detour really hurt the moral of my party because as soon as we got past the point of our wrong turn and were making new positive mileage they decided to stop and sleep. I was already awake and enjoying the cool morning air so I kept going. We had made plans to meet up at a shelter the following evening but they never showed up. So at this point I am alone,
Bear Mountain Tower
You could see NYC from the top of Bear Mountain but I'm sure they will catch up to me today. I am staying with the Mayor of Unionville NY. He actually is the mayor and he takes hikers in and lets them stay, shower, and do laundry. Another amazing person I've met along the way. Even though I'm in NY currently I'm doing the NJ section of trail (it follows the border very closely).
So as for the pictures.... They are safe on my memory card, in the broken camera, that got sent home. I only have pictures from Bear Mountain on so I hope you enjoy them.
Hope you are well at home,
MothBalls.....AKA Tommy J.
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Bojangles
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Frigging awesome
It's so cool that you stayed with my uncle, I'm so pissed I missed your call! And I love the sign on that snake display, it's hilarious.