Days 83 through 85 - That NOBO Life (22-24/9/2016)

For the last few days, I've been walking in the reverse direction to my usual southward wandering. On the first day, we picked up Trout (!) and he joined us slacking and relaxing at Pancake's place. Being a NOBO, I kept crossing paths with a whole bunch of SOBOs that were either a bit behind or a bit ahead of me. Every day I'd pass Ducky, Bunchy, Cinderella, & Waterboy, and now I'm hoping to hike with them all more (could be tough... most of them are faster than me).

The best part is that we were able to do 60 miles in three days, and I've got a new "biggest" day: 22 miles.

One of the more embarrassing things, though, is the amount of food we've been eating at McDonald's. My meals have been a Big Mac Meal with a 6 McNugget Happy Meal and an apple pie. On the plus side, I've now got two superheroes attached to my pack to keep me company: Wonder Girl and Super Girl!

Start: NY 17A (sort of)
End: Mohican Outdoor Centre
Distance: 68.3 miles (including about 8.4 yellow-blazed)

Day 81 - The Struggle Continues (20/9/2016)

Today became a nero when Pancake offered to pick me up and give me a bed, a shower, and some laundry at her place. She lives in New Jersey and had been visiting with friends for a few days and slackpacking Timber, Legs, Pinky Purple and Foggy. That's right, after just one day on the trail, I got off again.

To kill time waiting for Pancake, I went to the library at Greenwood Lake and updated some blog entries. I also popped into a café (Village Buzz Café) that, was owned by Tortuga, a former thru-hiker! We had some chat, I ate (a lot) of food, and she let me hang out while she closed up. Then she only charged me for a sandwich.

Then I tried to find a place to have a beer. I went into one pub that looked promising. As soon as the bartender saw my pack, he immediately barked that I couldn't have it inside. Which was fine, we rarely bring our packs inside, I had just intended to ask if I could leave it on the patio or if there was somewhere else he preferred. The beer selection was Crappy Beer, Crappy Beer, Crappy Light Beer, or Craft Beer. I asked what the Craft Beer was like and he looked at me like I was an irritant and said "it's beer." I just ordered one because, being Canadian, I figured he had to warm up to me eventually.

Then I saw it. Hanging behind the bar, unobtrusively until you noticed it. A hat. Make America Great Again.

Then I heard it. A lot of casual racism from the two or three other patrons (all the talk was politics).

I finished my beer and left, heading to the second pub in town. Before I got there, though, I saw the Trump sign on the lawn.

So for all my Canadian and Australian (and other) friends who've been wondering who on earth is supporting this guy, I can confirm your suspicions: middle-aged, white racists in small towns.

I just went back to the library and read some Terry Pratchett short stories.

It was also good to hang out with Pancake. We tasted some bourbons and gins, and I had some spaghetti. Pancake agreed to drive me to my mail package in the morning, and then drop me at the trail.

With any luck my motivation will pick up again.

Start: Around the 813 mile mark

End: NY 17A

Distance: 4 miles

Day 80 - Hikers in the Mist (19/9/2016)

Back to the trail. ‎Tim dropped us off at the visitor centre where he found us, and off we went. I'd planned a big 21-22 mile day. It rained. I walked in the rain. It stopped. I walked. It got dark. I night-hiked. It got foggy, I hiked in the dark fog.

In the end the fog won out. It was just too hard to follow the trail with my headlamp reflecting back at me, so I found a stealth site and camped. I'm not sure where I am, but I think it's sort of close to my goal.

The others all had a big day planned too, but wet socks convinced them to cut the day short‎. I really like the Florida guys, but this is one of the reasons I get annoyed when we leap frog each other: since they aren't moving real quick overall, every time I run into them it's because I've had a slow few days. I like hanging out with them, but I kind of hope I stay ahead from now on - otherwise I'll probably run out of time to finish. Or at least I hope it's because they caught up to me, rather than me slowing down.

Start: Palisades Parkway

End: ???

Distance: ???

Day 79 - I got the Bluegrass, so bad (18/9/2016)

This morning started with bagels for breakfast, lots of photos of us all with Tim and Kimberley, then a drive to the Bluegrass Festival. I mentioned Tim was a history buff, and today began with a historical tour of the Hudson River's history as a source of ice in the pre-refrigerator period. It was truly fascinating.

The festival was another great day. This one was a smaller‎, local community event, which proved to be far more social. In particular I met Tenley who seemed to know everyone and connected me with several others around town.

At the end of the day, instead of a rainy night on the trail, Tim had us back to the house for another night, and a plan to leave us at the trailhead in the morning.

Start: Tim's house

End: Tim's house 

Distance: 0 miles

Day 78 - Prost! (17/9/2016)

Today I woke up determined to get 20 miles in. No. Matter. What.

I was short water, but there was a visitor centre around a mile away with a spigot and (I hoped) coffee, so off I went. At the visitor centre I filled up on water, had a coffee, and caught up with Broadway, Troll, and Ser Blue. Turns out the shelter I decided not to sleep at had a beautiful view of both the harvest moonrise and the NY city skyline at night. So I was kicking myself for not staying there.

In any case, I had 19 more miles planned, so I went to head out. I car pulled up and as the driver exited, he said "are you a thru-hiker?" I shook his hand and said I was, whereupon he said "do you want to come to an Oktoberfest?"

20 miles. No. Matter. What. 

"Yes. Yes I do." I replied.

He extended the same offer to the three Floridians, and we all agreed. It turns out Tim sells solar panels, and had a tent at this festival. I spent a beautiful day chatting with some of his prospects, browsing booths, eating German food, and drinking beer.

By the end of the afternoon Tim asked if, instead of going to the trail, we'd like to come over to his place, shower, do laundry and sleep comfortably. In fact, if we wanted we could join him for a Bluegrass festival the next day. Peak Freak and Eskimo had joined us by now, and all 6 of us said yes... which meant piling all of us into his Jeep, with Broadway taking a seat in the trunk space.

It's hard to entirely capture how amazing Tim and his family are. Tim is a Renaissance man with backgrounds in acting, filmmaking, photography, guitar making, bench making/woodwork, parks management, among others I've probably forgotten or never knew about. He also has a detailed knowledge of, and love for the history of his area.

His partner Kim is a pilates instructor who used to be an actress, including appearing in Star Trek Generations with Shatner and Patrick Stewart, and in Star Trek: Voyager. My inner nerd was over the moon.

His eldest daughter (Isabella Rose) is studying singer-songwriting and has an absolutely outstanding voice. I didn't get to talk much to his youngest daughter Piper, but I can only begin to imagine what talents lie there.

So instead of 20 miles, I got 1. And that one will do.

Start: West Mountain Shelter

End: Palisades Parkway

Distance: 1.1 miles

Day 77 - New York. New York. (16/9/2016)

Another day, hiking in New York. I do not heart it. I spent a chunk of the day trying to resupply in Fort Montgomery, which has virtually no resupply options.

Start: Hemlock Springs Tentsite
End: West Mountain Shelter
Distance: 9.2 Miles

Day 76 - The Miles that Don't Count (15/9/2016)

Today was a bit of a navigational disaster. Without a guidebook or maps, I feel like I'm walking a bit blind. (I do have photos of some of the guidebook thanks to Half-fool, but using my phone drains the battery so they're emergency use only for now.) At one point I went off-trail for 10 feet, then when I got back on, promptly headed down the trail in the reverse direction. After about .75 miles, I ran into a group of hikers I'd passed going in the other direction. Everyone looked confused, no one more than me.

Later, Half-fool had caught me and we were walking together when suddenly he said "have you seen a white blaze in a while?" I hadn't at. Not in a long while. In fact it turns out that we hadn't seen a white blaze in almost a mile. So another 1.5-2 miles later were back on trail. We set up camp near the top of a ridge that promised some nice views. Half-fool suggested we grab our food and eat with the sunset, so off we went. There was no view. Anywhere. We limped back to our campsite, realising we'd walked another unnecessary mile.

In the end we only got 13 miles that counted.

Start: Dennytown Rd.
End: Hemlock Springs Tentsite
Distance: 12.8 miles (+ around 5 that don't count...)

Day 75 - Mail woes 2: the return of mail woes (14/9/2016)

Still no package, and for some reason the USPS has sent it to New Hampshire for processing. I tried to call USPS, but as is the case a lot these days, it's impossible to talk to an actual human and there was no option for reporting lost mail.

I debated squatting on the post office property in protest, but figured I should get some miles instead. This meant that I'd be walking with no map, and no guidebook for the next little while until my mail drop made it to me. I hit the trail mid-afternoon and it was hot and humid. I decided to keep my clothes on this time, and attempt a new strategy: sleep through the heat and walk at night. I napped for a bit on the forest floor and started hiking, aiming to do 15 miles or more. At the 5 mile mark I stopped at RPH shelter for dinner, where Half-fool caught up to me and decided to join me for the night-hike. It was a great evening - we had some nice moonlit views of lakes from the ridges, had a snack on a beach at night, and I got to meet my first copperhead snake.

We managed the 15 miles around 1 AM and set up camp on a nice little site.

Start: Stormville, NY
End: Dennytown Rd
Distance: 15.3 miles

Day 74 - Mail woes (13/9/2016)

Today I was hoping to pop into Stormville and pick up my missed mail drop.

Today I popped into Stormville for nothing.

I'm sleeping behind a deli with Eskimo, Broadway, Troll and Ser Blue hoping the package will arrive tomorrow.

Start: Nuclear Lake
End: Stormville, NY
Distance: 8.3 Miles

Day 73 - The Origin of WallabyMan (12/9/2016)

I felt much better today. Sleeping on a beach next to a river and waking up cold was a nice antidote to the last few days (that's right, COLD!!). I made coffee and headed out. There was a deli about 10 miles into today's walk, so that was the goal for lunch.

Instead of the deli, I ended up at a Garden Centre that offered an outdoor showerhead (with roughly zero privacy), cold drinks, ice cream, and power supply for charging devices. I stayed on their porch for a couple of hours to eat my own food and lighten my pack, and charge my phone.

As usual these days, I headed back on the trail with no idea where the next water source would be.  It turns out that the answer was Nuclear Lake. I'd been warned not to touch the water here, and my trail guide notably did not include it as a water source. That said, there were no warnings about water or fish toxicity posted anywhere near the lake. Ponds aren't my favourite water source, but these days I'm not very picky. I did what I usually do when faced with a substandard water option - take some with me, but don't use it unless it becomes necessary.

It's a good thing I brought it, since there were no other water sources around. I may be radioactive, but at least I'm not thirsty.

Besides, maybe this is going to be my origin story.

Start: Ten Mile River
End: South end of Nuclear Lake
Distance: 16.2 miles

* At some point today I crossed into New York. New York must just assume we'll feel the difference, because there were no signs.

Days 63-65 - NYC Baby!! (2-4/9/2016)

This weekend is all about city livin'. Colin, Dave and Rebecca picked me up Saturday and we drove in to our New Jersey hotel. A cab into Hell's Kitchen (hint: taxis are ridiculous, use Uber) and we were livin' it up Big Apple Style.

The next morning we hit a diner in NJ for breakfast, then back to the city for MOMA, tickets to Matilda, and a nightcap (and chow-fest for me) at Réunion tiki bar. If it weren't for the fact that we'd planned to start hiking the next day, I was ready to put my dancing boots on and party 'til the early hours.

Start: Great Barrington

End: NYC

Distance: 0 miles