7 down, 7 to go.

Day 76 - 7/1/10
It's kind of awesome how I've only finished half the states, yet I'm
well over halfway mileage-wise. It'll feel like I'm moving faster
because these smaller states will not be so long.

Not a great sleep. The bunk was tiny, and I got super hot in the
middle of the night. I got up around 8 and went down to the post
office to mail home some extra stuff I've been carrying. Then I went
over to the bakery for a 1/2 gallon of milk to go with a box of cereal
I had bought the day before. You'd think I'd have learned by now not
to eat a whole box in one sitting, but I haven't. I did in fact finish
the whole thing, but I couldn't finish the milk. And sadly it didn't
satisfy that hole in my stomach like I'd imagined it would. So this
might be the last time you'll be hearing about any cereal adventures.

I was so full from the breakfast that I didn't much feel like moving.
I sat around in the common room, listening to some terrible 80's mix
CD someone had put in and reading up on some current events on my
phone. Around 10:30 I went back to the outfitter because I had
forgotten to buy Aquamira drops yesterday. I got in the store and
there was only one left, made it just in time. I went back up to the
hostel, ate a little more, and then realized I was getting too
comfortable. It was quickly turning into an unintentional zero day, so
I hurried to get my pack together, leaving town sometime past 12. I'm
glad I did because it was ideal hiking weather today. Actually the
past couple days have been nice and cool with no humidity, but today
was definitely the best of the bunch.

I crossed the Delaware River first, then soon got back up in the woods
after going through an underpass. The hiking and environment of the
trail in New Jersey instantly appealed to me. Something about it was
just really enjoyable. Maybe finally leaving Pennsylvania caused a
flood of endorphins to rush my brain. I made it to the top of the
ridge area, not seeing anyone but day hikers. There's a pond at the
top called Sunfish Pond, and it's an easy hike up so that's what they
were all doing. After skirting the edge of that I soon was passed a
large group of tweenage girls. At least 15. They had too much energy
to handle, but it was amusing trying to field 3 or 4 questions at
once. I felt bad for the two guy chaperones that were with them.

I stopped and had lunch after they passed. By then it was 3:30 or so.
I had fresh fruit (1 banana & 1 apple) and also some naan bread, and
all of it with peanut butter and Nutella. The bread was really good,
something Jen's mom introduced me to a few years ago, and looking at
the back I saw all these recipe ideas I can't wait to try when I get
home. After lunch I felt really good, just in a groove. Maybe it's the
new shoes, which seem to be working out quite nicely so far. I
definitely notice some differences, both pro and con. They're much
lighter, pro, but rocks are more noticeable now when you step on them,
con. I need more time to decide if I'm a shoe hiker or boot hiker, so
in a few weeks I'll bring up this topic again.

The day continued nicely, with great breezes and decent views for only
being 1500 ft. up. Later on toward evening I passed a SOBO lady and
asked her about the water situation coming up. I wish I hadn't because
she mentioned this place where there were two screened shelters and
also a spigot, but I have to say I was horrendously misled. I'll come
back to this in a minute though.

A few miles after I spoke with her I came upon my first New Jersey
bear sighting. He was digging his face into a bush of raspberries,
completely engrossed. I could have easily snuck up and given him a
good scare, but that would have just been stupid. Instead I tried to
get a picture from a safe distance, but he heard me fumbling around so
I was only able to get a picture of his butt as he ran off. That was
pretty cool, but then my mood changed when I got to the road where the
supposed shelters were. One, they weren't there. Two, the spigot the
lady mentioned didn't work. Thankfully I had saved about a 1/2 liter
of water instead of downing it earlier, so I was okay there. I saw a
road that had signs mentioning AT hikers and camping, and in my book
it said something about a campsite .6 miles down that way as well.
Pretty long distance to go for a campsite, but there were signs in the
area that said no camping, and the next real shelter was another 7
miles, so I decided to go check it out. Plus I figured maybe they'd
have a spigot or something down there.

It felt like a long walk, and when I got down to the place I was
freaked out. The place looked like an old abandoned summer camp, with
buildings that were falling apart, overgrown fields, strange things
laying around like sleds and dolls, and not a single person in sight.
It was straight up horror movie material, and after walking around I'm
surprised no one jumped out with a chainsaw. While walking around I
did see the two "shelters" the lady had told me about, but there was
no way I was staying in there, at least by myself. And there was no
water either, so basically it was a complete waste of time.

I hurried back up the road, concerned now because it was past 8 and I
was losing light. I got back on the AT, hiked very fast for 15
minutes, then pulled off to the side at a decent spot. I know it said
no camping, but it also said thru hikers were okay as long as they're
far enough off the trail. I quickly set up my tent, then ate some cold
foods. I still only had the 1/2 liter and couldn't afford to use it on
a hot dinner. Hopefully I come across a water source pretty early on
tomorrow.

I'm actually pretty comfy here in my tent by myself. It's going to be
a nice cool, breezy night. It's a bit surprising this is only the
second night I've tented out alone on this trip, but maybe it'll start
happening more often. I just hope the bad advice I got from that lady
is only a one time thing. I wasted a lot of sunlight going down to
that summer camp. Anyway, bedtime.

Total miles: 1302.2