Day 103- Goodbye And Thanks For The Memories

July 13, 2015

Telephone Pioneers Shelter(1445.6) to Schaghticoke Mountain Campsite(1463.9) 18.3 Miles

So long New York, hello Connecticut! Today was an awesome day. I slept in until 6:45 and it was glorious. I packed everything up as quick as possible and made as much noise as I could next to loudmouth Brooklyn's tent as I walked by. I had a nice easy 3.5 mile walk to get to my maildrop location. 

I walked past a lot of cool stuff in a short amount of time. 

Dover Oak, the largest oak tree on the AT, estimated to be over 300 years old. 20'4" around

Boardwalk through a jungle of tall grass. Wiped off 10 ticks 

Beautiful boardwalk through the country

Adironack Chair pointing north

NYC Amtrak train stop on the AT

I've been so excited to see the train stop. I think it's pretty cool that you can take a train to the Appalachian Trail. I wonder how many people actually use this stop every year. If I lived in NYC, I would use it all of the time. 

So cool

I arrived at Native Landscapes and Garden Center a few minutes before they opened, but they saw me outside and opened up early for me. I got my maildrop and sat outside in a covered gazebo that was surrounded by flowers and shrubbery. My package was fantastic, it had all of my favorite snack foods, a backpackers dehydrated Pad Thai meal, the return of my puffy jacket, a mosquito head net, an early birthday card from my parents, and my long awaited Sawyer Squeeze water filter. 

My life just became 1,000,000 times easier

I can't believe I waited so long before switching. The regular Sawyer is 5x faster than the Sawyer mini. I'd like to give a shoutout to, Mike from St. Louis, who so kindly gave me the gift card I used to purchase it. Thanks, Mike. You have no idea how much this improves my day. 

After sorting through my box of goodies I walked .6 miles to Tony's deli. I hadn't planned on stopping there, but the lady at the nursery said I had to check it out. I'm glad I did. I ordered the lumberjack breakfast sandwich, a kaiser roll overflowing with ham, sausage, crispy bacon, hash browns, eggs, and cheddar cheese. It was the size of a toddlers head. Even with my appetite I couldn't finish it. 

Sooooo good

Mural on the wall at the deli

I spent way more time at the nursery than I had originally planned on. I didn't get back on the trail until 11. It was nice to have a leisurely morning, but that meant I had serious miles to make in the heat of the day. 

Once I was back on the trail, I had about three miles of walking in and out of the forest cover. I spent spent a good amount of time in meadows and pastures. I was really glad to have my Florida Gator visor back. I have no idea why I sent it home. It was like having a long lost friend by my side again. 

Welcome home friend

My next stop was the Wiley Shelter. I ate a quick snack and collected water. This was the first time I got to use my new filter and it was everything I hoped it would be and more. I was on my way in a matter of minutes. If I had used the Sawyer Mini, I might still be filtering water. 

The last few shelters I have camped around or stopped at, all had built in library's. I'm surprised by how many hikers carry books with them. When I have time to read, which is very rare, I use the Kindle app on my phone. 

Hiker's library

After leaving Wiley shelter I hiked a few more easy miles into Conneticut. I was finally out of New York, it was a temporary reprieve, as the trail would briefly reenter NY a few miles later. 

Hello Connecticut

Connecticut is the farthest north I've ever been on the east coast. It is also the tenth state I've been in along my hike. I only have four states left to go. I reentered NY for the hardest part of today's hike, a 1,000 foot climb over Schaghticoke Mountain. I haven't had a climb like this in weeks and it felt good to finally feel like I accomplished something. All of the piddly ups of New York really frustrated me. 

View from Schaghticoke Mountain

Somewhere after this climb I exited New York for the final time. The next 2.5 miles to my campsite seemed to take forever. I was exhausted and the mosquitos were eating me alive. I finally reached the campground a little before seven. I quickly set up camp and filtered a few liters of water. I was too tired to cook dinner, so I settled for pepperoni on a bagel and a bag of Oreos. I spent awhile planning out the next week. I have a few more maildrops arriving and had to figure out where to have then sent. My birthday is one week from Wednesday and I'll finally take a zero day then. I'm aiming for Williamstown, MA, which is over 130 miles away. I can't wait for a zero day!!! 

I'm excited to see what Connecticut has in store for me. It will be another short state. I should finish it in 3 days, then it's on to Massachusetts. 

"There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don't allow yourself to become one of them." -Ralph Marston