7-30-12

Here at Wawayonda Shelter and what a nice evening. Also, I’ve got the place to myself which has to be rare. A few tenters, but no one in the shelter but me. The bugs are chirping, owls hooting, and it was a great evening hike. I rested in Vernon, NJ most of the day at the St. Thomas Episcopal Church where I slept last night. They run a hostel in their basement. I slept in a cool carpeted stairwell away from everyone and finally got a good night of sleep. Also, one thing I love about churches is playing their pianos late at night. That was a treat.

So I took it easy all day not sure of my plans but my feet were kinda swollen, some new blisters and poison ivy in spots. When it rains, I think the oils rinse down into my socks from my shoes. The poison ivy always seems to flare up after rain. Finally around 5p.m. I realized I’d better get moving. I remembered seeing a sign for a shoe store and found out it was only 3 miles away, but closes at 6. I decided to try for it via hitchhiking; threw my stuff together and was standing by the road at 5:25. I got a ride after 10 minutes and had some new Keens picked out by 5:50. I’ve been coveting other people’s Keens lately. They have a giant glob of rubber on the front of every shoe that protects from painful toe stubs, the most frustrating thing for me on the trail by far. So I tried on these shoes and upon wiggling my toes felt this luxurious padding, even on top, and it seemed perfect. So I bought them, and felt no sentimentality or regret when I told the guy to pitch my flimsy toed Montrails. Then, this was great; we were chatting at the door and he knew I had a mile or so walk back to the trail and he felt bad he couldn’t take me because he had his bike, so he took off running across the parking lot and flagged down a guy he knew that was leaving. The guy saw him at the last minute and pulled into a yard probably thinking something was wrong, only to find out he’s been volunteered to give a stranger a ride. “Don’t worry, he just showered” the shoe salesman said as I made my way to the guy’s car. I guess he owned a neighboring business and was leaving. I was happy to get the ride, whether he was happy about it or not. That’s a good shoe salesman though, I’d go back to that place just because of that. The 10% hiker discount was good too.

These entries are so long, but there are all these little things I want to remember that seem cool to me. Hopefully it’s not boring. What wasn’t boring to me were the six bears, yes, you read that right, six bears I saw tonight. First a mama and cub on my left, not far away, then a mama and 3 cubs on my right after I walked a little further. I didn’t feel in any danger really, actually wielded my camera instead of my measly knife, and got some short, grainy, dark video. It was too far and too dark for a picture. So yeah, a good day I guess, heck of a climb though out of Vernon, the toughest yet for me, very steep. Well I guess that’s all I have to say about that. Goodnight.

8-1-12

Yesterdays highlights include in no particular order:

       Getting chocolate chip cookies at the Greenwood Lake Post Office from my wonderful girlfriend. 

       Entering New York and texting her, Caitlin, telling her I was here, she said “Me too.” She’s a flight attendant for a Delta Connection carrier and had just landed in LaGuardia. So really I wasn’t far away from NYC and decided to hang out on a high rock to watch planes go over, wondering if I saw hers. I told her to wave and blow me a kiss. 

       Getting some good trail magic from Bob and Estelle, little candy bars, granola bars, and water.

     But then as I was hiking out of Greenwood Lake, I got my first tinge of loneliness. I hadn’t been hiking with anyone lately because I’m mainly introverted to begin with, plus, I like the independence of making my own decisions. But on the downside, I’m pretty boring by myself. So as luck would have it, or whatever you call it, I ran into a motley crew of hikers with a cool dog. I heard the music they were blaring first, a bluegrassy sound I liked, and it felt like I was coming upon a small traveling circus. Made small talk with one person, gender was unclear at first, and I went on my way, but kicked myself right away. Conversation in my head was like, “You’re bored by yourself, why walk away from a group right away?” So I slowed down and they caught up, music still blaring and I let them pass, because they were hoofing it and I tagged along behind. So we came to a cool view at the surrounding hills, and also saw some hikers on a giant rock in the distance. We caught up to them and it was Sherbert, a guy I hiked with a little, The Hair, and Octo. So after chilling on the rock a while we all took off and finally ended up at a beautiful place called Mombasha Highpoint. We all found spots and were constantly commenting on how cool our camp was. Views all around with a bright, almost full moon. I was set up in some trees below camp and made supper and when I walked up to hang out with everyone, I climbed the rocks to the music of Alicia Keys and Jay Z singing, “Now you’re in New Yorroorrrk.” I thought it was appropriate and smiled. A few of us played hearts and just relaxed and had fun. I felt a part of the group right away, it was a good night.

*Gator, Sancho, Scrooge, Fudgie, Octo, The Hair, Sherbert, and me Owen Á, and Rudy the dog.

So about my trail name, I’m hiking in honor of my friend Owen Anderson who passed away in early July, up in North Dakota. He was my favorite resident at the retirement home where I volunteered. He was paralyzed most of his life from a car accident he was in when he was 18, but still managed to have one of the best dispositions in the home. He could barely talk or hold his head up, he couldn’t move his legs, and only one arm barely moved, which he used to control his scooter with. But he always had a big smile for you and the brightest blue eyes. I’m trying to walk some miles he never could while also telling people about him when they wonder about my trail name, Owen Á.

…Tonight we’re on another mountain, just me, Octo, The Hair, and Sherbert. We did 16 miles today on some fun, big rock terrain, some good climbing and squeezing. We had some great trail magic, Pepsi, a Subway foot long, pita with bean dip, and some fresh cherries, right by a lake we went swimming in. It was great as we relaxed, feeling clean from the lake on the sun heated rocks. A great time, and now we’ve got a little fire going and it’s a beautiful night. Slightly cool breeze, and busy bugs. If it’s clear in the morning, we should be able to see the NYC skyline. This is more fun than camping and hiking alone. Conversation with others really makes the time fly. New York’s terrain so far is great too. There’ll be these grassy meadows all over the place with a few towering trees. Very nice state so far. Well, goodnight.