[at-l] Ready's Journal July 7 TD 29

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

We didn't start hiking until 10:00 AM this morning;
it was simply too hard to wake up.
We hiked the 2.8 miles to the Eckville shelter where
we could get some water. We'd left without having
breakfast since we had used all our water for supper
last night. We also got some cold drinks, and Spur
got an ice cream sandwich, from the refrigerator on
the back porch of the caretaker's house.
Lazee, the caretaker, was there finishing up some yardwork.
He has a pretty grumpy appearance, but could not have
been more accommodating!
His dog, Joe, a sweet, long-haired mix was barking and looking
like he needed attention. What a great dog! Lazee offered him
up to me for adoption. I have a feeling Lazee has been making
that offer to hikers for the whole 5 years that he's owned the dog.
We met Maji and Jua (Swahili for "water" and "sun") lounging
in the shelter. Maja suggested that we stop at the Allentoen
Shelter, instead of trying for the B & B restaurant at the junction
of the Trail with route 309. That sounded like a great solution to
my leg pain problem, only 7 additional miles instead of the planned
11 more. They were off again shortly.
We also met Jiffy, a 46'er (has climbed all 46 of the high peaks in
the Adirondacks). He to only stayed a short time before he was
off hiking again.
We enjoyed bagel lunches. Spur topped his lunch off with one of
his breakfast drinks, too. Where does he get that appetite?!
We enjoyed ourselves at the shelter. I was drowsy and could easily
have dropped off for a little nap, but I was eager to get back on the trail 
again.
My leg had done very well so far today. That may have been due to
he extremely slow pace we'd kept. After lunch, I was determined to
nudge the pace up a tad.
The trail in the section we were hiking varied from rocky, to boulder
hopping, to long, easily graded climbs, with fortunately, only a few,
easy descents. I found it easy to speed up a bit, but only to a just-over
2-mile pace for most parts.
We visited Dan's Pulpit, a rock pile that should have afforded great
views on a clear, crisp day such as today, but the trees blocked the
view. We had a little break there as well, just enjoying the breeze
on this summer day that felt like a perfect fall day.
We did some more boulder hopping and climbing to get to Balance Rocks,
where we each posed for pictures. Three huge slab-like rocks are stacked,
one atop the other, in such a way as to permit a person to rock all three
by lifting one end of the lowest rock.
We hiked onward, reaching the new Allenown shelter just after 6:00 PM.
Spur fetched us some drinking water and pitched the tent while I began
the supper preparations.
I had little appetite tonight, so Spur was responsible for clearing most
of our plates - couscous and chocolate pudding. He certainly was the
right man for the task!
We chatted with Jiffy, who was at the shelter, and also with Hipbone
and Mountain Goat. Mountain Goat was a dead ringer for a cousin of
mine; the more I talked with her, the more she reminded me of Joan!
We learned from them that Maji was training for a marathon in Maine,
and that she generally ended (and sometimes also began) her day with
run of anywhere between 5 and 15 miles *in addition to* hiking some
15 miles each day!
She had been running 8 miles this evening,and would start tomorrow
with another 5. When she returned we learned that she cooks, when
she cooks at all, over a camp fire.
Spur sat up and chatted with her at the small cozy fire; I was sleepy
and retreated to the tent to write my journal and get some shut eye.
Down the hillside from our camp we could hear music and fireworks -
the festivities of folks who were still in "Fourth of July" mode.
It was after 10:00 PM when I finally drifted off to sleep.
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