#24 Unionville to Kent

7/26: It was another cool morning and great weather for hiking. The first 4 miles were nice and easy too. I hiked on a boardwalk over a wetland and there were so many bullfrogs and the tall grass was teeming with noise. That was really cool. Plus it reminded me of camp. I crossed over some bridges and pastures until I got to a road where there was a bakery close to trail. I walked the tenth of a mile and bought 2 donuts, an ice tea, and a peach because they had fresh, local produce there too. It was all delicious and I took a nice break there with some other hiker friends including No Collar and Saucy. I eventually kept hiking, because I had a big day ahead of my if I wanted to get into town. The climb after the road was a 1,000 footer though, and I was hot and sweaty pretty quick. There were a ton of locals hiking that mountain though, so I was doubly glad when I got to the top and it wasn’t so crowded. From then on, the trail was pretty nice until I got to the NJ/NY border.

By then I had already walked about 15 miles and I had to do some rock climbing late in the day. That drained my energy because I was on high alert to avoid slipping or making a misstep. The views were pretty on top of the rocks, but it was stressful and a lot of the time I wasn’t exactly sure where the trail went. But I made it! That section really slowed down my hike, and after a few miles of rock slabs, the trail evened out again and I made it to the road at around 7:45 for an 18 mile day total. From there, No Collar, Pizza Steve, and I grabbed a Lyft into town where we set up our tents at the drive in movie theatre that lets hikers stay for free on the lawn. I watched the live action version of the Lion King, which was ok, but it didn’t add anything substantial to the original. It was a hiker paradise there! There were about 30 or more hikers and everyone was sharing food and hanging out together in their little tramily’s. I met up with Otter and Sunshine before heading to the supermarket next door to get some cold deli mac and cheese and Gatorade. For the record, I asked the guys at the deli if they would heat it up, and they said no, but mac and cheese is mac and cheese and it was delicious! So I was a happy camper after a long day.

7/27: I didn’t get a lot of sleep from the lights and sounds of the drive in theater, so I was grumpy when I had to wake up early and resupply. I grabbed some chocolate milk for breakfast too, and soon after, Hawky Hawk and the Funky Bunch were off to the trail! I walked 2 miles to a shelter and took a nap inside because I knew I needed more energy for the day. Some days are harder than others, and this was one of those hard days. Between the long day yesterday and not getting enough sleep, I was tired and my body was sore. I got out of the shelter at around 11:25, which is a late start for a warm day. The trail was either very pleasant and flat, or it was steep and rocky. Again, there were a lot of sections that I had to take slow, either because I was climbing and out of breath, or because the declines were so steep and rocky that I would have to sit down for my feet to reach the next rock down. It was a slow endeavor. Luckily, there was a ton of trail magic water by the roads, so I didn’t have to filter all the water with the tannins in it. The exciting thing was that the wild blueberries are ripe! I stopped every so often to pick the good ones, and they were a delicious treat during the day.

I also saw a garter snake and a blue-tailed lizard. I stopped a lot for breaks because I was still tired, but I was really grateful for the nap. I was in a field of tall grass and I saw a momma deer and her dawn peering at me from the tops of the grass. I could only see their heads poking out. Soon after, I got to camp and it was late. I got ready for bed as quick as I could because the mosquitoes were really bad, but I accidentally left my phone outside somewhere, so I searched around with my headlamp for a good 15 minutes before I found it by a rock. And now it’s finally time for sleep!

7/28: We had a doozy of a climb out of the campsite to warm us up real quick. After some much needed rest, I was ready to have a good day. Except for the trail went straight up and then it went straight down. The first few miles were slow agony. About 3 miles in, I got to the Lemon Squeezer hiking with Mr. President. The Lemon Squeezer is a very narrow passage between 2 large rocks where you have to take your pack off and shove it through the rocks. It was actually so much fun! I’d heard about this for a while, but it wasn’t too bad and Mr. President and I joked around a lot as we struggled to push our packs through. Then came the tough part. The climb out of the Lemon Squeezer was a vertical boulder climb for about 6 feet.

Mr. President climbing up after me

I did my best to choose the most logical path and mustered my way up. Once I scrambled to the top, I felt like a real rock climber and I was exhilarated! Rock climbing had been something I have feared on the trail and had exhausted me because of my fear, but climbing that section felt amazing, and I so glad I did it instead of taking a blue blaze around. Anyway, we talked until we got to the road where we walked down to get to the state park. They had showers, bathrooms, vending machines, and a lake with people swimming and cooking out on the grassy area. It was super busy because it was a beautiful Sunday in July. I was able to charge my phone and I got an ice cream cookie sandwich from a vending machine. Then I took a shower (it wasn’t private so I still had my dirty clothes on) and sink washed my socks, which got me some funny looks from people who don’t sink wash their clothes in public restrooms. Hike your own hike man. Anyway, Otter, Sunshine, and I took a long break there and started hiking again around 2. On the way to our campsite, Mr. President warned me about two different rattlesnakes he had crossed. The second one I passed, and then it slipped out from behind the log and slithered across the trail. I’d never seen one move before, and it was absolutely stunning to watch. Many blueberry stops later, I made it to the campsite, where I made broccoli cheddar potato soup with ramen. It was super delicious. Then I went to my tent and fell asleep to the sound of crickets chirping.

7/29: We started the day off bright and early with a brutal climb out of our campsite. The first climb of the day is usually the hardest for me because my legs are still warming up. But the hard part was over once we reached the top. I was treated to some gorgeous views of the mountains, so many in fact, that I couldn’t stop at all of them or else I wouldn’t have made it very far.

I also snacked on wild blueberries, which are everywhere right now! It was a great morning! I got to the top of Bear Mountain and took a break with Otter and Sunshine. Then we climbed down the steps, and boy there were a lot of them, but they were evenly spaced unlike all the other stone steps on the AT, so it wasn’t bad at all. At the bottom, we stopped at a cafe around the Bear Mountain Inn where a lot of families were hanging out, and ordered way too much food. So after all those breaks, we finally got back on the trail and walked through a small zoo that the trail goes through with rescued animals. Most of the animals were hot, just like we were! The high was 93 but the heat index was 97- yikes! We crossed over the Hudson on a large bridge and once we got back into the woods, the trail went straight up. It was about a 700 foot climb in .8 of a mile. Which is tough on a normal day, but in the afternoon of a hot day, it was brutal. The first climb turned out not to be the toughest, it was this one. After many water breaks and some expletives, I made it to the top. From there, I didn’t have anymore big climbs, so I was beyond grateful for that. About 5 miles later, I reached the deli/gas station on trail where I resupplied and got a sandwich. This sandwich was sooooo good! And it was only $7! Thank you NY! After some Italian Ice, we walked for 2 minutes across the road to a campsite where we set up and went to bed, hoping to get up early tomorrow to beat the heat.

7/30: Dear reader, we did not beat the heat. I woke up early to get a bagel and egg breakfast sandwich at the gas station deli and was out of camp by 6:40. The first climb was a bummer again and I was already sweating even though I’d only been walking for 20 minutes. This sweating trend continues through the day. I stopped for some water about 5 miles in and ran into Mr. President and his crew. Every time the trail went up, it went straight up. It was like Georgia again, probably, that was a long time ago. But even though the climbs weren’t long, they were steep. At around 11:30 after hiking 9 miles, I ran into some trail magic! A guy named Brian had donuts, cold drinks, yogurt, and all the junk food I could wish for. It was amazing to sit down on a sweltering day and relax for a bit with a ton of food. I hiked about 5 more hot and sweaty miles to the state park where I charged my gps and phone, and then went swimming in the lake! A fellow thru hiker, Saucy, was super smart and was floating on her inflatable sleeping pad, and I swam around and chatted with her as I kicked seaweed. Unpleasant, but I didn’t care. It felt so refreshing to swim! I can not describe how happy I was to just be in the water after a day like today. I hung out with Sunshine on the beach before I grabbed an ice cream sandwich from concessions and set up my tent where thru hikers can tent for free. Brian came over again! And he had white wine and bread with brie, so we were very fancy. I ate a late dinner after talking to my mom and then filled up water and took a moment to look at the stars. Today reminded me of a Michigan summer day- swimming in a lake, star gazing, and dealing with way too many mosquitoes. I just know that I’m so lucky to be out here, and hopefully there will be more lakes around, because today ended up being amazing.

7/31: I woke up tired and got a late start out of camp, partly because I was tired, but partly because there were wasps everywhere! And one flew into my open tent as I was getting my stuff packed up. The wasp had a very hard time figuring it’s way back out, so I was in no rush to put my tent away. Eventually Sunshine came to the rescue and got it out for me- thank you Sunshine! I hiked out of camp with a guy named Pizza Bear, and we chatted as we hiked for a few miles, and it was nice to have some good conversation while I walked. There was another deli about 10 miles away from where I started, so I was trying to get there to take a long break and eat a good lunch. There was a steep 700 foot climb about a mile and a half before the deli that I procrastinated on a little bit, but I made it! And I got a sandwich to go and two slices of NY pizza for lunch. Then, it started to rain. We were debating about getting a hotel, but it didn’t look like it was going to last for long. Ugh, but I was so tired! But I hiked the last 4 miles to the shelter anyway. Right before, there was a beautiful view to the west and the sky was golden and I could see so many clouds over the mountains and it was so pretty! Later, after I ate the deli sandwich for dinner, I went back to watch the sunset, and it was absolutely gorgeous.

The sky was pink and the mountains were blue. I watched the sun sink down the horizon and then left soon after because every mosquito wanted to watch the sunset too. Anyway, it was a gorgeous night, and I’m glad I put a little extra energy into making that moment for myself. I certainly wouldn’t have seen that in the hotel. It was a good lesson on a day that seemed extra hard because of my fatigue.

8/1: I got some sleep! And I was ready to go for the day. I tried to hike quick and not take too many long breaks because I had 16.6 miles to hike on trail, and an extra 1.2 total to a deli and back for resupply. But about a mile in, a guy named Brian who is hiking the trail in sections, showed up with trail magic breakfast at a road. So of course I had to stop! I ate a bagel with cream cheese, 2 glasses of chocolate milk, a banana, and a glass of orange juice. This was a mile after I’d eaten my usual breakfast, so I slowed down on the food. I hiked more with Hobo and Mr. President, stopped to filter water, and caught back up with them again. Every place in the city of Kent (where Hawky Hawk and the Funky Bunch were about to stay) was booked up, so they were going to a hotel later in the day in Pawling. That meant that we had to rearrange our plans a little bit too. I hiked 11 miles to the road, left my pack with Sunshine, and walked down the road to the deli about .6 away. I hung out and read The Times while eating an egg sandwich. It was a nice lunch spot. I packed out a sandwich for dinner and walked back down the road to my pack. I listened to a podcast about ants as I hiked to the shelter 6 miles away from the road. Then I set up my tent, ate dinner (which was delicious), and chatted with other hikers before going back to my tent to get away from the mosquitoes.

8/2: Today was the day when I realized that I needed a break. I left camp around 8 and was moving so slow, even though I needed to get into town and get stuff done. I took breaks to try to get my energy up, but I was just drained. We had gone about 250 miles without a zero, and I was feeling it. I passed into Connecticut though!

And I did see a deer close to the trail, and that was really cool because it kept running ahead, but it stayed adjacent to the trail, so it was leading me a little farther, even though all I wanted to do was take a nap. I was so unmotivated, I didn’t even collect water when I was supposed to, and ended up hiking a giant hill for 2 miles without water because the stream I was counting on was dry. I was fine though, and I drank a lot when I got to the bottom of the hill. I got to camp around 4:15 and set up around the shelter that was .3 away from the road that went into Kent. At around 4:30, I realized that I needed to get to the post office before 5 and I probably wasn’t going to make it. I was super frustrated, but I tried to get into town as soon as I could anyway. I didn’t make it in time, but Hawky Hawk and the Funky Bunch decided to take a zero tomorrow anyway, so I had time to do chores in town. Sunshine and I got some tasty Chinese food for dinner and we walked back to the campsite while sticking our thumbs out, but no one gave us a hitch. Then we all went to sleep after a long day.

Whew! Now I’m in Kent getting some laundry done. We’re still camping at the shelter but it’s so nice to have a day to relax. We haven’t been staying in towns as much because every place has been more expensive, so I’m glad I was able to do laundry after washing my clothes in nearby streams for a week. Anyway, I’ll get a nice rest in town and then head out tomorrow!

Happy trails :)