The Secret Shelter
Today I woke up a little before everyone else. I took some time to do my journals which I can do quietly before anyone else was up. As I was doing this I heard a rustling near the shelter and when I looked up I was treated to the sight of a woodpecker. It clung to the side of the tree and walked around it as if it was flat. The woodpecker was black and white and at least a foot from tail to beak. I have heard many woodpeckers since I have started my thru-hike but they always seem shy staying high up in the trees and hiding when I stop to look for them. I think this one didn't notice the small motions 
I was doing typing. It walked around on a tree about 20 feet away and then started pecking slowly. I was amused the woodpecker was pecking at a sign that had been nailed to the tree about 7 feet up. I have seen many of these signs that had numerous small holes and always assumed it was some annoyed hunter shooting the "No Hunter" signs and the like. What a surprise to see it could have been a bird too.That was a very pleasant way to start my day. I spent the rest of the day hiking with McGyver and Caps. Together we hiked are a very impressive rate all morning however it wasn't so fast that a black rat snake could escape Caps who grabbed it by the tail as it was slithering off. The snake had a good grip on the stems and twigs though and Caps gave up getting the head out of the brush.
At Mashipacong Shelter the temperature outside had climbed pretty high and we took a two hour lunch break from the heat. The shade of the shelter dropped the temp at least 10 degrees. As we relaxed I cooked one of my dinners. This shelter was in a long streatch where no water was availible. As a result I was cool but I needed to conserve my water so I was a bit dry. A couple came up the AT and said hi. It turns out they were trail angels checking to make sure there was water and candy bars left in the bear box in front of the shelter. At that point we had been sitting across from the bear box for almost two hours and had never opened it to check inside. We all filled our mostly empty water bladders and vowed to always check the bear boxes.
With that refreshment we hiked renergized. The next stop was High Point State Park. There we were going to fill our water back up and take a short snack break. Instead we ran into another trail angel, Butch Casdey and his dog Sundance Kid. These are different the thru-hikers this year of the same name. He was a retired police offer who had a bad heart. He had a great passion for the trail though so instead of hiking it he drove around in his car performing trail magic. He offered us cold drinks which felt great to my hot and sweaty body. We got to talking and in the end he ended up providing us a ride to a Walmart. Caps' boots had been falling apart and two days ago the chunk of his boot sole that is in front of the ball of his foot on his left foot had fallen off leaving the plastic toe cup exposed to the trail. At Walmart he bought a pair of cheap shoes to hold him over until he could get replacements. McGyver and I took care of getting some more food. I normally try to not shop at Walmart but for the second time on this trip I shopped at one since I was already there. My food bag had been rather low only having two dinners and less than a days snack food. We also picked up some food for dinner, the others fried chicken and I a pound of mustard potato salad.By the time we got back to the trail we again were running low on daylight. We packed our food up as fast as we could and headed out giving Butch Casedy our thanks. From the parking lot we met him at it was a 400' climb up towards High Point. Just before the trail leading to High Point there is a platform that lifts one over the trees. On clear days one can see New York City but today it was only haze on the horizon to my disappointment. Looking up hill we could see the monument on High Point, a stunning 220 foot white stone tower. Caps and McGyver were disinterested in taking the side trail to look at High Point and the AT bypassed that summit so I ran ahead to look at it. To my disappointment my guide book mislabeled the turn to the High Point Trail as a right when it was a left so I missed it. The trail from here was very easy with a general downhill slant and much easier surface. I stopped by a shelter to get a quick liter of water and then headed on up the trail hoping Caps and McGyver would catch up. In fact while I was getting water they had caught up and passed me so I was surprised when, just at dusk, I saw the outlines of two hikers 50 yards away on a road who turned out to be them. Their guide does a poor job of describing the turn off for the shelter we are staying and they were looking around for it. My guide does a very good job so I took the lead and lead them through the last mile to the Secret Shelter. The trail was twisty and muddy but I found enough blazes to keep us on track in the dark.
The Secret Shelter was built by a 1989 thru-hiker, Jim Murry, who owns a farm adjacent to the AT. He has a small building that really is an impressively efficiently build space. It's first floor had a large sink, space for cooking,heat for the winter, and shower. There is a loft up top that can house about 4 hikers that also has heat and to our delight big windows and a box fan to cool off with. I can't see much but I know I am in the middle of a large field of some sort and I can hear donkeys he-hawing nearby.
No comments:
Post a Comment