Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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July 23, Pochuck Mountain Shelter - Mile 1330.5

I'm exhausted. Last night must have been the worst night's sleep I've had since Georgia when I nearly froze to death. Even though I was comfortably retired in my tent a good distance away from the shelter & it's associated noise, I absolutely could not fall asleep. I can't even blame the huge troop of scouts - or whoever they were - who came blasting into the shelter some where around 9:00, when it was pitch dark. I don't even know how they found their way in, because I didn't see any flashlights. But they managed to get two tents set up, so I saw this morning. Anyway, they were far enough away that they didn't keep me up, either. To make the long night even longer, my body decided TONIGHT was the night to drain all the fluid I typically retain, so I was up 5 times to water the trees. And each time, the tree was closer & closer to my tent. What a pain!

Anyway, despite no sleep, it's been a fun day. For the second day in a row, I had lunch at a New Jersey deli, I could get used to that! I was just coming up to what they call the "secret hostel" when the owner came driving by in his jeep & asked if I wanted a lift into Unionville. I had in fact planned to run into Unionville for lunch since it was only 1/2 mile off the trail, so the timing was perfect. His jeep had no doors, top, nor seats other than his, so I tossed my pack in, sat on the floor against it & hung on to the dashboard like my life depended on it as we roared into town. At least we got a good breeze that way! Today was utterly sweltering - I've gone through 7 liters of fluid & sweated it all out.

Once in town, I had half an hour at the General Store deli to eat as much as I could while he ran his errands. So I managed to get down a huge turkey sandwich, two ice cream bars & a liter of Gatorade and a keylime soda. Even though I haven't lost any weight on this hike, I do enjoy the ability to eat anything without gaining. Then I hopped back in the jeep & back to the secret hostel, which isn't really a secret, but it's not listed in many guidebooks but rather passed on by word of mouth. An alumni thru hiker has built a couple cabins. installed a shower & a dryer & built a privy for thru-hikers to use. It's a truly awesome place & it would have been nice to stay but I wanted to get a few more miles in, so I kept moving.

The rest of the afternoon was interesting. I spent a considerable amount of time on bog logs, & walked a couple miles through a wildlife preserve. During that time, I saw more wildlife that I saw in the past two weeks in PA! I saw three deer, including an adolescent fawn which still had spots. but just barely. Plus three groundhogs - one a baby and cute as a button - rabbits, sunfish in a pond, the largest bullfrog I've ever seen, turkeys, & most exciting, a red fox. I just caught a glimpse of it running into the brush but it was beautiful. I wish I could have seen it's face, too. What a day!