[at-l] Ready's Journal July 16 TD 36

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

We got up around 7:30 and were hiking by 8:40 - our stealth
spot restored to as near pristine as we could manage.
Today's hiking was almost entirely downhill, precisely the
trail conditions that exacerbate my leg injury. We took it
really slowly. The few uphill walks were welcome relief, since
those are the sections that seem to cause me no discomfort.
The rocks were still plentiful. In fact, today we passed almost
every kind of terrain and geological feature imaginable. Rocks,
boulders, flats, hills, meadows, marshes, fields, forests old and
new, creeks, ponds, lakes, roads, bridges, bog boards, rock walls, etc.
We also saw all kinds of habitats. There were more species of
wildflowers and flora in today's section than I'd seen in total since
I began this hike! It was remarkable. I can't wait to get my hands
on a field guide for flowers to look up all the incredible varieties I'd
seen today.
Among the wildlife we'd encountered were a snake, possibly a
copperhead. Its body lay across the trail as I approached. Its
head was in the tall side scrub and I was not about to make a
closer inspection to see if it was a pit viper. We again saw wild
turkeys and toads, and for the first time in a long time, little red efts.
We arrived at the High Point Ranger Station around 10:40 and
rested, made phone calls, checked email, and finally ate lunch
at the picnic table out back.
We met PorkChop and her dog, Frankie. Later, we met Repel
and (?), who are southbounding.
Just as we were leaving, we ran into Aimlessly, a former thruhiker
who hails from the Poughkeepsie area. She now manages the hostel
in Vernon. She said that a doctor there is a friend to hikers and would
be a good person to consult about my leg. That sounded tempting to
me. It was 1:30 when we started back on the trail.
We hiked up to the wooden deck at High Point, where we could
see the High Point monument, surrounded by scaffolding. It is
apparently undergoing repair of some kind. As we enjoyed the
360* view, we could hear the joyful shouts of kids swimming at
the beach nearby. A swim would have been nice on this hot
day, but we had some hiking to do and so, moved on.
My leg had been bothering me today. Despite taking it slowly, the
downhills were exacting their toll. We stopped frequently to rest.
We made it to the "secret shelter" around 6:00, in time to chat
with owner, Jim, who had stopped in to check up on things. The
story about this place is that Jim, a former thruhiker, bought and
fixed this place up expressly to be of assistance to hikers.
There are two sleeping structures. The site features all kinds of
amenities: showers, huge sink, electricity, well water pumps, a
lounging hammock, and clothes dryer. The "shacks" are even
equipped with heaters for colder weather, and one has an electric
can opener!
Also on this site are two very loud, extremely cantankerous burros.
They were constantly squabbling, kicking and braying with great
volume and alarm. It was quite disconcerting, especially when
Frankie, a border collie/
Australian sheepdog mix would attempt to herd them. What a ruckus!
At the shelter were a number of others, including Trish & Eric,
Fireman, and Rocks, a ridgerunner for this section. Two other
hikers were also here, but I wasn't able to catch their names.
Spur and I pitched the tent on the lawn, took showers, washed
and dried our clothes, ate supper and journaled all by 9:45 PM.
It had felt like a long day for me. I'm in good spirits, but the pain
in my leg is chipping away at the veneer.
Tomorrow we plan to be up early and will hike into Unionville for
our maildrop, then we hope to make it into Vernon, where I should
be able to rest my leg, and perhaps have it looked at by a doctor.




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