Mombasha High Point
It rained pretty much all night last night. Also the skeeters keep up their buzzing until a put on a little DEET. It stayed hot so I couldn't hide in my sleeping bag. It makes me long for the hammock again. If this hot spell keeps up I may just try to get it back.The skeeters were not the only pest, something had been nibbling at my gear. There was a hole in my water bottle and another had been nibbled into my water proof data/map cover.
After all that unpleasantness it was still drizzling when I hit the trail. Fortunately it stayed cool and the drizzle let up fairly soon after I started.
I did not have an aggressive day planned so along with Caps and McGyver I took a lot of breaks enjoying the sights and generally relaxed.Today I passed from New Jersey to New York. Eight states down and six to go. They are coming fast now that they aren't hundreds of miles long.
There was an ice cream shop a short walk from one of the road crossings and we paid a visit. It was situated on top of a view of the valley below and we all enjoyed our ice cream as we looked out into the landscape and watched the birds. I was keen on getting a replacement water bottle for the one chewed by a mouse but that involved a long walk down and up the steep road leading to the pass we were in.
I asked around and struck up a conversation with a couple people who were doing water quality research in local farms. There weren't heading in my direction but they agreed to give me a quick lift down the hill anyhow. At the bottom of the hill was another deli where I got another yummy sandwich and a 1 L Pepsi before they gave me a lift back up. With my stop on the Deli tour and water bottle issues taken care of we relaxed at the picnic tables looking out at the view some more before packing up and heading on down the trail.I have seen a lot of wildlife today. Earlier we flushed a grouse from it's nest and it did a good job of distracting us from it's eggs. Later we spotted several red spotted newts in the trail. I found a tick on my knee but fortunately he had not bitten yet. Finally Caps spotted a praying mantis while we were at the ice cream shop.
We hiked until early evening and since the weather seems to be nice we have camped out on the summit of Mombasha mountain. There is not much space up here but I managed to find a grassy spot about 7 feet long to stretch out into. The view up here is great. If I stand in the right spot I can see the skyline of New York City rising up above the mountains to the south. The areas closer by are generally green and pleasant too. The wind is cool and comfortable and I think I will get to zip up my sleeping bag tonight. I hope the weather stays nice since I haven't rigged my tarp.
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