Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Guest Blogger-- Mom
Partly because I dont seem to have anything to say lately, but mostly because this is such a nice narrative, I give you- Moms most recent hike.
A long time backpacker, my mother has probably walked more miles in the last 25 years than I've DRIVEN. I'm not sure what percentage of the Appalachian Trail she's completed but I'm sure it's getting up there. And I'm sure she's climbed every mountain in New England. (And dragged me, panting and whining, up a couple small ones.) This latest is 4 days, 34 miles through New Jersey.
I'm very proud of her.
My Hiking Journal
May 21 - May 24, 2004
Culvers Gap to Vernon, NJ
May 21 - first day
We drove from Plainville to Culvers Gap and got there about 12 noon.
Worthingtons bakery is still closed. We parked an AT lot and hiked in to about 1.5 miles and found Normanock geocache. Left whisk Away TB. It was slightly down side of ridge from grassy clearing.
It was a beautiful day. At about 2.0 miles we came to the Culver Fire tower and took a break at the picnic table there. We saw a huge
turkey on the way. The going is pretty good, but mostly up. Russ is going slow, but in good spirits. 2.1 miles we came to trail to Gren Andersen shelter. There was no one there, but it was only about 3:30PM. We unpacked, checked out the bear box. It is a big metal box with hook lock on it. Upon opening it to see how clean it was, because we would have to put our food in it, I got overwhelmed by the contents. The shelter maintainer, Deperado, filled it with goodies and necessities. A large bag of cookies, a bag of snickers bars, lemonade mix, alchol for stoves, coleman fuel, jugs of water and other trail items such as a first aid kit were some of the items. We were pleasantly suprised and had a great respect for Desperado. I looked at the the shelter more closely. He had put in a bible, several magazines, candles, brooms and what all.
While relaxing and drinking tea mix, I read the log book. There were several references to bear coming by and trying to raid the bear box at night, unsuccessfully. I could hardly wait to see my first bear. Russ was disturbed about the prospect of fighting off a bear trying to get into the leanto. We discussed (again) if it would be good to carry a pistol while backpacking.
We rested awhile and around 6PM, two weary looking NOBO came in. It
was Insomniac and Stumblefoot, two down home fellas from Virginia.
While they unpacked we cooked up some mac and cheese. We got talking, and found they had just started in Delaware Water Gap yesterday and are headed for Southern Mass. They hiked in two days what it took me and Dawn last year and Russ and I today, about three and half days. Today they did 21 miles including a stop at the Sunset Grill in Culvers Gap for a burger and a beer. They unpacked and relaxed. We discussed the tick situation which was terrible. Russ and I had found several on us, and as Stumblefoot checked himself , he must have found 10 of them which he picked off and burned. Insomniac also found several. "you've heard of chick magnets, well I'm a tick magnet" joked Stumble foot. I said that if he didn't already have a trail name, we could call him that. He laughed and said that was a good one and he would have to hang that on someone. As time went by and we talked pleasantly about geocaching and hunting in Virginia we found that they were coal miners. Stumble foot noticed my Survivor cap and asked me if I liked Survivor. I explained that I never missed it. Then he says they do too. That big Tom came from their area and then we had a long discussion about Big Tom and Boston Rob and Rupert and the whole show.
At first take you wouldn't expect these down home boys to be interested in something like that. But they had the Big Tom connection and were big fans.
We all got along quite well and Russ took a liking to them. Insomniac was more quiet but joined in. Stumble foot was the story teller and had good information about water diseases. Then they asked if there was a privy. Well, I have to tell you, I had checked out and used the "privy". There is no "privacy" in the privY. It was just a wooden box with a step up and a toilet seat over a hole in the box. No roof or walls. Just sitting out in the woods as pretty as you please. I pointed it out. They didn't seem too surprised.
There is a spring for water just beyond the shelter and a road (Sunrise Mt. Rd) a short way beyond. We settled in our sleeping bags arond 8 or 8:30. It was very warm so we had the bags open until it got a little cooler. Because I had drank so much tea, I was awake for a long time. But I did sleep on and off. When I snored Russ would poke me and I poked him when he snored. The next day Russ said I poked him so often, he was going to belt me.
5/22/04 second day
The next morning at around 6AM the other two got up. There had been no bears during the night and some of us were disappointed. Every one except me had seen some guy walk through the shelter areal about 3:30 to 4am. We spent somethime trying to figure out what he was doing there. Stumble foot and Russ finally came to the conclusion, he must have been a turkey hunter. They ate and packed up and quickly were on the trail. They said they would go to Highpoint Shelter. I said I was going to Rutherford shelterand if I felt good I would go another 4 miles to Highpoint. Rutherford was 8.7 and another .4 miles down a side trail.
Russ and I packed up. I went north and he went south to the car. The plan was He ould drive to NJ 23 and hike south to meet me and stay at Rutherford or if I wanted to keep on going he would walk back out
with me when we met. Trail went 2.5 miles to Sunrise Mountain which
had a big Pavilion on top. There was no one there. I took a break and enjoyed the scenery, which was hazy and not that good. I left a ribbon tied nearby, which is our signal to let Russ know I had gotten that far,should anything happen. I went on 3.3 more miles up and down until I got to Mashipcong shelter. I startled two deer along the way. This shelter was also maintained by Desparado and was neat and clean, at the edge of a grassy clearing, next to dirt Deckertown RD. Just after crossing Deckertown road, there used to be a water pump but it got taken out because of pollution. But in the shrubs next to the trail were 12 gallon jugs of water. I filled my camel back and was all set for a while. I did three geocaches along the way. Two were fairly easy, but one was tough because of the bushes and undergrowth and the
ledge underneath. I took a tumble but there as no harm done. It did scare me though, because if something happened I could not be seen from the trail.
I got to the side trail at Rutherford and saw it went steeply down over the ledge and rock. It was only around 4PM so I thought I would keep on walking the 2.6 miles to Rt 23, hopefully meeting Russ along the way. By the time I reached the road, I had not met Russ, but we had agreed that if I got that far I would wait for him where he could see me. The trail came out at the Highpoint headquarters on the highway.
I took off my pack and went to the water fountain and splashed cold water on my face and drank a lot. I went inside to the bathroom. I came out and found a park bench facing the road and sat and took off
my boots and waited and watched the road. A gentleman with his three daughters came over to me and asked if I had seen the bear back there on the trail. It was sitting right on the trail when they approached and showed no signs of moving, so they came back out. I missed my bear again. After about 3/4 of an hour Russ came by in the car. He had hiked in earlier in the day and waited at the shelter a long time.
He left me a message in the log book and hiked back out and got a motel room, then came back to check on me. I had promised him I would not go further than the road, so he could resupply me. We went to High Point Country Inn and I showered and deticked and put clean clothes on, then went out for supper at a nice Italian Restaurant. W went to bed about 8:30pm, too tired to watch even one TV show.
5/23/04 third day
We got up and dresssed and went to breakfast in thelobby. They had a good supply of breakfast foods, coffee, teas,juices, coffee cake donuts, pastries, english miffins fruits cereals, cocoa, you just helped yourself. They had a hot plate, 2 microwaves, and a toaster and a refrigerator.
We discussed how the next part would go. Russ talked me into slackpacking so I covered a lot of miles today. He would meet me just before the 1/2 mile hike up Pochuck mountain to the shelter. All I brought with me was my pack, water snacks, first aid. I left my stove pots and clothes and food with him. I would meet him at Rt 284. As it
turned out that was the wrong road, it was almost 4 miles short of where we should have been meeting.
We headed north, Russ would walk with me about a mile, to the observation platform, where there is a good view of the highpoint
tower. We found a geocache at that platform. He headed back out and I went north. The woods was beautiful, mostly a gradual downhill. The ups were not more than a 10th of a mile. There were several stone walls, this section had many fields and very picturesque farm scenes, many low swampy woods with bog bridges. I crossed a couple of dirt roads that I left ribbons at. 2 hikers came up behind me and passed going up a steep hill in a field. One was a through hiker and the other was a sweaty day hiker with no shirt on and a hat. I would meet them again. I came out to dirt Goldsmith Rd and a sign, which said well water 100yds. That was for me. I took the short walk up to this park like setting with a few neat small cabins in a large lawnlike field. There were a couple of small trees for shade and a pump. All on the side of a hill, so you see a great distance. I dropped my pack and grabbed my water bag and headed for the pump. Water gushed out and I filled the bag and stuck my head unter the icy flow. How good did that feel? It had been in the 80's all day and I was hot. I ate and rested and moved on back to the trail. In about a mile I met the hot sweaty
guy and stopped to talk. He was headed for Rt 284, but going the wrong direction. He was confused and twisted around. He remembered passing me and couldn't figure out how he could be walking towards me now. I asked if he had water and he said he did and pointed to a pint canteen on his waist. I got him turned around and we headed north with him in front. Shortly we were headed uphill when I caught sight of a white blaze off the the left. He had missed the turn. I called him back and got him on track again. We stopped and I offered him some water again, this time I filled his canteen. He gulped the water down. He needed it. At one Pint we chatted a bit. His name was Mike and he was originally from the Adirondaks. At one point he turned a corner and he yelled back,"your going to like this". I did. It as a straight and level old railroad bed and we moved along pretty good. After we walked about 1/2 mile in this green tunnel I met Russ. We walked out to Rt 284 and the car. Mike was gone before we left the woods. I couldn't tell which direction we went.
Russ and I discussed that I had a ways to go yet. I took a break and continued on. Russ would meet me at Liberty Corner RD. I crossed the road and started down the trail again. After a 1/2 mile I came to Oil City Rd and hiked down it in a thunderstorm. There was lightening flashin in the mountains ahead. The weather had been hot and the cool rain felt good. I passed an abandon barn and took shelter in it. About fifteen minutes later the rain stopped. I took off and a few minutes later met Russ again. He was parked next to the Wallkill River. He got out and called, Don't pay any attention to me, I'm not here. But we talked and he thought I should just take water.So we rigged up a strap on my waterbag. I took off again and went into the Wallkill Wildlife refuge. It was all open in a big square. I walked .7 miles in a straight line and then a left for .5 miles and left again for .6 miles
before turning into the woods, swamp. The puncheons through the swamp went for .4 miles.. I met Russ and got all my gear and hiked up the mountain to the shelter. The end of hiking for a 14 mile day.
It was about 6:30pm when I to the shelter. I was too tired to cook yet, so I unpacked slowly and got organized. It was still a hot day. At this shelter were Insomniac and Stumble foot and Trek, who was the other backpacker with sweaty Mike. We discussed Mike for a while, It seems he got off the trail a couple of times and Trek got him on track. The boys were talking about how things weren't going so good. Insomniac was not holding up well. I tried to talk him into staying on the trail for a little longer and things would get better. But he knew he was not quite right. He had section hiked up from Georgia and never felt this bad. TheY knew I was getting off tomorrow at Rt 94. He asked me if they would be able to get a ride up to Tyringham, Mass.
I didn't dare say yes because I didn't know how Russ would feel about it, or if all the gear would fit in the car. I told him to ask Russ when he got to 94 and that Russ had enjoyed their company, so he would probably say yes. Finally I rested enough for my appetite to kick in and had mac and cheese, cleaned up and put everything in the bear box, went to the privy, 3 walls no door.
While I was doin this Stumble foot told me stories about the hard life in the mines. Come to find out he was pulling my leg. We laughed and laughed about how gullible I was. It was only going to be 6 miles tomorrow. I told Russ I would be out at 1 PM. I still had to go over Pochuck mountain and I am pretty slow on the mountains.
5/24/04 fourth day
Every one up at 5 AM. The three guys took off by 6. I got going about 6:20, much earlier than I expected. Day was going to be hot. Got over the first ridge fine and started up a bigger ridge on a very loose, rocky trail.Off to my right about 150 ft away was my bear. He looked at me and turned around, walking away, looking over his shoulder. I proceeded over the summit and started down. Woods and fields and cow pastures and cow patties. Horrendous mosquitoes, deet just bearly worked until I washed it away with persperation. I crossed a couple of roads and got to the boardwalk relocation of the trail.
This boardwalk cuts out a couple of miles of roadwalking. The boardwalk goes across a huge marsh. Just after I started out on it Russ spotted me and called to see if I wanted to give him the backpack. I waved him off, I didn't want to back track. The board walk was wide with curb on it and must have been a mile long. It had places to sit along the way and watch the birds. I stopped to talk to one woman who called it the 8th wonder of the world. I continued on and went into the woods, up over a bridge over the Waywayanda river, through a field , over the railroad tracks, over stiles at cow pasture fences until I looked ahead and could see the parking lot. They were all there waiting for me. It was 11AM. I rested and had a wonderful cold Pepsi, and a cold piece of pizza.
We alled piled in and headed for Mass. Russ wants to go turkey hunting with Stumble foot in Virginai, He asked him when turkey season was and Stumble foot said he didn't know. He just goes out hunting.
He'd have to look it up. We laughed so hard.
We said goodbye in Mass. They mades take money and gave me their alchohol stove and exchanged addresses. I have since received some photos from Insomniac.
It was a most excellent adventure!
Partly because I dont seem to have anything to say lately, but mostly because this is such a nice narrative, I give you- Moms most recent hike.
A long time backpacker, my mother has probably walked more miles in the last 25 years than I've DRIVEN. I'm not sure what percentage of the Appalachian Trail she's completed but I'm sure it's getting up there. And I'm sure she's climbed every mountain in New England. (And dragged me, panting and whining, up a couple small ones.) This latest is 4 days, 34 miles through New Jersey.
I'm very proud of her.
My Hiking Journal
May 21 - May 24, 2004
Culvers Gap to Vernon, NJ
May 21 - first day
We drove from Plainville to Culvers Gap and got there about 12 noon.
Worthingtons bakery is still closed. We parked an AT lot and hiked in to about 1.5 miles and found Normanock geocache. Left whisk Away TB. It was slightly down side of ridge from grassy clearing.
It was a beautiful day. At about 2.0 miles we came to the Culver Fire tower and took a break at the picnic table there. We saw a huge
turkey on the way. The going is pretty good, but mostly up. Russ is going slow, but in good spirits. 2.1 miles we came to trail to Gren Andersen shelter. There was no one there, but it was only about 3:30PM. We unpacked, checked out the bear box. It is a big metal box with hook lock on it. Upon opening it to see how clean it was, because we would have to put our food in it, I got overwhelmed by the contents. The shelter maintainer, Deperado, filled it with goodies and necessities. A large bag of cookies, a bag of snickers bars, lemonade mix, alchol for stoves, coleman fuel, jugs of water and other trail items such as a first aid kit were some of the items. We were pleasantly suprised and had a great respect for Desperado. I looked at the the shelter more closely. He had put in a bible, several magazines, candles, brooms and what all.
While relaxing and drinking tea mix, I read the log book. There were several references to bear coming by and trying to raid the bear box at night, unsuccessfully. I could hardly wait to see my first bear. Russ was disturbed about the prospect of fighting off a bear trying to get into the leanto. We discussed (again) if it would be good to carry a pistol while backpacking.
We rested awhile and around 6PM, two weary looking NOBO came in. It
was Insomniac and Stumblefoot, two down home fellas from Virginia.
While they unpacked we cooked up some mac and cheese. We got talking, and found they had just started in Delaware Water Gap yesterday and are headed for Southern Mass. They hiked in two days what it took me and Dawn last year and Russ and I today, about three and half days. Today they did 21 miles including a stop at the Sunset Grill in Culvers Gap for a burger and a beer. They unpacked and relaxed. We discussed the tick situation which was terrible. Russ and I had found several on us, and as Stumblefoot checked himself , he must have found 10 of them which he picked off and burned. Insomniac also found several. "you've heard of chick magnets, well I'm a tick magnet" joked Stumble foot. I said that if he didn't already have a trail name, we could call him that. He laughed and said that was a good one and he would have to hang that on someone. As time went by and we talked pleasantly about geocaching and hunting in Virginia we found that they were coal miners. Stumble foot noticed my Survivor cap and asked me if I liked Survivor. I explained that I never missed it. Then he says they do too. That big Tom came from their area and then we had a long discussion about Big Tom and Boston Rob and Rupert and the whole show.
At first take you wouldn't expect these down home boys to be interested in something like that. But they had the Big Tom connection and were big fans.
We all got along quite well and Russ took a liking to them. Insomniac was more quiet but joined in. Stumble foot was the story teller and had good information about water diseases. Then they asked if there was a privy. Well, I have to tell you, I had checked out and used the "privy". There is no "privacy" in the privY. It was just a wooden box with a step up and a toilet seat over a hole in the box. No roof or walls. Just sitting out in the woods as pretty as you please. I pointed it out. They didn't seem too surprised.
There is a spring for water just beyond the shelter and a road (Sunrise Mt. Rd) a short way beyond. We settled in our sleeping bags arond 8 or 8:30. It was very warm so we had the bags open until it got a little cooler. Because I had drank so much tea, I was awake for a long time. But I did sleep on and off. When I snored Russ would poke me and I poked him when he snored. The next day Russ said I poked him so often, he was going to belt me.
5/22/04 second day
The next morning at around 6AM the other two got up. There had been no bears during the night and some of us were disappointed. Every one except me had seen some guy walk through the shelter areal about 3:30 to 4am. We spent somethime trying to figure out what he was doing there. Stumble foot and Russ finally came to the conclusion, he must have been a turkey hunter. They ate and packed up and quickly were on the trail. They said they would go to Highpoint Shelter. I said I was going to Rutherford shelterand if I felt good I would go another 4 miles to Highpoint. Rutherford was 8.7 and another .4 miles down a side trail.
Russ and I packed up. I went north and he went south to the car. The plan was He ould drive to NJ 23 and hike south to meet me and stay at Rutherford or if I wanted to keep on going he would walk back out
with me when we met. Trail went 2.5 miles to Sunrise Mountain which
had a big Pavilion on top. There was no one there. I took a break and enjoyed the scenery, which was hazy and not that good. I left a ribbon tied nearby, which is our signal to let Russ know I had gotten that far,should anything happen. I went on 3.3 more miles up and down until I got to Mashipcong shelter. I startled two deer along the way. This shelter was also maintained by Desparado and was neat and clean, at the edge of a grassy clearing, next to dirt Deckertown RD. Just after crossing Deckertown road, there used to be a water pump but it got taken out because of pollution. But in the shrubs next to the trail were 12 gallon jugs of water. I filled my camel back and was all set for a while. I did three geocaches along the way. Two were fairly easy, but one was tough because of the bushes and undergrowth and the
ledge underneath. I took a tumble but there as no harm done. It did scare me though, because if something happened I could not be seen from the trail.
I got to the side trail at Rutherford and saw it went steeply down over the ledge and rock. It was only around 4PM so I thought I would keep on walking the 2.6 miles to Rt 23, hopefully meeting Russ along the way. By the time I reached the road, I had not met Russ, but we had agreed that if I got that far I would wait for him where he could see me. The trail came out at the Highpoint headquarters on the highway.
I took off my pack and went to the water fountain and splashed cold water on my face and drank a lot. I went inside to the bathroom. I came out and found a park bench facing the road and sat and took off
my boots and waited and watched the road. A gentleman with his three daughters came over to me and asked if I had seen the bear back there on the trail. It was sitting right on the trail when they approached and showed no signs of moving, so they came back out. I missed my bear again. After about 3/4 of an hour Russ came by in the car. He had hiked in earlier in the day and waited at the shelter a long time.
He left me a message in the log book and hiked back out and got a motel room, then came back to check on me. I had promised him I would not go further than the road, so he could resupply me. We went to High Point Country Inn and I showered and deticked and put clean clothes on, then went out for supper at a nice Italian Restaurant. W went to bed about 8:30pm, too tired to watch even one TV show.
5/23/04 third day
We got up and dresssed and went to breakfast in thelobby. They had a good supply of breakfast foods, coffee, teas,juices, coffee cake donuts, pastries, english miffins fruits cereals, cocoa, you just helped yourself. They had a hot plate, 2 microwaves, and a toaster and a refrigerator.
We discussed how the next part would go. Russ talked me into slackpacking so I covered a lot of miles today. He would meet me just before the 1/2 mile hike up Pochuck mountain to the shelter. All I brought with me was my pack, water snacks, first aid. I left my stove pots and clothes and food with him. I would meet him at Rt 284. As it
turned out that was the wrong road, it was almost 4 miles short of where we should have been meeting.
We headed north, Russ would walk with me about a mile, to the observation platform, where there is a good view of the highpoint
tower. We found a geocache at that platform. He headed back out and I went north. The woods was beautiful, mostly a gradual downhill. The ups were not more than a 10th of a mile. There were several stone walls, this section had many fields and very picturesque farm scenes, many low swampy woods with bog bridges. I crossed a couple of dirt roads that I left ribbons at. 2 hikers came up behind me and passed going up a steep hill in a field. One was a through hiker and the other was a sweaty day hiker with no shirt on and a hat. I would meet them again. I came out to dirt Goldsmith Rd and a sign, which said well water 100yds. That was for me. I took the short walk up to this park like setting with a few neat small cabins in a large lawnlike field. There were a couple of small trees for shade and a pump. All on the side of a hill, so you see a great distance. I dropped my pack and grabbed my water bag and headed for the pump. Water gushed out and I filled the bag and stuck my head unter the icy flow. How good did that feel? It had been in the 80's all day and I was hot. I ate and rested and moved on back to the trail. In about a mile I met the hot sweaty
guy and stopped to talk. He was headed for Rt 284, but going the wrong direction. He was confused and twisted around. He remembered passing me and couldn't figure out how he could be walking towards me now. I asked if he had water and he said he did and pointed to a pint canteen on his waist. I got him turned around and we headed north with him in front. Shortly we were headed uphill when I caught sight of a white blaze off the the left. He had missed the turn. I called him back and got him on track again. We stopped and I offered him some water again, this time I filled his canteen. He gulped the water down. He needed it. At one Pint we chatted a bit. His name was Mike and he was originally from the Adirondaks. At one point he turned a corner and he yelled back,"your going to like this". I did. It as a straight and level old railroad bed and we moved along pretty good. After we walked about 1/2 mile in this green tunnel I met Russ. We walked out to Rt 284 and the car. Mike was gone before we left the woods. I couldn't tell which direction we went.
Russ and I discussed that I had a ways to go yet. I took a break and continued on. Russ would meet me at Liberty Corner RD. I crossed the road and started down the trail again. After a 1/2 mile I came to Oil City Rd and hiked down it in a thunderstorm. There was lightening flashin in the mountains ahead. The weather had been hot and the cool rain felt good. I passed an abandon barn and took shelter in it. About fifteen minutes later the rain stopped. I took off and a few minutes later met Russ again. He was parked next to the Wallkill River. He got out and called, Don't pay any attention to me, I'm not here. But we talked and he thought I should just take water.So we rigged up a strap on my waterbag. I took off again and went into the Wallkill Wildlife refuge. It was all open in a big square. I walked .7 miles in a straight line and then a left for .5 miles and left again for .6 miles
before turning into the woods, swamp. The puncheons through the swamp went for .4 miles.. I met Russ and got all my gear and hiked up the mountain to the shelter. The end of hiking for a 14 mile day.
It was about 6:30pm when I to the shelter. I was too tired to cook yet, so I unpacked slowly and got organized. It was still a hot day. At this shelter were Insomniac and Stumble foot and Trek, who was the other backpacker with sweaty Mike. We discussed Mike for a while, It seems he got off the trail a couple of times and Trek got him on track. The boys were talking about how things weren't going so good. Insomniac was not holding up well. I tried to talk him into staying on the trail for a little longer and things would get better. But he knew he was not quite right. He had section hiked up from Georgia and never felt this bad. TheY knew I was getting off tomorrow at Rt 94. He asked me if they would be able to get a ride up to Tyringham, Mass.
I didn't dare say yes because I didn't know how Russ would feel about it, or if all the gear would fit in the car. I told him to ask Russ when he got to 94 and that Russ had enjoyed their company, so he would probably say yes. Finally I rested enough for my appetite to kick in and had mac and cheese, cleaned up and put everything in the bear box, went to the privy, 3 walls no door.
While I was doin this Stumble foot told me stories about the hard life in the mines. Come to find out he was pulling my leg. We laughed and laughed about how gullible I was. It was only going to be 6 miles tomorrow. I told Russ I would be out at 1 PM. I still had to go over Pochuck mountain and I am pretty slow on the mountains.
5/24/04 fourth day
Every one up at 5 AM. The three guys took off by 6. I got going about 6:20, much earlier than I expected. Day was going to be hot. Got over the first ridge fine and started up a bigger ridge on a very loose, rocky trail.Off to my right about 150 ft away was my bear. He looked at me and turned around, walking away, looking over his shoulder. I proceeded over the summit and started down. Woods and fields and cow pastures and cow patties. Horrendous mosquitoes, deet just bearly worked until I washed it away with persperation. I crossed a couple of roads and got to the boardwalk relocation of the trail.
This boardwalk cuts out a couple of miles of roadwalking. The boardwalk goes across a huge marsh. Just after I started out on it Russ spotted me and called to see if I wanted to give him the backpack. I waved him off, I didn't want to back track. The board walk was wide with curb on it and must have been a mile long. It had places to sit along the way and watch the birds. I stopped to talk to one woman who called it the 8th wonder of the world. I continued on and went into the woods, up over a bridge over the Waywayanda river, through a field , over the railroad tracks, over stiles at cow pasture fences until I looked ahead and could see the parking lot. They were all there waiting for me. It was 11AM. I rested and had a wonderful cold Pepsi, and a cold piece of pizza.
We alled piled in and headed for Mass. Russ wants to go turkey hunting with Stumble foot in Virginai, He asked him when turkey season was and Stumble foot said he didn't know. He just goes out hunting.
He'd have to look it up. We laughed so hard.
We said goodbye in Mass. They mades take money and gave me their alchohol stove and exchanged addresses. I have since received some photos from Insomniac.
It was a most excellent adventure!
