8 down, 6 to go.

Day 80 - 7/6/10
I had my alarm set for 4, but when it went off I just went right back
to bed. I think I would have been able to wake up that early had I not
had such a hard time getting to sleep. It was so hot I couldn't sleep
for several hours, but it did get reasonably comfortable later on. So
I ended up getting up at 6, and left by 6:45. A good start any other
day, but today you could tell it was already getting hot by then.

I made it to the New Jersey/New York border in a few hours and took a
picture with one foot on either side. Thought that was pretty neat.
The hiking after that was all along this exposed ridge, so I was just
baking in the sun. It was brutal, and I had no water, but I eventually
made it to a brook that I was able to get okay water from. I did a few
more miles, then made it to a road where a lot of other hikers were
taking a break. I stopped there for a second to cool off, then walked
the road to a farm with ice cream. I got myself an orange soda and a
soft serve twist. It was so creamy, the best soft serve I think I've
ever had.

I stuck around there for almost an hour, then made it back to the
trail around 1. I did another 4 miles to Fitzgerald Falls where I
found the same group from earlier taking another break. The falls were
kind of a disappointment, barely a trickle, but at least you could get
water from there. I stayed there a long while, maybe an hour, trying
to stay cool and out of the sun. Today was just so hot I don't think
anyone wanted to be out hiking. It was funny too, everyone was joking
around saying how today they were quitting. That was it. Too hot to go
on. It was just one of those days. I left around 4, did a few more
miles after that, then came to a road where I saw a cooler, but
unfortunately it was empty. Some of the others caught up to me at the
road and told me about some guy who was going to let people stay at
his house. Turns out it was the same guy who leaves the trail magic
water jugs in the cooler I was near.

So we waited for him, about 7 of us, and he took us too his place in
several trips. When I got there he had beer for us, good beer too, and
made us a crazy huge dinner. Rice, sausage, chicken, veggies, pasta
with spaghetti sauce, guacamole, chips, and so on. For free. He just
does this for hikers every once in a while. And I got a nice hot
shower, plus a comfy couch to sleep on with AC and everything. I'm so
glad I decided to come here, this almost seems too good to be true. Am
I dreaming?

Sadly tomorrow there won't be any ice cream stops, but at least I had
the opportunity tonight to enjoy some amazing trail magic. I think the
generosity I've experienced here more then makes up for that. And
tomorrow is supposed to be the last extremely hot day. Thank god.

Total miles: 1369.8